Help,Allaerts or Transfiguration

Larry,I never felt you were slamming the Temper.Of course you are entitled to any opinion you want to express.My opineing in an aggressive/antagonistic way was from long ago,in my "idiot era"!!I cannot believe some of the dumb posts I made!Some 'Goners will probably never forgive my stupidity!Can't argue that either.
I do believe the lack of dynamics,you experienced,with the Temper-V,was aided by the particular phonostage employeed.Remember the Titan(which has fabulous dynamics,and amazing detail...actually I cannot find anything to criticize with that design,as my friend owns one)has almost twice the gain of the Temper-V.
As stated,my hybrid tube/SS phonostage has 75 db of gain,and both myself,and a close friend had the Temper-v on the exact phonostage.Trust me,the Temper-v likes a nice high gain phonostage.The dynamics,driven this way,are absolutely first rate.Everything in a high end system is dependent on careful component matching,as I am sure you know.
I did hear an Allaerts on a very fine set-up last year.There was nothing about the system sound that would lead me to believe it was anything less than a wonderful cartridge.
There are SO many fabulous cartridges around today,that I truly envy those "sort of" collectors,who have multiple arms.Hey,if my dad could collect eight thousand "airline twizzle sticks"(a great hobbyist,was he,who donated to the Smithsonian his Charles Lindberg sheet music collection)then there is nothing wrong with owning multiple cartridges.
As to the Orpheus,which I have(but am still awaiting my Graham Phantom,which should come next week,I HOPE)it absolutely "smokes" the Temper-v.I simply cannot convey how great I think it is,without coming off like some kind of ego nut,about my own stuff.It IS an amazing design,and does everything superbly(actually beyond belief).I have heard it in two different systems,alot!With all my reference LP's...AMAZING!!
Though, it too was employed with a high gain phonostage."Scary" good!!!
The Airtight also really intrigues me.I will definitely get a full "personal" report from my friends,in due time.Of course the press has raved,here,but to get the scoop from reliable friends doesn't hurt.
Albert Porter has some very interesting,and surprising comments about the Airtight,ZYX UNI,and Koetsu Platinum Jade on his "equipment" threads.Very interesting,as Albert is a very honest and down to earth hobbyist,IMO!
He also states(this really intrigues me,as I love cartridges,and think they the most important part of a good set-up,but that's just my opinion)he will be scoping out a "new" unheard of high end cartridge,from Japan,that has the potential to be amazing....Gotta love it!!
Sorry for my long rant...well,not really-:)
best.

...."My Titan is too new to justify replacing it"...
Larry,I hope you did not get the impression that I was implying you "do" this(or anyone,for that matter)!!!
My observations about the Orpheus only applies to my personal experience,in "my" system,compared with the Temper-v!..No more.
The Titan,you own is a fantastic cartridge,and I have heard it on many occassions,in my friend's superb system.It seems to do it all!
Best.

Sirspeedy,

Oh no, I fully realize the context of your statements. I find your comments to be well informed and reasonable.

Phono involves balancing so many variables that is hard to be certain ANY comment on sound quality has some universal "truth." Yes, I do recognize certain characteristics of various cartridges that appear whenever I hear that particular cartridge, but, I am often shocked at how different systems can sound by small changes. I could drive myself crazy, I suppose, just swapping different brands of tubes in my phono stage (three different types are employed) or changing the loading (requires opening up the case and soldering resistors across the input terminal while avoiding a whole bunch of very thin wires).

I end up liking a lot of different gear, even when they can sound dramatically different. I liked the Orpheus when I had it in my system, I like my Lyra, I liked the Phoenix in a Linn/Naim system I head, I liked various Allaerts in the systems I've heard them in, and I was even intrigued by the explosive dynamics of a Colibre (I don't think I want to live with it, but I've tried to convince someone else to buy it just so I can listen to it more).

I have not heard the Soundsmith or the Airtight yet. Both sound intriguing.

Larry,don't start to check out different NOS tubes in your phono section!!!It could lead to bankruptcy,and rather quickly!
I have tried 7 different tube families in my stage.Wound up going for my "lungs" with a hyper low noise set of Siemens 6922 CCas.They truly are superior,in my rig.
I very well might sell a kidney,and try out a set of Amperex "pinched waist" 6922's at some future point.
Sadly,like you,I will on occassion recommend a friend get something(only if I know it to be great),so I can hear it.
Don't get me started on the "minutiae" of what changes our set-up sound.I cannot tell you how many times I have demonstrated how literally half of a pinhead of damping fluid changed the sound of my LP playback,with my old Graham 2.2!
Hopefully my Phantom will arrive soon.I am beginning to like my CD player a bit too much!!
Best.

Sir Speedy,

I'm too lazy to do much more than tube swapping. I have experimented with different 12AX7 variants. The "crazy expensive" pair for me was a set of Telefunken ECC 803Ds. As it turned out, I prefer a "free" pair (given to me by a friend) of Telefunken ECC83s.

Good luck with the Phantom. A friend of mine runs an Orpheus on the Phantom (Basis table). That is a very nice sounding combination.