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.
 

 

mglik

@dover , I listened extensively to Soundsmith's Strain Gauge cartridge with records I know intimately. It has excellent transient response and a very vivid signature partially because it is too bright. It's tracking ability does not come close to that of the Hyperion. I decided not to get one. The Hyperion is a cartridge I could live with and may in time get one. The cartridges I own indicate what I think is best. The MSL Signature Platinum, The Lyra Atlas Lambda SL and the Ortofon MC Diamond. 

@osada22 , the DAVA is a poorly constructed, ill thought out, piece of junk. I would never let one get near my turntable. @rauliruegas's purpose is to warn people away from the DAVA and he is right.

careful never to listen to a DaVa. you might then choke on those words, which could be fatal. don’t say i never warned you.

btw; owned an Ortofon MC Diamond, along with a couple of MC Anna’s and A90’s. all fine cartridges not quite in the DaVa’s league. i sold my MC Anna and Clearaudio GFS, when i got my first standard Etsuro Gold and compared those three. the Etsuro Gold was another level in realism. but in the MC Anna price range it was a winner. a very fine cartridge.

since the DaVa is sold direct without any middle men or distribution (so far), the value equation is remarkable. 

 

 

Dear @osada22 : No, I’m not dreaming nothing your statement is wrong because was you who posted in other thread the Dava FR where it shows those 6db deviation.Fr whatever reason you don’t show yet the cartridge compliance that any owner andpotencial customers must know to calculate the resonance frequency with their tonearm they already own. Even that M.Lavigne does not cares about that spec is a must to have.

Yes, I agree with @mijostyn .

Btw, @mikelavigne today no one and I mean it can trust only in that " listen " that is only subjectivity. We need to be very carefully about and try to analyze the item surrounded facts/characteristics in an objective way. Ears can foolish not only you but any one else including me. Dava did it with you and here two other gentlemans opinions on this specific issue in this thread:

 

@boothroyd  : "  You make many valid points about subjective & objective balance for a “World’s Best” title .."

@jasonbourne52  : " This is a case where the "golden ears" crowd’s subjective impressions leads to erroneous conclusions! "

 

 

 

R.

 

 

 

@rauliruegas  wrote "Btw, today no one and I mean it can trust only in that " listen " that is only subjectivity. We need to be very carefully about and try to analyze the item surrounded facts/characteristics in an objective way. Ears can foolish not only you but any one else including me. Dava did it with you and here two other gentlemans opinions on this specific issue in this thread"

Our listening pleasure is a subjective experience. I am unsure what philosophical underpinnings you propose to justify telling someone their subjective experience is less valid than yours. I’m all for measuring what can be measured, and claims like ’my power cord will make your music 10% better’ that are used to sell nonsense to fools are to be regarded as worthless. But if you tell me you prefer a Guarneri over a Strad, a Fender over a Gibson, how can I say you are wrong just because I have a different taste?

The most any of us can say in response to the question that started this benighted thread is that ’x is the cartridge that pleases me the most of all those that I have heard.’ That is a statement that stands no matter how anything measures.

@rauliruegas

in my decades of activity i have yet to meet an audiophile, any audiophile, who does anything but listen to gear to make decisions. whether it’s gear, or pressings, or digital files or whatever....we listen. and to interact, we have to respect listening perceptions. otherwise, chaos...or even worse..... ASR.

i’m sure such people exist, but i have no desire to meet one or to hang with them.

and Raul, you did not build your system or choose recordings by measurements.

so why, as long time respectable friends, do you continue to torment me with all this baloney about distortions and measurements? why? certainly all reproduced music contains distortions, it’s never perfect. never will be. so what?

you don’t believe that crap.

i tell you what i hear, and please tell me what you hear. but enough already with all the noise. it’s just a waste of time. i respect you and am interested in what you hear.