$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Any of the denons in my opinion (dl103s was my favorite)would do a number on the above. In addition, probably one of the best cartridges I have heard is the B&O mmc 2. This would need the adapter to work in standard arm but a real gem. Many would snicker but the sound and engineering are magnificent!

Artar, in response to yesterday's questions, I don't know of any ways to know the horizontal effective mass of a tonearm, other than to get one and check it, or to use a published figure(if there is one available). Sometimes, tonearms have literature explaining their design ideas, and it would be mentioned. That is the case with the OL arms. Perhaps a call to the manufacturer may get you the info.

Now for the numbered questions:
1) The HiFi mod is not needed on the OL Encounter tonearm. It is already satisfactory in horizontal effective mass for low compliance cartridges. Also, the HiFi mod will not fit on it.

2)The HiFi mod does not affect the vertical effective mass of the tonearm, except to an extremely small extent, which would be related to the mass of the weights that is slightly outside the exact center of the tonearm bearing axle. Essentially, it makes no change to vertical mass.

3)The DL103R will work just fine on the Encounter, with no additional mods needed. The heavy bearing housing on the Encounter is designed to provide the increased horizontal effective mass.

4) The anti-skating force cannot be used to compensate for insufficient horizontal effective mass on any tonearm.

Regarding the RS-A1 tonearms, I have heard many reports of good sound from them.

However, I can definitely say that from a design viewpoint it has some very significant problems. The pivot so high above the record is a big problem(geometrically), the pivoting headshell also allows unwanted arm movement to occur right at the headshell, and the lack of anti-skate and lack of cueing are problems.

If it gives good sound, then maybe none of these other things really matter, but I wouldn't use a low compliance cartridge on it. It is not stable, and has a moving headshell which would lose information like the dickens with any kind of lower compliance cartridge, and maybe even a medium or higher compliance one. IMO, it is not a good design.

Twl,

As usual, thanks for your speedy and complete response to my questions. I appreciate it!

It doesn’t surprise me to learn that there is a lack of published information about horizontal effective mass and horizontal compliance for cartridges. Because I will be buying an Origin Live tonearm and I know it will work with the cartridges I have selected, I am not going to pursue the issue any further.

It’s also good to know that the OL Encounter does not need any further modifications to handle low compliance cartridges. But the HiFi mode still looks intriguing, and it’s good to know that it doesn’t affect the vertical mass of the tonearm.

Come to think of it, the bearing housing on the OL Encounter does appear to be on the massive side, which is a good thing. And I would guess that the bearing housing on the OL Illustrious is even sturdier.

I have one last question if I may. Is the Teres 255 worth the extra $350 to get the lead-shot platter?

Thanks.

Part Two: Progress indeed!

No sooner did I get my short list down to two finalists, an urge to find the best price/performance combination took control, and the VPI turntable, once eliminated, found itself back in the lineup. Then I read a review about the Transrotor Leonardo that had my head swimming in luxury as well as audio debt. All the progress I had made earlier was slipping away. It never fails. Anytime I try to make a quick and well-informed audio-buying decision, bouts of doubt, indecision, unabashed ruminating, and excessive flights of fancy always seem to take over. I was stuck again. Somewhat despondent and equally frustrated, I posted a question on this bulletin board that started this thread over a week ago. But instead of asking directly about turntables and tonearms, I decided to inquire about phono cartridges instead.

Asking about the cartridge first seemed a logical thing to do, and if my memory serves me correctly, Julian Hirsch recommended that approach many years ago, back in the audio dark ages of the early 1970s. Julian reasoned, rightly or wrongly, that after one’s loudspeakers, the phono cartridge affects the quality and nature of the music played through one’s system more than any other component. His argument was based upon the very properties of the cartridge itself in which mechanical energy is converted into an electrical signal, which is then feed to the phono preamp and eventually converted back to mechanical energy by the speakers. It was this electromechanical interface that was the defining element of any audio system, more so than the turntable, tonearm, preamp, and amp. Julian further reasoned that the turntable contributed little so long as it was quiet, stable, and rotated the vinyl record at the correct speed. The tonearm only needed to hold the cartridge steady and track the record grooves in a reasonably faithful manner, all of which could be achieved with a little diligence during setup. And we all know his views about amps and preamps, especially solid state ones, sounding identical, or nearly so for all practical purposes.

What heady and naïve times those were to think that the attainment of quality sound could be so oversimplified to the absurd. Gordon Holt and Harry Pearson lifted this fog of simplicity and ignorance in the underground audio press, which went unread by me unit the late 1980s! There is something reassuring and gratifying, I will admit, in simple (but in this case inaccurate) explanations of complex events and interrelationships, especially those that most audiophiles confront when attempting to assemble a musically compelling system based upon component interaction and synergy. We now know that the turntable and tonearm are crucial to achieving good sound. We now know that achieving this sound is not just a matter of steadiness, consistent speed, low wow and flutter, and good tracking. We now know that the preamp and amp have a significant affect upon what we hear. But this new knowledge was subjective and not quantifiable by test-bench numbers, data often supplied by Julian Hirsch and a few others in an attempt to prove sound quality via harmonic distortion, decibels, and RIAA equalization, data that in most circumstances has limited usefulness for the typical listener.

Nevertheless my indecision was getting the better of me so a novel, but perhaps dubious approach was in order. It seemed logical that if I could identify the “right” cartridge, I could then work backwards to the tonearm, followed by the turntable and finally the phono stage. Yeah! That’s it I thought smugly; I will get my answers at last.

Little did I know that I should have started, perhaps, with the tonearm, one that would allow me to use a variety of cartridges, and then work forward and backwards. There’s more logic in this approach because several in this thread have argued that even a modest cartridge, like the Denon DL103R, could produce dazzling results when mounted onto a very good tonearm and turntable. I was told that later I could upgrade the cartridge, but I would always have the benefit of an excellent turntable and arm. Absurd you might think? “No,” I say, for I have heard a Koetsu Tiger Eye Platinum used with a Denon DP-500MX, a combination that robbed that wonderful cartridge of nearly all of its upper-octave air, bloom, and richness. Why on earth would someone use such a combination? Don’t even ask!

So the tonearm was going to be the deciding factor, and there were only two candidates vying to be number one.

To be continued...