new cartridge question

They can't Chris. I found it to be horribly compromised, despite using all the mounting tricks I could find. I have no idea if it magically transforms upon replaying vintage vinyl but that would not be of interest to me anyway - I want an allrounder.

 

It does seem unlikely.

I would guestimate the cost of manufacture at somewhere between £7.50 and £15.

Its hard to get a decent pizza for that!

 

Hi,

Probably right. You realise of course that most of the key business parts used by other cartridge makers cost no more than that.... It is the manufacturing by hand and very small scale (and fancy casing and advertising) that drives prices up for other stuff.

Ciao T

 

Joe... did you find that old broken cart?

If not, anyone else got a non-working cart they should have binned long ago that they wouldnt mind posting?

(p+p+effort gladly refunded!)

 

Hi Chris,

I have an old Ortofon X1-MC, with no cantilever, you can have.

SCIDB

 

Brilliant, Dean you have PM!

NB
Dont give it to me if its an expensive one, its only going to a shop in trade-in!

 

On that point and the general issue of vfm I agree Thorsten.

I've had direct and lengthy experience of the 103 twice. The first time was many years ago and I hated it. I always advised people against buying it as a result. More recently I bought another 103 just to see if all the recent positive feedback was justified. It sounded a lot better than my memory of the old sample, which just goes to show that time clouds ones recollection of these things. It worked fairly well on mono vinyl but I immediately latched onto the HF problems on anything pressed from the late 70s onwards. We do have to remember that it costs £75 though.

 

Hi,

Hmmm, check how many of these LP's are digitally mastered and so on.

At any extent, I always suggest having a good value for money (say around £ 500) line contact caretridge with suitable arm mounted on the table as well, for records cut without tracing simulator and others that sound better that way (for whatever reason).

Ciao T

 

I might have an Ortofon MC3 sans cantilever somewhere as well, that really is worth brass buttons. I'll have a look at the weekend, if it's no good to Chris it might be usefull to someone.

 

Cheers LS! - Think Dean has sorted me out.

These 'trade in' deals are worth doing though..

 

I'm not talking about poor alignment but arm mass and arm decoupling. What arms/plinths did you try the 103 in?

 

Originally - Linn LP12/Ittok
More recently - Micro Seiki DDX1000/SME4/RegaR200/Micro MA707.

No amount of arm swapping will change the dimensions of the tip or HF cut on the vinyl, though it will have other effects for sure.

 

I did, finally tracked it down last night! It was stuck at the back of a drawer, which is why I haven't responded sooner. It's not an AT, but a Dynavector of some sort. PM me your address and I'll pop it in the post. A donation to the charity of your choice will do, as I doubt postage will amount to much.

Edit: I see Dean's sorted you.

 

Hi Joe!

Yup, thanks for the offer. Looks like I'm ok now.

It'll probably come in handy on your own next trade-in

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

well, broke away from the benz ace (just couldn't be arsed with ordering from America)..

I was intreagued by a cart that was getting ridiculous amounts of positive press..

stereophile class 'B' , ''the best cartridge you can buy under $2500", "the best thing other than a koetsu'',

I couldnt find anything bad about it.

http://www.stereophile.com/phonocartridges/737/
http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/hw2.htm
http://www.musicdirect.com/products/detail.asp?sku=ADCVIR

I'm not stupid - and I don't believe hype - but I thought it would be fun to buy blind and find out for myself... after all, at the very least it should be ok I thought.

Also, cartridges being perishable items, its something that will only last about 3 years, no matter what I buy.

So!

ordered it, and put it on last night.

It's still bedding in, but first impressions are..
1) Its got as much detail retrieval as a decent MC cartridge despite being MM.
2) Its got loads of output
3) It sounds significantly better than my old Kontrapunkt A did, even when it was new.

So, I'm not sure about all the accolades, but it certainly seems to be a great choice in my system.

Heres a pic.

 

That's whet the appetite.
I've just seen it new on German fleabay for 475 euros - around £330

 

Sharp eagle eyed shopping got me one from a UK supplier for £325.

I didn't think at the time, I should have given http://www.needles-and-spins.co.uk the chance to pricematch.

needles and spins is a zerogain member.

Its a great cartridge, no regrets at all about buying it.

Cheers
Chris.

 

This was on my shortlist, but the 20X came up at a price I couldn't refuse.

Sounds like a good deal to me. I think MM carts get a rough time from the MC brigade. Certainly not as inferior as many would like to think, and the higher output is useful too.

And anyway, spending £1000 on a cartridge is extravagant IMO - assuming it lasts 700 hours before "waining", you're looking at £1.50 per record! Serious running costs if you ask me...

DT

 

I agree about the running costs.

My £325 cart will cost me...

£108 pounds a year (or)
£9 a month (or)
10p per album to play.

Its about as much as I would pay for a consumable.