New Zirconia Pipe Cantilever .. What's up with that ?

I believe cantilever material has probably the least impact on cartridge performance. Stylus geometry and cartridge type I.e. MM, MI or MC, output and compliance are much more important. If all else is equal, I seriously doubt anyone could distinguish boron from diamond from ruby.

@flatblackround

You’re wrong, but it does not surprise me that we are know nothing about cartridge design, i am more surprised that people don’t want to learn and try to understand the basic principle of cartridge design. Stylus profile is very important and moving mass is important ... but ... 

Let me quite a cartridge designer Jonathan Carr (Lyra) from another thread on audiogon, this statement was made in 2013:

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"Changing only the stylus will alter the sound less than if the cantilever material is changed. When a cartridge is designed, the designer will consider the moving mass (sum of the stylus, cantilever and coils), the resonant character of the cantilever, and the (sonic) propagation velocity of the cantilever (affected by the cantilever’s mass and rigidity), then choose the suspension and dampers accordingly. If you change the cantilever material, you are effectively throwing the original designer’s calculations away. There is much more (far more than what I have written above) to rebuilding a cartridge than affixing a new stylus or altering the cantilever. In over 30 years of involvement in the phono cartridge industry, I have not seen one retipper who has presented the entire story, who has effectively said "Here are the all of the considerations. Here are the cons as well as the pros. Make a wise choice that is best for you" ... " (J.Carr, 2013)

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Also i want to add another quite where Jonathan Carr explains why some cantilevers designed exclusively for certain cartridge manufacturers and not available for anyone else separately.


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" Namiki, Ogura or Gyger can and will build completed cantilever assemblies. But regarding the designs of the cantilever assemblies that can be delivered, although these can be straight out of the catalogs (in which case retippers can buy the same item as the cartridge builder), there is a good chance that the designs may be unique, in which case no cartridge builder nor retipper is able to obtain the item other than the original designer.

In the case of a Titan, for example, I design the stylus shape and specify the block dimensions and angles, I make the drawings for how the stylus should be affixed to the cantilever (including the adhesive specifications), and I make the drawings for every other bit of the cantilever assembly, too. I supply various components and raw materials to Ogura (cantilever itself, coil former, suspension wire etc.), and have Ogura build the cantilever assembly using my materials and my drawings.

Since neither the design nor many of the subcomponents and materials are Ogura’s, Ogura cannot deliver this cantilever assembly (nor the individual bits and pieces) to anyone other than us.

And yet I see no retipper pointing out that the included angle of the stylus affects the life expectancy, that ruby or sapphire has close to double the mass of boron, or other such considerations. We used to build cartridges with ceramic whisker-reinforced duraluminum cantilevers (with much closer mass compared to boron than sapphire’s mass is to boron), and when we changed our cartridges over to boron cantilevers, we redesigned the entire damper and suspension system - materials, shapes, number of dampers, everything.

In my experience, to take an aluminum or boron-cantilevered cartridge and change the cantilever to sapphire or ruby is heavy-handed in the extreme (grin). " (J.Carr, 2013)

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His post about retipping was very informative too:

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"Also keep in mind that, if you use a retipper rather an ZYX, the dimensions of the stylus block as well as how the stylus block is affixed to the cantilever will differ, along with the shape and dimensions of the stylus sections that contact the LP groove.

In the ZYX cantilevers and stylii (made by Namiki), the end of the cantilever rod is planed down to an acute angle (less than 30 degrees), creating a flat surface which is what the stylus block is bonded to. The stylus block can be both small and short, and therefore of very low mass.

In the Ogura-made cantilevers and stylii, a longitudinal, vertical slot is cut through the end of the cantilever rod, and the stylus block is inserted into that slot and bonded in place. In recent years, some manufacturers have added a thin metal plate to the slot to reinforce the bond. In this type of design, the stylus block is longer than the Namikis (since it has to reach through the cantilever), but the stylus block width is generally a small fraction of the cantilever diameter (less than 1/2), so the stylus block mass can be of fairly low mass.

