dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Aug 15, 2021 9:22:41 GMT
I got this a few months back. I’d been toying with getting one for ages and always managed to resist in the sober light of day, but finally did it whilst slightly inebriated. They certainly talk a good game on the website so what the hell, let’s give it a go. it was a little over £200 once import VAT etc was taken into account, so quite steep for a headshell but not silly money, especially if it’s as good as they claim.
It’s nicely made and packaged and comes with silver plated lead wires attached. The connection pins appear to be slightly smaller than standard, so something to bear in mind if you want to swap the lead wires about. It is a natural white ceramic colour which marks very easily and marks don’t want to come off once they’re there. Correction: I realised that it’s the LP Gear headshell referenced below that has slightly larger connection pins.
I found that the azimuth was off and too much to adjust with the range allowed by tweaking my cartridge fixing bolts. This was very annoying. I started a thread at the time about how to adjust the azimuth on my 1200G arm, which I did manage to do successfully.
I didn’t want to return it because I wasn’t sure what complications there would be with import duty sending it back and getting another one out, plus there’s no guarantee the next one will be any different, plus Korf have annoyingly preempted this situation with a statement on their website saying that all arms should have built in azimuth adjustment, so I highly expected them to say it was not faulty. All in all I saved myself the hassle and persevered.
EDIT 27/08/21 - In fairness to Korf, per reply below from Alex, they saw this review and that the azimuth was off and have contacted me to offer a replacement - excellent customer service and now I feel bad for assuming that contacting them originally would have been more trouble than it was worth.
It really sounds excellent I must say. Better than the ADC LMG-1 that I was using previously which was in turn better than the Ortofon LH-2000 before that. It really does seem to allow another layer of detail and nuance to shine through. In combo with my 1200G, Cadenza Bronze and BB3, it is really something. Definitely the best I’ve ever achieved.
Over the last couple of months I’ve been experimenting with a few much cheaper MMs, most of them vintage and constantly having to adjust the azimuth via the arm has become quite annoying. Basically there is the setting for the Korf and then there is everything else. It’s also quite concerning that I can’t seem to tighten up the screws on the tonearm to their original level so I keep inadvertently changing the azimuth as I tighten up the locking collar. It’s easily rectified by rotating the headshell a little, and then it will stay where it needs to until the next time I change headshells, but I’m concerned at constantly applying that force to adjust something that Technics clearly didn’t intend the user to have to adjust and I particularly worry that I am inadvertently applying the twisting force to the arm tube. Therefore I decided to try to find an alternative to the Korf that would allow me to tighten up the azimuth screws on the arm in the proper position and then leave it alone.
I went for an LP Gear Zupreme 10g magnesium headshell (with azimuth adjustment). Damn, but try as I might, it just does not sound the same. It lacks that last degree of resolution that I have come to enjoy. I gave myself time to adjust in case it was merely a little ‘different’, but I couldn’t live with it, so the Korf is back on. I’m going to make sure all my other headshells do have adjustable azimuth from now on and leave the arm set for the Korf, which is a pain as I really like the ADC headshells. Maybe I’ll keep those and shim the cartridges on one side as needed.
Anyway if you’ve got a couple of hundred burning a hole in your pocket and can adjust the azimuth on your arm, then I highly recommend the Korf to eek out just that little bit more.
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Post by rexton on Aug 15, 2021 12:06:06 GMT
I did see this Korf product, nice to see a review. I think I'll wait a bit longer until we find out a little more about it.
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Post by mikeyb on Aug 15, 2021 13:47:57 GMT
I'd be sending it back
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Post by rexton on Aug 15, 2021 14:35:09 GMT
I suppose it depends on how much of an improvement it makes. If only minor then yes, send it back, but what happens if it transforms your system? Would it not be worthwhile laterally thinking and trying to implement a solution to utilise the headshell? I'd certainly be keeping the headshell if this were the case.
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dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Aug 15, 2021 14:45:25 GMT
I suppose it depends on how much of an improvement it makes. If only minor then yes, send it back, but what happens if it transforms your system? Would it not be worthwhile laterally thinking and trying to implement a solution to utilise the headshell? I'd certainly be keeping the headshell if this were the case. Precisely. It makes a significant difference. It will always bother me if I go back.
