Cartridge manufacturer quality and reliability?
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| Posted on August 17, 2012 at 08:15:39 | ||
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Posts: 273
Location: East coast Joined: February 16, 2007 |
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?
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| Add Dynavector to that list. /nt\, posted on August 17, 2012 at 10:05:20 | |
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Posts: 9340
Location: Northern Virginia Joined: June 13, 2008 Contributor Since: July 20, 2008 |
 Opus 104
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| I'll second that. -nt, posted on August 17, 2012 at 15:37:55 | |
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Posts: 1657
Location: Silicon Valley, California Joined: March 14, 2003 Contributor Since: October 2, 2008 |
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| RE: Going by personal experience with 4 carts over 10 years., posted on August 17, 2012 at 19:31:23 | |
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Posts: 2937
Location: wi. Joined: January 7, 2003 |
Well, that settles it then..
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| I know what you mean! ;-) /nt\, posted on August 17, 2012 at 22:38:30 | |
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Posts: 14908
Location: Central Kentucky Joined: December 20, 2000 Contributor Since: January 29, 2004 |
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| RE: I know what you mean! ;-) /nt\, posted on August 19, 2012 at 18:07:18 | |
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Posts: 2937
Location: wi. Joined: January 7, 2003 |
In 38 years I've never had a defective cart, so there all good. : )
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| There have been a few problem reports lately..., posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:34:01 | |
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Posts: 5071
Location: Linthicum Heights, MD USA Joined: December 18, 2003 |
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
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| RE: There have been a few problem reports lately..., posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:57:07 | |
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Posts: 1616
Joined: April 23, 2007 |
Through the years I've seen issues with VanDenHull and Ortofon carts.
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| It is not surprising..., posted on August 20, 2012 at 19:20:22 | |
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Posts: 5071
Location: Linthicum Heights, MD USA Joined: December 18, 2003 |
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
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| Update, posted on August 24, 2012 at 20:04:53 | |
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Posts: 5071
Location: Linthicum Heights, MD USA Joined: December 18, 2003 |
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
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