What cartridge?? Lyra, Dyno etc...

Hey Dan,I hope I can save you some money,to put towards your cartridge choice(I have a Tranny Temper-v,btw),as you had originally mentioned you were considering a Winds guage.Well,my pal,and myself are going "the cheap route",and buying the new digital guage,now being advertised on Audiogon(the one with the four numeric readout).Truthfully,for the asking price,it's looks too good to pass up.I'll let you know if it was money well spent as soon as my COSMOS comes back,from the newest 2006 updates!

Best regards!

I have the Audio One,too,as does my pal.However when we compared it to the Winds guage,two weeks ago,it was off by over .13gms.That's alot,and I'm beginning to lose confidence in it.

Using the Audio One,we never were able to flesh out his cartridge's ultimate performance envelope,to our satisfaction(four of us)!With the Winds,it took one good,long,listening session.Anyone wanting my Winds guage,can have it(in perfect shape,btw)for 1/2 price!!

Nsgarsh,when the Cartridge Man was available to me,I knew nothing about the "guage" thing.I don't even think digital guages existed back then(other than the C.M.).At that time I was using some kind of see-saw gadget.Actually I only made comments questioning the actual ergonomic plausability of the Cartridge Man.The only reason I'm SO sold on the Winds(believe me,I'm not pitching it,to anyone,and Bob's comments are actually dead on)is because we used it over a few listening sessions,at my friend Ed's place.He had just gotten the Venustas,as you know,and my friend Sid brought it over.Since I did all set-ups,over about an 8 hour period each time,it became clear to me that this was a fabulous product.In honesty,all my audio bud's are sort of split over the value of spending so much on a guage.Some have,and love the Technics analog guage.A classic.

In my case,I have not needed to spend much money on my system lately(don't even ask about the past,though),so the Winds seems a good investment.Though NOT mandatory,to an advanced hobbyist,like you and some others!

Nsgarsh,Dan--You are both right.I've done it both ways!Truthfully,my pal,Sid likes to see a confirmation of exact downforce,for his happiness.I don't really care,as I generally know how I want my rig to sound.However it is quite fun to have an authentic reading,that stays fairly consistent,as in the Winds.Bob,was actually correct,yet we are all a bit over the top in our quest.NO?

One final thought---Do we really think we deserve a fifteen dollar digital guage(the actual cost of the Jensen/ Digi-One) for measuring cartridges that cost thousands?To me,and I did invest in a cheapo,I need to feel more confident in something of this type's true accuracy!!No I won't check it too frequently,but when I do I'll like to have a "real" reading.

Also,though this may seem overt,my arm needs a subtle revoicing of a combination of vta/damping fluid and downforce,to maximize performance.Even a couple of hundredths of a gm,in downforce requires a touch of fluid and vta,to be right.Maybe just the weakness in the arm,but real!!

This seems to be a fascinating product line!With all the attention given to the more popular cartridges,it would really be great(at least to me)if some of the lucky few can shed some more light on these designs.

What seems to seperate these from some others is the seemingly fanatical attention to manufacture that the top models go through.I love their claim to look at cartridge design "at the molecular level"!As well as the fine plating of the body,which I assume reduces unwanted resonance.WOW,I just love this level of commitment,and it would seem that these guys are obsessed with the REAL SOTA in cartridge design.On paper,these designs seem to validate the apparent high costs,which are probably asked.Some other top tier designs,probably cost the designer very little to manufactur(plastic bodies,in products costing thousands?),yet they sell so few that a high price is set,at retail.Mine included!I understand the reasoning for this,but these little Allaerts beauties really look (inside and out) like they are made to a "Collectible Swiss Watch" standard!Take a look at the web-site,but wipe my drool of of it first,before you start reading!BTW-this is simply my being emotional over something that seems superb.I'm NOT throwing stones at any particular product.Obviously,Raul did a great sales job on me!!

Best regards!