What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?
I believe that a cartridge and a speaker, by far, contribute the most to SQ.
The two transducers in a system.
I bit the bulllet and bought a Lyra Atlas SL for $13K for my Woodsong Garrard 301 with Triplanar SE arm. I use a full function Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp. My $60K front end. It is certainly, by far, the best I have owned. I read so many comments exclaiming that Lyra as among the best. I had to wait 6 months to get it. But the improvement over my excellent $3K Mayijima Shilabi was spectacular-putting it mildly.
I recently heard a demo of much more pricy system using a $25K cartridge. Seemed to be the most expensive cartridge made. Don’t recall the name.
For sure, the amount of detail was something I never heard. To hear a timpani sound like the real thing was incredible. And so much more!
This got me thinking of what could be possible with a different kind of cartridge than a moving coil. That is, a moving iron.
I have heard so much about the late Decca London Reference. A MI and a very different take from a MC. Could it be better? The World’s Best? No longer made.
However Grado has been making MI cartridges for decades. Even though they hold the patent for the MC. Recently, Grado came out with their assault on “The World’s Best”. At least their best effort. At $12K the Epoch 3. I bought one and have been using it now for about two weeks replacing my Lyra. There is no question that the Atlas SL is a fabulous cartridge. But the Epoch is even better. Overall, it’s SQ is the closest to real I have heard. To begin, putting the stylus down on the run in grove there is dead silence. As well as the groves between cuts. This silence is indicative of the purity of the music content. Everything I have read about it is true. IME, the comment of one reviewer, “The World’s Best”, may be true.
i am disappointed to read about these attempts to discredit the DaVa without even hearing it. we all have a right to our opinions. i appreciate that. but please respectfully qualify your remarks that you have not heard it, so you really don’t know how good it is. then take your shots if you must. guessing about products is part of what we do here. then if you DO ever hear it, tell us how that goes. thank you. |
@mikelavigne , I'm sorry Mike but your Studers are a poor reference. The right reference is live music. Granted, it is hard to AB with live music but, live music where you are listening to the actual instruments and not a PA system is the reference. I have noted that you like the DaVa cartridge. Based on what I can determine it is not a cartridge I would care to even listen too. Maybe it is my loss. So be it. Frankly I doubt it. Not knowing you personally, I have no reason to trust your ears. I have noted your opinion and will combine that with the opinion of others. @rauliruegas , We shall see how the DS holds up in the long run. It is a large investment and not one I am ready to make...yet. |
Live music played in an acoustically lousy concert hall is a poor reference. Studer can be a much better one for our purposes. Digital is not a reference at all. This is a good thread to call others names and start a class war in the process. Anyone here works for the living or just buys/sells worthless pieces of paper that only increases the costs to everyone? What a cute bunch we are.
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ScanTech seems to make the best carts I’ve heard, Lyra at the top of my list. I’m currently using a Lyra Skala and have nothing I want. It is not the weak point of my system. That's what I've heard and not to discount what others have observed in their systems. The weak point in my system, like for EVERY system, it the room. |