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Post by rexton on Aug 15, 2021 14:58:39 GMT
I suppose it depends on how much of an improvement it makes. If only minor then yes, send it back, but what happens if it transforms your system? Would it not be worthwhile laterally thinking and trying to implement a solution to utilise the headshell? I'd certainly be keeping the headshell if this were the case. Precisely. It makes a significant difference. It will always bother me if I go back. OK, looks like you'll have to get your inventing / engineering hat on.
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Post by sq225917 on Aug 15, 2021 15:17:54 GMT
Azimuth not being bang on is just pure fuckery
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Bigman80
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AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 15, 2021 16:49:41 GMT
dt79 I enjoyed your write up, but I have concerns about the screws. If they aren't tightened to the right torque (?) you're going to possibly have some sort of vibration in that joint/connection, as the arm tracks the vinyl over the grooves. This is going to affect what is transferred....and therefore you possibly aren't getting the max performance from it. Not saying that's happening, but that would be on my mind constantly. I get that sending it back makes you think you'd go backwards, but the Orsonic range have headshells that have Azimuth and personally, I think the MS-9 takes some beating. Funnily enough, Alex never measured one of those. 😉
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Post by mikeyb on Aug 15, 2021 17:03:34 GMT
I meant send it back for replacement
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 15, 2021 17:21:14 GMT
I meant send it back for replacement Yep, but I think there was a point where Dan suggested his arm may have been at fault, thus rendering a replacement pointless?
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dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Aug 15, 2021 17:59:05 GMT
dt79 I enjoyed your write up, but I have concerns about the screws. If they aren't tightened to the right torque (?) you're going to possibly have some sort of vibration in that joint/connection, as the arm tracks the vinyl over the grooves. This is going to affect what is transferred....and therefore you possibly aren't getting the max performance from it. Not saying that's happening, but that would be on my mind constantly. I get that sending it back makes you think you'd go backwards, but the Orsonic range have headshells that have Azimuth and personally, I think the MS-9 takes some beating. Funnily enough, Alex never measured one of those. 😉 Hmmm, and now it’s on my mind too. Thanks for that Ollie! I think it’s ok, at no point has it been loose enough that there’s play in it or it’s loose, merely that if you hold the arm and twist the headshell it was possible to rotate the locking collar/headshell relative to the arm tube. Since putting the Korf back on I’ve tightened them up as much as I can. Next time I change cartridge/headshell if I find that it moves when I tightened the locking collar then I’ll endeavour to tighten some more, but I think it will be OK now. There was an Orsonic one that he tested (and that was the next best after his own) but not sure if it was that model. I’ll take a look.
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dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Aug 15, 2021 17:59:44 GMT
I meant send it back for replacement Yep, but I think there was a point where Dan suggested his arm may have been at fault, thus rendering a replacement pointless? No I didn’t mean that, sorry if it wasn’t clear. It’s definitely the Korf that’s out.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 15, 2021 18:03:56 GMT
Yep, but I think there was a point where Dan suggested his arm may have been at fault, thus rendering a replacement pointless? No I didn’t mean that, sorry if it wasn’t clear. It’s definitely the Korf that’s out. Ah, ok....that's a relief lol In that case, I'm with Mikey.
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dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Aug 15, 2021 18:36:35 GMT
No I didn’t mean that, sorry if it wasn’t clear. It’s definitely the Korf that’s out. Ah, ok....that's a relief lol In that case, I'm with Mikey. Yeah, as annoying as it is, and clearly unacceptable at any price, for the reasons I stated originally I just didn’t think it was worth the trouble. I might check out the Orsonic though. Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent, light and not too expensive headshell with adjustable azimuth, for my other cartridges?
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Post by rexton on Aug 16, 2021 20:25:57 GMT
Azimuth not being bang on is just pure fuckery Yep, can't really argue with that statement!
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Post by rexton on Aug 16, 2021 20:28:17 GMT
The Orsonic is probably the best at the moment. I have a couple and wouldn't swap them for anything. The Korf may be better but the jury is out and I know that the Orsonic does work and have no problems with it's function. As stated earlier, I'll leave the Korf for now.