In many recent cantilevers and stylii of European origin, the end of the cantilever rod is chopped off at a right angle, leaving a flat round surface to which the stylus is bonded. In these designs, the stylus block is long (since it has to reach through the cantilever), and it is also as wide as the cantilever rod, so the mass of the stylus will be higher than with either the Namiki or Ogura designs.

To retip a cartridge that was originally equipped with a stylus made by one manufacturer with one made by a different manufacturer is like rebuilding a Porsche engine with Jaguar pistons and crankshaft - the components used for rebuilding may be of high quality, but the design philosophy is rather different from the original. " (J.Carr, 2013)

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I’d like to add link to Ogura too, check this out (physical properties)
They are making styli and cantilevers.

Namiki is another manufacturer with slightly more info on their website regarding physical properties of the cantilevers and more important how it transmit the sound: " A variety of materials such as aluminum, sapphire, beryllium and boron are used to make cantilevers of different shapes and dimensions. The lighter and stiffer the material, the better and more accurately the cantilever can transmit vibration. "

Aluminum Pipe:

Aluminium has a low relative density, and the stylus tip is press-fit, so it picks up the groove vibrations with a stable and accurate trace performance.

Boron Rod:

Large elastic modulus, high specific rigidity, and speedy sound transmission. The tip is fixed with adhesive due to fragility and limits in processability. Cost performance is outstanding.

Zirconia Pipe:

Because the material’s relative density is comparatively high at 6.0, we make full use of our technology to process it into a pipe shape. This cantilever plays a charming sound that is different from other materials.

Sapphire Rod:

Because the sapphire cantilever is very rigid, it accurately transmits the vibration of the stylus tip and, compared to metal cantilevers, a clearer sound can be enjoyed.

Ruby Rod:

When part of Al3+, the main component of sapphire, is replaced with chromium, the jewel reflects the red color that makes it a ruby. While ruby is similar to sapphire in terms of characteristics, it is also used for its visual aesthetic.

Diamond Rod:

Diamond, the hardest material on earth, is possibly the best material for use in audio equipment. It does not easily deform when force is applied, and the sound transmission speed is overwhelmingly faster than other materials. When playing a record, the stylus tip/cantilever traces the groove with great precision.

Regarding diamond (gemstone) cantilever it is much more complicated, it can be very short and does not even looks like "normal" cantilevers like Boron Rod or that modern Diamondc antilever from Namiki.

Here is a nice interview with Dr Tominari of Dynavector Systems, who designed the first gemstone cantilever cartridge and later designed fabulous XV-1 and DRT XV-1. In this interview you will find more about Te-Kaitora cartridges, Karat Nova series and many more amazing products of that era.

here is a bit from the interview:

RG. The first Dynavector product I became aware of was the original Karat cartridge, with its solid ruby cantilever. Were you the first person to employ gemstone cantilevers?

Dr. Tominari: Absolutely. I get my gemstone cantilevers from Namiki, and the first time I asked them about constructing one they couldn’t understand what I wanted such a large stylus for! But I was convinced that you should use as short and stiff a cantilever as possible. This was quite widely recognised but no one believed that the technology existed to create such a short gemstone cantilever. They thought it was impossible but I dared to try it. It was a very unusual solution at that time. In order to achieve it we had to develop a parallel technique that enabled us to wind incredibly fine wire for the coil. Our wires are only 11 microns in diameter. Every other cartridge uses at least 20 microns.

RG. Why do the fine wires help you use in using a short cantilever?

