I’m not sure how easy this problem--and it is a problem, at least with expensive moving coil cartridges- is to solve. Ideally, a dealer would have a few different cartridges set up, using the same arm and table. But, dealers are typically limited to certain brands. Perhaps a show- but why would a manufacturer bother? (Assuming they took the time to do the necessary set up and demonstration, they are comparing against their competition and I don’t see that happening). Listening to the cartridge in question in someone else’s system --and any system but yours is ’someone else’s’--isn’t going to tell you much- sure, you could swap out cartridges on that system and hear the difference on that system, but it still doesn’t tell you how it synergizes with your set-up.
Didn’t Fremer do some comparisons, digitize them (yeah, I know) and put them up for public evaluation on his site when he had the Continuum table and arm?
I sort of played it safe- used Lyras for many years until my dealer at the time said he thought I’d really like the Airtight. So he brought it over and installed it. I guess if I decided I hated it, he would have taken it back. But I didn’t hate it, I grew to appreciate what it did. And bought the next model when I felt it was time.
But, we are very limited by this process.
Once I get my second system set up with removable headshell, I plan to play around with some less fancy cartridges, some older ones. I think that will be instructive. In the meantime, I soldier on....
PS: there are people whose views I trust. If @AlbertPorter, for example, who uses the Airtight, says the Opus is better than the Supreme by a margin, I take him at his word, even though he uses a different arm, and has an entirely different system than mine.
