Hear my Cartridges....🎶
Ry Cooder sounded better on the Raven. The music was more coherent. The Victor was brighter but it was a mess.Interesting comments Noromance....🤔 I wonder if anyone else also hears it like this? I personally, prefer the WE-8000/ST tonearm on both samples...🙃 |
Encouraged by the positive results yielded with the heavy FR-S3 headshell on the SAEC WE8000/ST tonearm, I wondered if EVERY cartridge would benefit from this headshell 🤔 An unexpected discovery in my listening experiences has been the JMAS MIT 1 LOMC Cartridge which was a slightly modified Coral mc81 from the late '80s with the first true VdH diamond fitted on beryllium cantilever available in the States. MIT 1 ON CARBON FIBER HEADSHELL MIT 1 ON FR-S3 HEADSHELL Perhaps slightly unfair comparison due to the increased volume level on the S3 together with the better recording technique....but it seems to sound better on the S3 headshell? MIT ON CARBON FIBER HEADSHELL MIT ON FR-S3 HEADSHELL Fairer comparison here where I'm struggling to hear much difference between the two...? Perhaps Dover could be enticed to see if he can hear any.....? All help and comments greatly appreciated 😃 |
Halcro - I am not sure if you are having me on. There is significantly more surface noise with the carbon fiber headshell. It is possible the VTA is not the same on both shells. Listening to both this is what I hear ( on ear buds ) - On violins with the carbon fiber you can hear more of the acoustic recording space of the whole orchestra, whereas with the FRS3 the leading violin is crisper and cleaner, more vibrant but with less acoustical information. In some parts the cf on violins becomes quite screachy, compared to the FRS3 less so. From the midrange down to mid bass the FRS3 appears to have better articulation, and again fuller and more vibrant. The carbon fiber sounds a bit congealed through the upper bass to midrange. On some passages the cf presents a clearer leading edge in the mid bass, but the more vibrant FRS3 conveys better tempo and clearer presentation of space in the lower end to my ears, and ultimately more transparency in this region. For me the FRS3 is more musically listenable because the better presentation of tempo in the lower ranges underpins the musical flow and enjoyment. How does this compare with your in room experience. As an aside, when you use a heavy headshell, you will be altering the counterweight to compensate for the increased mass at the headshell end. The end result is that you are adding mass loading to the knife edge bearings, so the changes to sound will be a combo of cartridge/headshell resonances, inceased effective mass and most importantly increased load on the jewelled knife edge bearings. I know that some Japanese audio fetishists would add mass over the bearing on unipivots/knife edge bearings to improve bottom end without altering the effective mass - like dumbells each side of the bearings. |
Halcro -I am a bit Dover...😛 There is significantly more surface noise with the carbon fiber headshell.Could be VTA but more likely Azimuth, as the cartridge appeared visibly askew in the Yamamoto. I turned the headshell to level the cartridge but the noise was still there. Don't know why the same is not the case with the FR-S3....? I think the VdH stylus is rather fussy 🥴 In some parts the cf on violins becomes quite screachy, compared to the FRS3 less so.Quite noticeably in fact... For me the FRS3 is more musically listenable because the better presentation of tempo in the lower ranges underpins the musical flow and enjoyment.Perfect summary for my in-room experience Dover.... Your comments on the "dumbell" effect of the heavy headshell and the need for the counterweight to move back to compensate are interesting. Could explain why the FR-S3 headshell brings the knife-edge SAEC tonearm to 'life'...? Thanks for the valuable feedback 👍 |
@halcro Thanks. My suspicion would be that the extra mass anchors the sound a little more whereas the metal headshell imparts a little more of the vibrancy. I did notice the worst mistracking appeared on the left channel. Van den hul styli do tend to be very fine and more twitchy on VTA etc, even his early work. I have recently installed a Van den hul Colibri on a Kuzma 4 Point 11 and can hear vast repeatable changes to soundstage with as little as 0.1mm change in height at the back of the arm. Cheers. |