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dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Aug 16, 2021 21:35:17 GMT
The Orsonic is probably the best at the moment. I have a couple and wouldn't swap them for anything. The Korf may be better but the jury is out and I know that the Orsonic does work and have no problems with it's function. As stated earlier, I'll leave the Korf for now. Where can you buy the Orsonic? I can’t find them for sale when I search.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 17, 2021 6:13:43 GMT
The Orsonic is probably the best at the moment. I have a couple and wouldn't swap them for anything. The Korf may be better but the jury is out and I know that the Orsonic does work and have no problems with it's function. As stated earlier, I'll leave the Korf for now. Where can you buy the Orsonic? I can’t find them for sale when I search. You have to use Hifi shark and pick up a used or NOS one.
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Post by rexton on Aug 17, 2021 16:04:32 GMT
Where can you buy the Orsonic? I can’t find them for sale when I search. You have to use Hifi shark and pick up a used or NOS one. Yes that is exactly what I did. They do come up for sale every so often.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2021 21:12:16 GMT
I found that the azimuth was off and too much to adjust with the range allowed by tweaking my cartridge fixing bolts. This was very annoying. Hi, this is Alex from Korf Audio. This definitely should not happen and you are getting a new one with a perfect azimuth ASAP. Please drop us an email with your postal address. No need to send anything back. And thank you very much for the great review!
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 26, 2021 21:40:10 GMT
I found that the azimuth was off and too much to adjust with the range allowed by tweaking my cartridge fixing bolts. This was very annoying. Hi, this is Alex from Korf Audio. This definitely should not happen and you are getting a new one with a perfect azimuth ASAP. Please drop us an email with your postal address. No need to send anything back. And thank you very much for the great review! Well, You just cannot beat that for customer service! Bravo. dt79 are you seeing this Oh, hi Alex and welcome to the forum.
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dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Aug 27, 2021 6:08:03 GMT
I found that the azimuth was off and too much to adjust with the range allowed by tweaking my cartridge fixing bolts. This was very annoying. Hi, this is Alex from Korf Audio. This definitely should not happen and you are getting a new one with a perfect azimuth ASAP. Please drop us an email with your postal address. No need to send anything back. And thank you very much for the great review! Wow, thank you so much. Great customer service indeed! I have edited my original review post so that anyone finding and reading only that will see that you proactively contacted me to provide a replacement.
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Post by electronumpty on Aug 27, 2021 9:29:26 GMT
Hi, this is Alex from Korf Audio. This definitely should not happen and you are getting a new one with a perfect azimuth ASAP. Please drop us an email with your postal address. No need to send anything back. And thank you very much for the great review! Well, You just cannot beat that for customer service! Bravo. dt79 are you seeing this Oh, hi Alex and welcome to the forum. Hear hear!! Bravo Mr Korf!
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Post by gninnam on Aug 27, 2021 19:26:22 GMT
That is fantastic - cannot fault that at all
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Post by antonio on Aug 28, 2021 4:10:04 GMT
Great customer service, nice to see someone just say sorry, I'll replace that, instead of putting up a fight insisting it's the buyers fault, mistakes are made, nobody's perfect, admit it and carry on, you'll get more respect that way. ps The nobody's perfect doesn't include me
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Post by gninnam on Aug 28, 2021 8:39:49 GMT
Great customer service, nice to see someone just say sorry, I'll replace that, instead of putting up a fight insisting it's the buyers fault, mistakes are made, nobody's perfect, admit it and carry on, you'll get more respect that way. ps The nobody's perfect doesn't include me And me
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Post by rexton on Aug 28, 2021 16:10:52 GMT
Thats excellent service.
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dt79
Junior Member
Posts: 336
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Post by dt79 on Sept 13, 2021 20:04:25 GMT
Just to report back on the final outcome, Alex delivered the new headshell as promised, which has perfect azimuth alignment.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Sept 13, 2021 20:09:21 GMT
Just to report back on the final outcome, Alex delivered the new headshell as promised, which has perfect azimuth alignment. That's great news!
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Post by rexton on Sept 13, 2021 20:14:23 GMT
That's great. We now need a 3000 word essay on it's performance.
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