Can a £1200 cartridge be a good value?

I have recently upgraded my cartridge from a K18 to a secondhand musicmaker 11 - The difference sonically was astonishing and something of a shock and now I hardly use my expensive CD player. Im now wondering if my next upgrade should be a even more exotic cartridge?

In music I value midband transparency above all else and my thoughts are a musicmaker classic or a MC in the region of £1200 new - Im happy to buy secondhand.

What improvements should be expected for this £600 cost difference?

My replay is SP10Mk11/Origin Live Encounter/Musicmaker 11 - Whest two - TVC preamp - KT90 single ended power amp- Quad ELS57's - two pairs

I welcome comments and advice from all forum members but especially those who may have previously been in a similar position.
Andy

 

In short - I believe the answer to your question to be yes. However, and it is a big 'however' it all depends on ones personal judgement with regard to value for money. In my experience ones concept of 'value' very much depends on how much deposable income one has. I suppose any price is 'good value' in one sense if the same thing can't be bought for less. I drove a 'Mitsubishi Evo 9 FQ360' yesterday; retail cost of this car is £37000. Obviously, this is poor value compared to my wife’s Toyota which at half the price has much the same features. However, its astonishing value compared to a Porsche Turbo which it is as quick as. Anyone who thinks that 'expensive' cartridges' sound the same as budget ones has either never really compared them or is fooling themselves; that doesn't necessarily mean you will like the sound they make though. It is my experience that, as the hi-fi component becomes more expensive, similarly priced components sound less like each other (not more) as the designers have more budget to pursue the individual qualities that they see as most important.

 

no I dont think so mate.

I can hear a difference between a budget cart and something great in the 300-600 quid stakes, but when you compare the best in that price range to something double the price the flavour alters slightly but its not dead obviously ''better''.

Others mileage may vary, but what I'm talking about is the slight gains in performance (or better put preference) when you reach a certain price bracket.

 

Audio and good value are mutually exclusive concepts, at virtually any price level.

-- Ian

 

I used to have a Voyd turntable Helios arm and Audionate io cartridge (c 1200) It was a really magical setup, and the cartridge gave that transparent sound you are after. Perhaps worth a listen

 

I went from a MMIII to an AN IO and it was a huge step up.

 

...he's right!

My current £350 cartridge sounds better than my previous £600 cartridge.

marvelous

PS dont ask what they both were, bloody irrelevant lol.

 

Anything costing more than you can afford is likely to be just different - not better.

 

''better'' doesnt have a place in audio. everything is just different.

price is no guarantee of anything, except spending more money..

 

You and I work too hard ;-)

I call it DDS or downsizing denial syndrome. Mostly seen on Pink Fish where some unfortunate individual loses their livelihood and suddenly claims the Nait 1.5 with dutch cap is better than the 52/46/32/ Hutt! (otherwise known Stateside as the Naim QB system)

You're having a midlife crisis in reverse.

 

Thanks for your comment What I/O are you talking about?- Can you quantify the benefits that you found for me? What made you dissatisfied with your MM111?

best regards
Andy

 

lol

yes, working like the devil himself this morning.

well there is no doubt that greater expense increases component quality (if you choose very carefully)

equally true - when a certain level of expense has been reached it becomes a case of ever decreasing benefit for ever increasing expense.

furthermore, you have the real benefit of the true ''high end'' - which is a large number of individual sounding niche products that cater for a certain taste - for example Beauhorn Virtuoso, Tannoy Westminster, Isophon Cassiano... not just limited to speakers.. but high price is certainly not changing quality between these models - just giving a different ''take'' a different set of sonic compromises.

 

I used to think that especially with speakers , but after Merlin and Murray pointed me in the direction of TAD drivers and horns , I really believe that is the way to go, space and to some extent funds permitting of course.

 

having heard TAD's.... I still think that

- they excel in some areas - for example power handling, linearity (for horns), clarity.

Like any transducer though, they are a set of sonic compromises - they don't possess the detail at very low volumes you'd get from an electrostatic panel for example.

With an expensive speaker using TAD drive units a lot will depend on the implementation of the drive units, which again comes back to the sonic preferences/skill of the designer who makes a very individual component (neither bet nor worse, just different) to others.

 

To be fair Chris, you've heard one TAD driver in an unfinished hybrid speaker rolling off at 5khz with the tweeter missing I doubt you would get much detail at low levels with Quads rolling off like that.

Decent and promising as that 2/3rds of a speaker was, a full range TAD is something very different indeed. But still it will come down to individual preferences and I for instance preferred £15K of Tannoy to £25K of Cessaro at the recent Munich show by a country mile. I have no idea how they got into a conversation about cartridges though.

 

I probably should add, that apart from at shows, the most expensive cartridge (getting back on cartridges!!) I've had real exposure too was around £1,200.

My gut reaction is that the law of diminishing returns (essentially the point I was trying to make) sets in a lot lot lower than that, and the original poster I don't personally will see the same returns going from a budget cart to a £600 cartridge if he spends as much again.

 

Hi Andy,

This is the IO that they are talking about. This is the Audionote IO.




It costs £1850.

This cartridge has the abilty to offer what you are after but it's not cheap. It also has a very low output and is usually used with a step up transformer.

Other cartridges you could look at include the Ortofon Jubilee. At £1050, this will be in your budget. It does offer high quality mid range detail and resolution. It is an excellent tracker as well.

There are many others which may take your fancy but the Jubilee is a good benchmark and start if you want to spend that amount.


SCIDB

 

SCIDB - £1850 plus transformer. Thats a lot on money it certainly would quickly show up on my wifes radar. the IO Its had several good plugs on this thread. At the price though a purchase for me is 18 months away. Thats plently of time to get to hear one.

Andy

 

Hi Andy,

I hope to have a listen to one as well. I have always liked the Audionote cartridges in the systems I have heard.

I understand Noteworthy Audio in Aylesbury sell them. I think that's where Ant got his from. I have not bought anything from them but have emailed them for info on other things. They have been more than helpful.

SCIDB

 

Try PQ directly!