|
Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
|
|
|
Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
|
In Reply to: Re: Best match Cartridge for Audio Research SP16, please help. posted by KONA on April 24, 2007 at 14:13:57:
So, let me get this right, please ? You have nine tonearms to choose, a VPI tt, an ARC SP-16 preamp. Which amp and speakers do you favor ? It seems to me you have much money invested in your hifi.
Does it really matter what the reviewers say about your preamp ?
You must realize that your ARC should trounce a Bellari and MusicFi.
But, whether it trounces anything is not important, is it ? What is really, really important is your enjoyment in your listening environment-your favorite illusion of sonic reality.
None of us, or any reviewer, can change what you find with whatever combo you choose. With the expense you have spent, any cartridge at any price should work in your preamp. How it sounds, with your setup is, oh so difficult, to predict. In fact, this hobby/obsession is all about the right equipment combinations, which can hardly be predicted. Trial and error is the real road you must travel, my friend. I will certainly recommend some cartridges, but, you must try them, in your environment, with your music. You must trust your ears, or maybe you might want to learn how to trust your ears more.
First, reference records should be of acoustical nature. That is, music with acoustical instruments. I prefer the acoustical piano and guitar. I also love harsichord recordings as testers, as they are very difficult to reproduce without our gear adding a more metallic sound. The key is referring to instruments that you know how they should sound live.
Second, why must a cartridge be a new or current manufacturer offering ? Is new automatically better ? You know that answer, I am sure. With the current costs involved to try various cartridges, among your 9 tonearms, new cartridges might be quite costly. Consider the value of second-hand audio. Very affluent folks graduate from, say, a Koetsu Black, to a Rosewood or Onyx. Then, they sell or trade their Black. I have never heard of anyone who didn't like a Koetsu, unless the suspension gave out.
The next classic I will mention is still produced for the Asian market. In the vintage audio world, it is THE reference, having been available since the early 1960s. Yes, the Ortofon SPU/SPE, is my choice for over 17 years. I use a sixties vintage version, with the step-up trannies riding tandem in the headshell. That almost 30 gram combo requires certain tonearms, but among your nine, I am sure you can accommodate it. It is one of the sweetest cartridges ever.
Be aware that newer versions can be brighter, as they offered silver wire, for the so-called, state of the art, adventure into the overly detailed white and bright highs. I like smooth and detailed. I dislike what the so-called state of the art has done to overly extended high freq extension. But, that is my humble opinion.
If you wish to stay with moving magnet carts, perhaps you could network with some other collectors in your area, and listen to or setup someone else's Grado Statement, before investing in such a massive maybe. I can heartily recommend many carts for you to try. I am enamored of early stereo era cartridges. Some of them still compete, like the SPU/SPE. I let the sound of the gear decide for me, not the vintage. I have tried many modern units, only to go back to my early sixties reference carts-the Ortofon SPE and the Pickering/Stanton 380. You cannot go wrong with these two.
One of the nicest modern carts is the Monster Genesis 2000, now marketed as a very, very expensive ZYX offering. That cart has amazing speed and 3D, but it is not as sweet as my fave Orto SPE.
I wish you fun and sweet sounds on your hifi journey...
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Cartridge for ARC SP16 help. - Interstage Tranny 19:37:53 04/24/07 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
