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Are there any cartridge manufacturers that are generally recognized for having the highest levels of manufacturing consistency? Manufacturers were the majority of the cartridges meets published specs etc?
I have personally always had pretty consistent results from Denon and Benz but wondered if there is any consensus on this subject?
Follow Ups:
In a prior post I mentioned an article in Stereophile by Mike Fremer. The article that I mentioned seems to have some inconsistencies in its reporting and I have been made aware of the problems in the report.
At this point in time the inconsistent stylus SRA issue in Lyra cartridges appears to be unproven and needs some further investigation. According to the information I have received, Lyra uses the same supplier of stylus/cantilever assemblies that Denon uses (Ogura Jewel) and the problem has not been reported in Denon models.
Since I posted something about this issue, I wanted to post an update about the reporting problem so a prospective buyer would not be unfairly put off by the Lyra brand.
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
But Denon cartridges are recognized as consistently high quality. This isn't my choice but it is the choice of retippers. IIRC there was something on VdH's site about cartridges acceptable for retipping.
Cartridges's that are acceptable models for retipping are no big recomendation but its an indication of manufacturing consistency. No one wants to risk their business's reputation by taking on a retip job on a cartridge that has shoddy build quality and inconsistent construction.
A retipper takes the chance that you will send them something of questionable build quality and they may get blamed for the cartridge falling apart or something like that. Denon is not the darling of the audiophile world but it is a very good cartridge for the money and they make them very well.
Denon cartridges have also sported a very highly polished stylus that has been for some years a very good quality diamond. Not all stylii are equal and the quality of the stone used for the stylus and the quality of the polishing of that stylus is pretty important to how many hours you can get from that stylus.
If you have been in this hobby for any length of time you would have already noticed that stylii don't seem to last as long as they used to last. I am not expert but I suspect that inferior quality diamonds and poor finishing of that stone may be at fault.
That's just my feeling about the subject,
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
Through the years I've seen issues with VanDenHull and Ortofon carts.
Mike Fremer had an issue with the top of the line (IIRC) Lyra cartridge. I believe that there was an issue with stylus/cartridge generator alignment and it caused some problems. I apologize if I get this wrong but I distinctly remember Mike's problem with a cartridge with an asking price around $5000.
I have never had a problem with a Denon cartridge but that's not exactly some sort of conclusive proof. They have sold a lot of cartridges and they are non-fussy with no IGD or tracking issues. That same claim cannot be made for a lot of cartridges that sell for a lot more money.
All of their cartridges out perform their asking price. What else can a consumer ask for?
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
Get your OEM AT13Ea styli while you still can!
Unfavorable review of generic replacement is forthcoming.
-reub
I have an OC9 II which I hardly use - less than 100 hours before one channel went dead. It's been sitting around as my third/spare cartridge. Then one day I noticed one channel was not working. Visual examination with a microscope showed no broken wiring or detached soldering. However, my meter measured an open circuit.
My previous OC9 had no issue. AT had (past tense?) a good reputation for reliability. But how about recent productions?
Something about the generator (maybe the whole thing) is a wee bit off center, but all else is aligned. The test report is also less than perfect, sporting different numbers for the L and R outputs. I measured the DC resistance and came up with slightly different numbers.
What was I to do, send it back? I decided to give it a try, and it sounds fine. So, Audio-Technica might not really be worthy of an honorable mention for quality, but this discussion is worth while.
After messing around with the generic replacement stylus for the AT13Ea, I bought two more OEM styli. I was impressed with having three that look identical.
-reub
I wouldn't quite second the AT nomination, 'cause slightly sideways pointing cantilevers and azimuth deviations are not that rare on AT needles (and not only the cheap ones). Gladly enough, these most usually are easily user-repairable. But some aren't - for example an ATN95E of a German forum aquaintance, on which the diamond iself wasn't oriented correctly, so that the front/back flats of the (pseudo-)elliptical tip were looking some 30° (!!!) sideways. Granted though, for the very low price of an AT95E one probably can't really expect stellar quality control anymore...
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
P.S.: And no worries, I've already got four spare ATN13s for my AT13EaV. The ATN13EaV and ATN13EaX are lower quality, bonded ones, btw - so if one would like the nice, high quality nudie with rectangular shank, the regular ATN13 (with golden AT logo) is the version to look for...
Not knowing any better, I just picked up three of 'the best' ATN13EaX from LP gear (needless to say, I liked the first one). You're right, they're bonded on a tapered shaft. I have no regrets about these, in fact I'm glad to have them.
Long story short, I bought my cartridge used at a dealer back in the day. The original stylus is nude to a round shaft, with a gold AT logo. This is the first I have heard of a square shank. Is it possible you have the shatiba stylus?
And, before I go nuts, my cartridge body is heavily tarnished and has me thinking... do the bodies ever go bad?
-reub
Uhm, Reuben, actually the regular ATN13 (yup, the one with the golden AT logo but no further imprint) should sport a rectangular shank (haven't measured, but I'd think most probably 0.2 x 0.1 mm, maybe 0.14 x 0.07 mm) nudie, just like its unfortunately incompatible sister ATS13 and the later ATN130E/132EP. I'm aware that there sometimes were exceptions, though - a forum aquaintance over from AK recently even got a bonded and hardly polished ATN13. However, that was a replacement vendor repacked exemplar - although that doesn't necessarily have to be a problem, 'cause my new old stock exemplars also weren't originally AT packed, but nevertheless all do sport the rectangular shank nudie on tapered alu cantilever combination.
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
P.S.: A bit of corrosion on the outside of the generator shell usually doesn't matter. The copper wiring inside is laquered, so it's pretty well protected. And AT's choice of materials for their carts always was pretty good, so unless your AT13Ea body had been sun-dried out in the desert or rotting in a swamp for the last 25 years, there's not much too worry about.
Opus 104
Do a search. There are plenty of complaints here about collapsed suspensions and skewed cantilevers on Dynavectors. I personally had a skewed cantilever on a DV20XH. The good news is that the North American importer (Mike Pranka) took very good care of me. Great customer service.
However, the OP was asking about product quality and consistency...
I second the recommendation of Mike Pranka. Great guy and great service.
All were excellent quality and long-lived.
Opus 104
Well, that settles it then..
In 38 years I've never had a defective cart, so there all good.
: )
Having gone through 3 exact same cartridges, both the Linn Akiva and 47Labs Miyabi have an excellent consistency in terms of production standard and sound quality.
The Akiva has gone through some minor tweaks over the last 5-6 years and gained nice improvements but the house sound stay the same.
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