What is the “World’s Best Cartridge”?

@rauliruegas , Sorry Raul, not a fan. A $16,000 cartridge better be using something other than an aluminum cantilever with an antique high mass stylus mounting system seen in cartridges 40 years ago because the low mass resins we use to glue them in place today were not available yet. Even the higher end DS cartridges use a better stylus mounting system than the one seen in the "Top" Wing. Yes, I really like the MSL/Seta L combination, but there are also two more top flight cartridges coming, the MC Diamond, which I know you like and the Lyra Atlas Lambda SL, which I know I'll like. Which one will I Like best? It really does not mater, but if one should fall behind I'll sell it and try another. The plan is to keep three available so that if something should happen to my financial situation I have enough cartridge to get me to the end of my life or hearing, whichever comes first. 

I have been talking to Frank Schroder. He is going to make me a new CB with a Rosewood arm wand. I am going to make a new plinth for the Sota using the same species of wood. It will extend down to the surface of the granite cutting off that low frequency feedback problem I was dealing with, and it will look a lot better. I will use the exact same chiseled finger joints you see in the maple skirt which look a lot nicer than Sota's radiused off version,

Raul, I read the Suzuka review. In one sentence, I got the impression these are Low Output Moving Magnets. How else to account for the statement that the stylus is user replaceable? But elsewhere the reviewer states he set capacitance at 300 ohms, which could just be a typo, but one that should have been edited out prior to publication. Alternatively to a LOMM, which seems unlikely, the uniqueness of the cartridge might owe to using a single magnet and coreless coils in an LOMC , but where is the brilliant invention? AT has been making amorphous core LOMCs for a while, which is probably a better idea. The reviewer also suggests that using a coreless coil makes the transduction more efficient, where the opposite is true and probably accounts for the very low output.

@lewm , this is what happens when you hand the marketing over to a firm that has  very limited understanding of what is happening at the sharp end. I lost interest at the site of a primitive cantilever and diamond. Raul is being comprehensive and inclusive. He knows how interested I am in alternative cartridge designs and nobody ever mentions these cartridges. The DS and the strain gauge get more air time. I really wanted to like the strain gauge and came very close to buying one but history has taught me to avoid overly impressive sounding cartridges as that first impression usually means there is something wrong. Moving on to Cherubini's String quartets highlighted the defect as a stridence in the higher frequencies that gave violins an artificial edge. I am lucky as my daughter plays the violin so I am very use to what a live one sounds like. The Hyperion sounds a lot more like my daughter's violin. 

@daveyf , I have developed relationships with several online stores that have handled some issues beautifully. I can highly recommend Elusive Disc, Upscale Audio and The Cable Company. All three have been very accommodating. I could not ask for better treatment. 

The Top Wing Suzaku is clearly a moving magnet.

My understanding is that the low output is a consequence of using a very small coil to minimise capacitance and minimise inductance in the overall design - meaning the resonant frequency is very high, making the cartridge less susceptible to phase shifts in the high frequency compared to most MM's. The high frequency response in the audio band relatively unaffected by loading.

One might argue that the moving flux design by Glanz is probably more linear.

But hey  if you buy the Top Wing at only US$16000, you only get a little phase shift, and for another US$17000 you can buy an LFD phono cable voiced to your requirements - I'm sure with LFD's experience in gluing bits of wire they could even put hairs on the chests of Dolly Parton.

Having said that I haven't seen a Top Wing owner that does not own other megabuck cartridges with quite different flavours, so it may not be the singular magic bullet that some folk might be hoping for.

My concern would be quality control - Fremer got a dud, and then a good one - 50% failure rate. Now if they were an Australian car manufacturer they would have blueprinted the cartridge and juiced it up before delivery for review.

Now where did I leave that ELP laser turntable...