Feickert blackbird, kuzma 4 point which cartridge


İ am planning to buy a new cartridge for feickert blackbird tt, kuzma4 point tonearm, full asr electronics. İ have budget around 5k. Lyra, koetsu, shelter, dynavector, zyx, miyajima, ortofon are very popular i think. İ never had a chance to listen except ortofon models. Reviews are very confusing. İ really like to hear your opinions about these manufacturer models, and your recommendations.
altanpsx

Showing 6 responses by larryi

I own both a Lyra Titan and a Transfiguration Orpheus L. I like both cartridges--the Lyra has a touch more open and airy top end, the Transfiguration has a bit more prominence in the upper midrange. Neither is really a "warm" cartridge, as I would use that term for something like Koetsu wooden-body cartridges (upper bass, lower midrange prominence). Perhaps the Titan leans a bit toward being harder and sounding, but, it also delivers an exciting sound.

I have not heard the Proteus, but, given Transfiguration's recent track record, I am sure it is a fine cartridge too. I haven't had my Transfiguration long enough to compare it with the Titan for stylus wear, but, I can say that every Lyra I have had has lasted a VERY long time.


Altanpsx,

There are so many good cartridges out there and system matching and particular taste can be so specific as to make suggestions somewhat unhelpful. I have heard great systems using all of the major brands, and some you have not mentioned (e.g., Allaerte). To a significant degree, your choice will be a gamble.

I have had the luck of finding local dealers that allowed for reasonably long term auditions (one or two weeks) of the cartridges I chose. One dealer has even allowed regular customers to take home a $12,000 cartridge for audition. I did not try any sort of comparison in my cartridge auditions--the evaluation was more in the line of whether I liked the sound or not. This sort of thing is NOT common, so I sympathize with your "problem."

I know this is somewhat compounding your problem by mentioning another cartridge, but, I would also add the Dynavector XX-2 to the candidate list. A friend bought one and traded in a much more expensive Transfiguration Orpheus. In his particular system, this is a great cartridge.
The Titan is a fine choice. For setup, I found it to be relatively insensitive to changes in loading, but, it is somewhat sensitive to changes in VTA/SRA. I found that small changes are audible (more than is the case with my Orpheus anyway). It is also pretty easy to mate with most MC phonostages because of its decent output.
I've used the Titan with two different phonostages, one solid state (the phonostage built into a Levinson No. 36 linestage) and a Viva Fono tube phonostage (the loading is on the primary side). With the Levinson, I actually ran the Titan wide open without much loading (47k ohms). But, the performance was not that radically different when I used 150 ohms and the steps between 150 and 47k offered by the Levinson. The Viva Fono came with a fixed 460 ohm load right at the input jack of the phonostage (primary side of the built in step up transformer). I tried unsoldering the resistor and using resistors with other values (I made plug in replacements using radioshack phono jacks) and again found that loading was not that critical and that the 460 ohm resistor worked reasonably well.

According to Jonathan Carr, the designer of the Titan cartridge, modern cartridges do not really need much loading to tame any kind of peak in the audible frequency range. However, some phonostages need loading in order to prevent ultrasonic peaks and RFI from causing problems. So, to him, loading requirements are specific to the particular design of the phonostage.

I have generally found that loading values of somewhere around 150 ohms to be almost universally acceptable for most cartridges. If the sound at such value is a bit too thin or sibilant and bright, then more loading should be tried (i.e., a LOWER value resistor, such as 50 ohms). If you do need a lot of loading to get the right balance, the good news is that the Titan has a reasonably healthy output so that high loading will probably not result in output that is less than ideal.

Also, keep in mind that changing loading affects tonal balance in somewhat the same way that changing VTA also affects tonal balance. So, while experimenting with loading, one should also try to optimize VTA at each loading option being tested because it will be some combination of the two that will work best (yes, this can be maddening).

I cannot recall how long it took for the Titan to burn in. I generally find that most cartridges are substantially stable at somewhere around 50 hours of play. If there is any change after that, it would be quite slow and hard to detect. The big swings will happen quite early (in the first 10 hours) and can be quite frustrating because the sound will go back and forth between good and problematic. I would not do much serious fiddling with setup and loading until something like 60 or more hours have passed.
Essentialaudio,

Yes, the line contact styli I have used are extremely sensitive to changes in VTA/SRA. I know that many claim that small changes should be inaudible, but, my experience is otherwise. Making very precise changes of well under 1mm in height at the tonearm pillar on a 9" arm makes a clearly audible difference.

I do use records of regular thickness to set the VTA/SRA and then I don't bother to make changes for different records.
For something different, consider an Allaerte. Some of these cartridges have extremely low output, so, that has to be taken into consideration. These are warm sounding cartridges that do not sound sluggish or murky.