Sorry to be late to the party, but I just bought a KRSP with Diamond Cantilever, and now have 41 hours on it.
I am using a Trans-Fi linear air bearing tonearm. Not the most expensive, certainly not the most chic, but highly functional. I like to use extra brass weights to manipulate arm mass and resonance, for which the arm is uniquely suited. Tracking seems very good, the combination only coming adrift during the organ bass tremolo on Power & Glory (M&K 114).
So far, I like the cartridge very much, worth every penny and more: an alloy of gold and silver, if you will. But then I like to play with a soldering iron to sort out primary and secondary impedances (Koetsu transformer), and I only use Vishay VAR resistors. I am still sorting out what I am hearing and why, so I have no considered opinions as yet. I suppose that is a warning of sorts; if you want to plug and play, you may not get these results.
A few preliminary observations, subject to change. The immediately obvious strengths of the cartridge seem to be low surface noise, large dynamic range, vertical transients, and purity. The highs are uniquely pure. A little less obvious was that pizzicato sounds like a plucked string, and a piano sounds like a struck string. I think this may be evidence of what some call "harmonic coherence". Both are reproduced well, although no recording has yet reproduced the percussive leading edge of the (real) piano upstairs. But then, my ownership is young, and many parameters need examination. Wish me luck.
A note on over-brightness: if you don't hear it on Bach's violin concerti, or on Barber's Adagio for Strings, or Arvo Part's Fratres, and none of your intimates do either, it isn't there.
I am using a Trans-Fi linear air bearing tonearm. Not the most expensive, certainly not the most chic, but highly functional. I like to use extra brass weights to manipulate arm mass and resonance, for which the arm is uniquely suited. Tracking seems very good, the combination only coming adrift during the organ bass tremolo on Power & Glory (M&K 114).
So far, I like the cartridge very much, worth every penny and more: an alloy of gold and silver, if you will. But then I like to play with a soldering iron to sort out primary and secondary impedances (Koetsu transformer), and I only use Vishay VAR resistors. I am still sorting out what I am hearing and why, so I have no considered opinions as yet. I suppose that is a warning of sorts; if you want to plug and play, you may not get these results.
A few preliminary observations, subject to change. The immediately obvious strengths of the cartridge seem to be low surface noise, large dynamic range, vertical transients, and purity. The highs are uniquely pure. A little less obvious was that pizzicato sounds like a plucked string, and a piano sounds like a struck string. I think this may be evidence of what some call "harmonic coherence". Both are reproduced well, although no recording has yet reproduced the percussive leading edge of the (real) piano upstairs. But then, my ownership is young, and many parameters need examination. Wish me luck.
A note on over-brightness: if you don't hear it on Bach's violin concerti, or on Barber's Adagio for Strings, or Arvo Part's Fratres, and none of your intimates do either, it isn't there.