Vinyl Asylum

Posted by collinslaw@fuse.net (A) on April 14, 2012 at 04:49:16

In Reply to: RE: Blubber.... posted by Stitch on April 14, 2012 at 02:12:17

if you are in the league of gentlemen that can afford such a luxury item, then, things such as Mr. Carr discuss may make a difference to you. for the rest of us, it makes interesting reading and is purely theoretical. for fun, let's assume that this new atlas gives 100% of analog performance available today. it takes $9500 to get that. for me and others similarly situated, the question then becomes: how much of that 100% can i get for the money i have to spend? i think you can get as much as 80% for as little as $500-2000. some will disagree with me, but there is a distinctively audible step-up when you go to the appx. $5000 range (let's say 90% of the atlas). i use what i call the "ricky lee" test. the easier it becomes to understand ricky lee jones, the better is the cartridge. i can definitely understand her better on the $5,000 cartridges i have heard than on the lower sets. luckily for me, one of the guys i hang out with for stereo will probably get an atlas, so i will be able to judge for myself before too long.
just like cars, a corvette for $50,000, a ferrari for $350,000. let's not gripe about things we have no control over, such as the price of an atlas. like a ferrari, it is what it is.

personally, i am in the shallow end of the pool looking for cartridges that belie their price. zu denon 103 (these are incredible and cheap if your arm can handle the 14 gram weight), wilson benesch carbon (bought used from someone that did not know what they had) and i hope soon to get back from soundsmith a lyra argo that i bought cheap because it needed a re-tip. i will have only $800 in that one.
Tom Collins