Last time I had a Lyra, it was the Parnassus, years ago, TOTL at the time. "If you want the best, this is it," the Dealer told me. Sold it fast.
I find myself agreeing with Chakster’s view – I’ve had MM and MI languishing in my drawer for years, while I was MC-only. Now I enjoy them more than my MCs. I still have a couple I have tried yet, but current favorites are:
AKG P8ES (old model)
Pickering XSV/3000
Stanton 881S
Empire 2000Z (very exciting)
I just installed a NOS AT ML150-OCC, and liking it so far.
And this one is a "Franken-cartridge" – a Grace F8 body with a Shure V-15 VMR stylus. The F8 is identical internally to the more lauded F9E, so it brings that sensuous full sound – while the Shure stylus is far more advanced than any of Grace styli I had – I had 5 Grace carts at one time, different models, but a burglary ended that chapter.
I didn’t like Shure carts at all – their watchword was "flat" but they just sounded dead to me. But give them credit: they had far more resources for R&D, and it showed in their late stylus design. So the Grace + VMR is pretty spectacular. It’s very fortuitous the stylus fits perfectly, though the plastic holder needs some Dremeling. (And it has that little damping brush too – I haven’t made my mind up on that yet.)
All of them are NOS, so with some TLC I have a lot of years with them left to enjoy.
Maybe I’ll try an MC again soon, and switch loyalties again. I don’t think of myself as "fickle" but who knows. I’m having my Rosewood Signature retipped, and I’ll have to at least try it – so maybe that’ll start a renewed MC "phase"...
I find myself agreeing with Chakster’s view – I’ve had MM and MI languishing in my drawer for years, while I was MC-only. Now I enjoy them more than my MCs. I still have a couple I have tried yet, but current favorites are:
AKG P8ES (old model)
Pickering XSV/3000
Stanton 881S
Empire 2000Z (very exciting)
I just installed a NOS AT ML150-OCC, and liking it so far.
And this one is a "Franken-cartridge" – a Grace F8 body with a Shure V-15 VMR stylus. The F8 is identical internally to the more lauded F9E, so it brings that sensuous full sound – while the Shure stylus is far more advanced than any of Grace styli I had – I had 5 Grace carts at one time, different models, but a burglary ended that chapter.
I didn’t like Shure carts at all – their watchword was "flat" but they just sounded dead to me. But give them credit: they had far more resources for R&D, and it showed in their late stylus design. So the Grace + VMR is pretty spectacular. It’s very fortuitous the stylus fits perfectly, though the plastic holder needs some Dremeling. (And it has that little damping brush too – I haven’t made my mind up on that yet.)
All of them are NOS, so with some TLC I have a lot of years with them left to enjoy.
Maybe I’ll try an MC again soon, and switch loyalties again. I don’t think of myself as "fickle" but who knows. I’m having my Rosewood Signature retipped, and I’ll have to at least try it – so maybe that’ll start a renewed MC "phase"...