@hamburger
Hi,
Have installed CAR50 Kuzma 4Ppoint on the Kuzma 4Point, and can report back.
Previous cartridge on arm was the Van Den Hul Colibri Black Grenadine.
To give you some background I have set up the Colibri in 3 tonearms in the same system - Morch DP8, Helius Omega & lastly the Kuzma.
On the DP8 the Colibri was very quick, agile relatively neutral. On the Helius the Colibri was quite different, midrange much more expansive, more body. The Helius is very low mass. Finally on the Kuzma, very fast and dynamic, the best overall in terms of speed, coherency and transparency.
So then a few weeks ago tried the CAR40 on the Kuzma. Whislt not in the league of the Colibri, thought it offered good performance for the money ( Colibri twice the price ).
Based on that strong showing the owner purchased the CAR50.
Installed the CAR50 a day or so ago and have done about 5 hours on it.
From the getgo the CAR50 on the Kuzma presented an expansive sound, very tight punchy bottom end. The CAR50 offers considerably more transparency and performance over the CAR40, it really is a big jump in performance. Compared to the Colibri swings and roundabouts. The presentation is quite different - the Colbri fast and agile, the CAR50 presenting a more majestorial sound - bit like a Benley Turbo vs a Ferrari.
To give you an idea, listening to Ry Cooder on slide guitar with the Colibri you get speed, coherency, superb rendition of the acoustical space. With the Kuzma CAR50 you get speed, coherency, but the emphasis is more on the body of the instrument - what stood out was that as the notes went up and down the scale, you could more easily hear the body of the guitar across the full range. What impressed me was that the CAR50 presents the full frequency cut from one cloth. On music I know the CAR50 presented very similar sonic signature to my reference Dynavector Nova 13D.
Looking back at your original post, you commented that the CAR40 was more grounded than the Lyra, which you describe as lither, more nimble.
What I can say is that the CAR50 is a massive step up from the 40, still has that grounded quality. What impressed me was that the CAR50 presents the full frequency cut from one cloth. The speed and transparency is up there with the Colibri. The owner of the 2 cartridges is going to run the CAR50 and keep the Colibri as a back up. To be fair the CAR50 is probably a better match for the arm, but that the CAR50 is at the level of the Colibri, to me suggests it is doing the business.
I suspect if anyone found the CAR50 "boring" it either doesn’t match their system or they prefer more emphasis on "hifi" type presentation of music. I wouldn't describe the CAR50 as "polite", a better description in my view would be that it is very even handed.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you need any more info.
