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I need audition advice

I'm looking for MM or high output MC cartridges to audition in the sub-kilobuck range. Preferably around $700. I'm thinking I'll use it on a vpi table, so it must track well in a unipivot tonearm. My list so far is quite short--

1) Clearaudio virtuoso wood

2) Sumiko Blackbird

3) Sumiko Blue Point special (hey, if I like it enough to live with it it's much cheaper than the blackbird)

4) The Grado Master (the high output version.)

Does anyone else have a favorite, or comments on the ones I've already decided to audition?
tutordennis
topoxforddoc's avatar
topoxforddoc
353 posts
 
How about a Decca London. Be brave - get a a good one, say a new Super Gold and you might ne in heaven
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
Ed, can you tell us how you found the Aurum Beta S different from the original? I heard the original a couple of times and would agree that it needed improvement. Thanks
buscis2's avatar
buscis2
468 posts
 
4yanx, the best way for me to describe the original Aurum Beta compared to the "S" version was "congested". My original Aurum Beta has a plastic body. The "S" version is lead bodied. The sound stage is more defined. It is almost as if you could walk between the instruments with the "S". The original Aurum Beta seemed as if the musicians and instruments were "piled on top of one another". The lower registers of bass are tighter, snappier, and less wooly. The "S" is extremely dynamic. It would seem that the original had more dynamic "compression" relative to the "S".

Although the midrange, (especially female voice) is extremely natural and "real" with both the newer and older versions, the "S" seems to better define the differences between the louder and softer voice passages. Also, it seems the "S" is more compliant, extracting more of the micro information (breathing, fingers sliding up and down a guitar's fretboard, air passing over a saxaphone's reed, dampening pads on a grand piano's strings, etc).

I'll tell you 4yanx, this thing is very impressive for a MM. I own MCs that cost close to three times the price of this "S", and it is literally impossible to define the differences. I find it to be extremely natural with very little accentuation (if any) throughout the complete frequency range.

The real standout characteristic of the "S" would have to be the dynamics. I was listening to Return to Forever "Romantic Warrior" a few evenings ago. Lenny White, (drums) uses a very tight 12" snare in this particular cut (The Romantic Warrior, last cut, first side). When he hits it, it makes your eyes twitch. Leading edge transients are snappy, and very accurate.

I'm not big on recommendations, but this thing kicks ass. It would absolutely be worth a listen, at the very least. IMHO.

Regards, Ed.
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