2. analog
  3. 140043-486

Hear my Cartridges....🎶

Many Forums have a 'Show your Turntables' Thread or 'Show your Cartridges' Thread but that's just 'eye-candy'.... These days, it's possible to see and HEAR your turntables/arms and cartridges via YouTube videos.
Peter Breuninger does it on his AV Showrooms Site and Michael Fremer does it with high-res digital files made from his analogue front ends.
Now Fremer claims that the 'sound' on his high-res digital files captures the complex, ephemeral nuances and differences that he hears directly from the analogue equipment in his room.
That may well be....when he plays it through the rest of his high-end setup 😎
But when I play his files through my humble iMac speakers or even worse.....my iPad speakers.....they sound no more convincing than the YouTube videos produced by Breuninger.
Of course YouTube videos struggle to capture 'soundstage' (side to side and front to back) and obviously can't reproduce the effects of the lowest octaves out of subwoofers.....but.....they can sometimes give a reasonably accurate IMPRESSION of the overall sound of a system.

With that in mind.....see if any of you can distinguish the differences between some of my vintage (and modern) cartridges.
VICTOR X1
This cartridge is the pinnacle of the Victor MM designs and has a Shibata stylus on a beryllium cantilever. Almost impossible to find these days with its original Victor stylus assembly but if you are lucky enough to do so.....be prepared to pay over US$1000.....🤪
VICTOR 4MD-X1
This cartridge is down the ladder from the X1 but still has a Shibata stylus (don't know if the cantilever is beryllium?)
This cartridge was designed for 4-Channel reproduction and so has a wide frequency response 10Hz-60KHz.
Easier to find than the X1 but a lot cheaper (I got this one for US$130).
AUDIO TECHNICA AT ML180 OCC
Top of the line MM cartridge from Audio Technica with Microline Stylus on Gold-Plated Boron Tube cantilever.
Expensive if you can find one....think US$1000.

I will be interested if people can hear any differences in these three vintage MM cartridges....
Then I might post some vintage MMs against vintage and MODERN LOMC cartridges.....🤗
128x128halcro
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
Do the tables using the same tonearms have different presentations that we would  notice on our end.
Tough question Steve.....
The specific sound of each cartridge, tonearm and turntable is so intertwined as a combination, that I'm not prepared to try and apportion qualities to the individual components.
What I do know....is that some cartridges sound better on one arm than another and ALL cartridges sound differently with different headshells 🙃
Palladian on Raven on my end sounds better than Victor. But I would probably  give the tonearm the more credit here.
I think you're onto something here Steve.....
The Copperhead is just an amazing-sounding arm 🤩
Post removed 
halcro's avatar
halcro OP
2,664 posts
 
THE LONDON DECCA REFERENCE
A phono-cartridge surrounded by mysticism and controversy....
A MI CARTRIDGE WITHOUT CANTILEVER which arrives in its PURPLE VELVET POUCH and looks.....RATHER PLAIN 🥴?

Apart from the 'mythology' around this cartridge....there is a general 'directive' that the LDR does NOT sound its best when loaded at the standard 47K Ohms Resistance with Zero (lowest) Capacitance....

Here is your chance to listen.....

LDR R-47K Ohms Cap-Zero

LDR R-15K Ohms Cap 430 pF

If you can hear the differences via YouTube, to what are quite subtle variations.....it will say a lot about the value of YouTube Videos.
Please let me know....🤗
dover
2,200 posts
 
@halcro
1st imression at 47k was a bit of a surprise for me, with several Garrot Decca Golds under my belt, the LDR was a lot smoother at 47k than the Decca Golds of old at 47k - they were rip your ears off.

Having said that moving to the 15k, for me the variations are quite noticeable ( even on Mac earbuds ). At 15k the string sections are not only more fleshed out but the coherency and timing, particularly in the upper bass/lower mid area is much crisper and more rhythmically coherent.

Frogman can comment on instrument accuracy, he might suggest a little too warm on some sections of the orchestra, but for me the timing and coherency at 15k easily outstrips 47k, the music far better communicated and more enjoyable at this setting.

With the old Garrott modded Deccas I preferred 22k - have you tried this value with the LDR ?
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,613 posts
 
My wife even heard the difference playing the phone on the table. Much the same as what @dover said. Nicer tone and easier to follow. Transient attack might be a little slower.
Interestingly, I prefer 47k on my lesser Deccas. Mostly because I love detail and the sound I get. 
More to discover