Dr. Tominari: At the end of the cantilever is the armature. On the very short gemstone cantilevers there is no space, so the armature must be much smaller than normal. Unless we use the fine wire for the coils there will be insufficient windings for a working output level. We did this twenty years ago, and are still the only company who can use such fine wire. Eric Rohmann, who was president of Ortofon until some years ago, even tried to buy one of our machines. Incidentally, you are aware that Ortofon and Grado hold all the patents on moving-coil cartridge designs. Dynavector was the only Japanese company that ever paid the licence fees. (Laughs)

The good doctor wants the cantilever to be a short stiff post.  The gemstone cantilever is good for this.  It allows for thinner wires, different suspension, different armature, a larger stylus etc.  This is all great.  I merely believe that ruby vs diamond vs boron are not the most important aspects in choosing a cartridge and would be difficult to distinguish if all else is equal.  I run a SoundSmith Boheme MI cartridge with a ruby cantilever.  I like it. Peters website on choosing a cartridge emphasizes stylus tracking the groove and various electrical characteristics hi output and low output etc. 
I recall a tv commercial in which a well heeled woman asks a clearly successful innovative architect to design her house around a water faucet.  

With all my respect to SoundSmith this is not the last brand in the world, i have far more interest in vintage cartridges from the giants of industry and their own research made when analog was a king (not digital). Most of them stopped making cartridges or completely disappeared from the market along with those special cantilevers like Boron Pipe or my favorite Beryllium (or exotic Ceramic pipe), but NOS cartridges are not disappeared from the market and i'm happy about it.   

But it is interesting to see something new from Namiki or Ogura, finally, like the Zirconia Pipe Cantilever. Seems like nobody knows what i'm talking about :( 

Even Titanium Pipe is no longer available? 
 
Even if someone would like to design a cartridge using much wider choice of materials it is simply impossible today, but it was possible 30 years ago.    

I can't remember any cartridge from my 50 samples of different design (MM,MI,MF, LOMC, HOMC ...) that does not track well, except for some SPU and probably Ikeda cantilever-less design (if the record is not flat). I test them with Hi-Fi News Test LP, 99% of my cartridges are fine on all high modulated grooves. 

Most people think that the answer for everything is SoundSmith and his Ruby cantilever with optimized Contact Line stylus (mounted instead of any other cantilever when it't time to retip a worn cartridge or replace a bent cantilever). J.Carr explained why it's not always good idea. Peter himself will give you very diplomatic answer and will never tell you what it better (fair enough), you can only decide for yourself (i prefer originals). 

Since i'm not in America it's must easier for me to buy another NOS vintage cartridge with some great cantilever (often not available from Namiki or Ogura for modern cart manufacturers anymore) and top class stylus instead or refurbishing any of my old ones with SoundSmith in USA. 

For me, personally, the world of cartridges is much wider/deeper than just one great manufacturer from USA. 

 

Essentialist world view think in terms of parts and their importance.
The opposite view is the so called ''holistic''. There are no ''essential
parts'' but all parts together make the whole while whole is ''more''
than the parts. ''More'' is meant in metaphorical sense. 

I did not mean to suggest that Peter is the “last word” if such a thing exists.  He is however an authority and I mentioned him only because I happen to have one of his cartridges with a ruby cantilever.  I did not buy it for the cantilever.  Nor did I buy it for ease of stylus and cantilever replacement. That was not the topic of your thread.  I prefer originals as well.  
To me tracking ability is more than staying in the groove of a warped record. It is all about responding to the modulations within the grooves.  I believe stylus, suspension and compliance are more important in this regard. 

My original reply to your thread was a reaction to the different physical properties of minerals used to make the cantilevers, the short stiff posts. My opinion is this difference is way down the list of what makes a good cartridge. You  are emphasizing that it is a new pipe construction which to me is a different issue. Fine.

You have more knowledge and experience with cartridges than I, so I defer.  However I doubt that you organize and rate your fifty transducers based on which mineral is used to construct the cantilever. This is the point I was trying to make.

Finally, why is it currently impossible to make the vintage type of cantilevers that you admire?  Seems odd to me.

All the best.