Kleos Sibilance

Hello Bill (Audiofeil)
I know this sounds like a discussion that appears to be going back and forth, "yes it will-no it won't", but in the hopes of learning something, and hoping you folks will share some of your seasoned knowledge, why do you think this is?

Is it maybe not so much the JMW Arm can be accused of being poorly built, or would you say it is more a cause of the type-design of Arm it is, that it is a Unipivot?

I'm reminiscing back, to hear Doug D's words, when he once gave comment about how he noted that some Unipivots he teamed with some of the ZYX Cartridges, just didn;t seem to cut it. If I remember, his term was "wooly", and I know wooly can be a vague term to describe, but do you think that this what what Doug was getting at, that in some cases with these highly revealing MC Cartridges, that the Unipivot design may be a wrong choice, and falls short?

I know you see the Hadcock, I believe another Unipivot design. So is the Shroder, right?

Is it a mismatch of compliance, or something else then?
Mark

I wonder if the problems that are being experienced are rather simple, obvious ones, that something is somehow being overlooked?

Have any of you possibly tried the use of headphones, o eliminate the possibilities of acoustic interaction?
The Headphones should eliminate any such possibilities.

Yes, I suppose if the Rega is a drop in fit, one could perhaps try that route. And later sell a lesser rega, and go up the Rega ladder.

What about Damping the Arm with a Silicone damping Fluid? I haven't read anyone's comments about trying that?

I've never had the pleasure of trying Lyra Cartridges, but I have with Benz, and they seem to be versatile, and usable on a vast array of Arms.

I sort of find it hard to believe that the way this thread has gone so far, that the concensus seems to point to saying-claiming that all VPI JMW Tonearms are somehow inferior, inadequate and not up to the tasks of performing correctly with many world class MC Cartridges?

That it still could possibly be a lack of understanding-knowledge, and the ability to ptoperly set of these Arms?
Note that I am trying to stay in a neutral territory here, not wishing to ruffle anyone's feathers. Just some food for thought? Mark

One person whom I wish would enter, and personally comment on this thread, would be Mr Jonathan Carr of Lyra.

This wise man is a great source of knowledge, and one who perhaps could help others understand what would help extract the best performance from his Cartridges, hence the do's, and don'ts.

I know I always carfeully study anything this man has ever written here. He's a good gift to this community, and I hope he sees my post, and comments. Mark

Again, trying to be fair, trying to be unbiased, after reading much, of not all of this thread, I still personally haven't came to any solid conclusions.

My thoughts are, is, or was it truly the JMW Arm to blame, or could it possibly be something else?

I have no financial interest, or gain, to come here to say the JMW Arm is crap, or is it the Lyra Kleos at fault?

Or that maybe the real truth lies somewhere in the middle, that neither are/were at fault, and the playback issues were caused by something else?

As I had hoped Mr J Carr would've participated, as i know he's highly knowledgeable, but I can think back, and remember some words he once said, and I'd like to roughly quote some of his own comments from the far past.

I remember Mr Carr once commenting about Cartridge design, in regards to the many design principals persued, and implemented.

That he once commented about the Benz Cartridges as an example, of being a versatile Cartridge, but with that versatility came compromises in the design.

Compromises, that may have allowed the design to be usable in a variety of conditions (meaning various Tonearms I took this), but perhaps as well a compromise in the optimum performace that could've been achieved.

I don't at all question what he had said, and will not question the truths to those statements, as the man no doubt has forgotten more than I'll ever know about an MC Cartridge.

But with those statements, I perhaps can read between the lines, and understand that he may have also said in a round about way, that with his designs, and Cartridges, that they have been optimized per the "Lyra way", that his Cartridges, to be fully realized may take a little more attention-detail to set up, that his designs won't "candy coat" a presentation-recording, that they will lay bare the "truth", and sometimes in those instances, playback can be heavenly stellar, or laid bare with all it's flaws, and shorcomings. And that also, his designs may be a little bit more particular in the Tonearm they will be paired with.

Others, that as well may share similar revealing traits as these Lyras, could be the top tier ZYX, and I can recall people like Doug D making mention, that to extract the best playback from a Cartridge like the ZYX UNIverse, that any old Tonearm wasn't going to cut it.

Is that then a flaw of the Arm itself, or of the Cartridge? Or actually of neither? Just a incompatible mismatch? Mark