Anyone who has had a VdH Colibri for over 1000hrs


I am on my 3rd Colibri and have never had one long enough to put over 400hrs on it. My current H.O. XCP is as sibilant as the prev. Colibris but I love it regardless because on over 50% of my collection it is sublime! I do however feel or hope that with lots more hours the suspension will loosen up and the tracking will improve and elimate most of the sibilance. Should I reset my optimistic expectations or is there hope after all?
vusi_khumalo
Now at over 700hrs and with the arm dropped even lower (lowest position) and alignment changed to Lofgren. Getting the best results of the journey so far :-) I'm ready to admit that I didn't expect to have to fiddle with the setup so much to get to where I am. It is crazy!
The dealer is the High End broker, that Syntax mentioned. I bought one recently for E1300, if I remember correctly. They are still on his web site. A good reliable chap to deal with too.
Vusi and David12,

I just sprang for an XGP LW for my WT Amadeus from High End Broker and am scared to death! I've been told the Amadeus handles the Colibri very capably, and supposedly my K&K Maxxed Out phono stage is a good match as well.

Still, I am admittedly a bit skeptical given the fixed alignment of the Amadeus. Am hoping the wonderfully versatile tonearm and silicone damping bath saves the day... Let me know if you've got any words of wisdom, I'm all ears...
Hi Cfluxa. Silicon damping (and any anti-skate) degraded the sound on SME V, which has fixed head holes too. I had to file the threads off the top 3mm of the 6mm screws I use to thin them so I could twist the cart. I can imagine the expression on your face right now!
Cfluxa my first Colibri was a LW too and the few I have seen have long(er) cantilevers. So if you were 1mm out with alignment you could mod the screws and/or try trade to one with a shorter cantilever etc. Maybe I should expand that to say if you get hooked to the magic of the Colibri you might end up going through a few as they are all different. So with the limited adjustability of your setup you could get radically different results even if you stick to just the XGP LWs. Some have cantilevers that are not parallel to the body, and they dont have the same height and VTA. It has only just dawned on me why you say you are scared to death.