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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2018 3:43:43 GMT
Worst cart i ever owned was the oc9 mk11
over the years i've had
atf-5
oc5
oc7 on an lp12 ittok
and the oc9
looking back my favourite was the xerxes tabriz oc5 going into a michell iso..
never got on with the iso either lol..each time i got a new cartridge i'de pop to boreham wood and get john to recalibrate it for me.. lovely helpful fella was john..
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2018 6:26:06 GMT
Goldie 1042.
The bestest cart in the whole wide world.
Pissed all over some (supposedly) brilliant MC carts that I had Inc..
Lyra, koetsu, DV10x5, Benz, Sumuko etc etc etc.
It's a bloody giant killer, I tells ya.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2018 6:49:14 GMT
 i disagree..spitty distorted jamster...hated it..tbh almost most needles i have had have been shite..denon dl304 i have now is ok..wipes the floor with the oc9 and 1042...revelation using one of those for a few hours then putting the denon back on..smooth as silk the 304..still not perfect but tbh i dont care now. test tracks i know very well the 1042 made a right cock of it..distored like hell... end of side album i use to tell if a needle can do the buiness..1042 failed badly..so did the oc9...almost all have failed...denon does an ok job of it though |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2018 7:12:58 GMT
Two possibilities Hucker...
1 - System missmatch.
2 - Your a I am a tit for using this word.
Personally I think it's No2.
🙃
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Bigman80
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The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 24, 2018 7:17:09 GMT
Carts are really personal and also setup/system dependent. I’ve had all of the ones Rudis had.
All apart from OC5, I liked to varying degrees. OC9 is a fave of mine though, but I really like the 304 too. 1042 was good but no MM can match an MC for me. They also seem to track better, esp end of side.
Gimme a Denon DL103 R, one of the Supex based Linns or an AT 32 or 33 and I’m happy too.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2018 7:17:31 GMT
lol doubt it...dino is easy to set up..sme v easy as pie with the sme protractors...
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Post by antonio on Jul 24, 2018 7:46:02 GMT
I purchased a PTG33 at a bargain price, only to find out one channel was not working. I think its new and the one channel didn't sound bad, but not a patch on my Lyra. Don't know if it can be repaired.
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Post by dsjr on Jul 24, 2018 8:06:00 GMT
I dislike juicy sounding vinyl systems, so many AT's float my particular boat with style... The OC9 (used to) go about as far in the lean-tone route as I could manage though, but the AT33 series are much better i remember, but it's been a long time now since I did comparisons. I'm told Jap vinyl is different to ours and the peaky Jap cartridges are better suited to this. Don't forget hana, they're bloomin good i think and not stupid money. The AT-F7 is still cheap for a half decent low output MC..
The AT91/Rega Carbon continues to stick a finger up at pretentious gemstone confections costing hundreds of times its price. In a suitable deck and with a decent phono stage not getting in the way, it's incredibly good, but losses elsewhere are additive and it's so easy to make the thing sound bland and splashy...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2018 22:20:30 GMT
FAVOURITE marked by asterisks...... AT; AT95, AT110, AT120, AT33PTGII, *AT-ART7*. DENON; DL103, DL103R *DL301*, DL304 ORTOFON; Rondo red, Kontrapunkt b, *Vienna*, 2m Black ZYX; R50, *R100* LINN; Asak (didn't like it) Lyra; Clavis (Excellent cartridge) Decca Gold (Mine didn't have any bass, no idea why) Acutex: 410e, *412* (the 410e is outstanding for £40 new!) Shure; M75ED,  ** I'll come back to that one. Goldring: Eroica LX, *2100*, Electra The Audio Technica carts always sound a bit loose in the bass, which bothers me. The ART7 Which is a stunning cart also suffers from it. I love their transparency and energy though and yes, I'd have another. Especially the new ART1000(?). Best Denon? 301. It's only lacking in soundstage. Tonally and Timbrally (is that a word?) superior to the 304 Which left me feeling bored stiff. Way to polite. Best Ortofon? The Vienna, THE best cart I have ever heard. Nothing has come close. ZYX? Not my cup of tea, party cartridges. The Goldring 2100 was incredibly good. One of my all time favourite cartridges. The Acutex 410e, is still available via eBay in NOS for £40!!!! Pisses on the At95 and pushed the 2100 right to the limit. People ignore them because they are ugly. Their loss. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2018 22:36:07 GMT
Never owned an Audio Technica MC as far as I can recall. Had plenty of the MM's, that was enough to put me off anything more exotic. Unlike Oliver, I really enjoy the ZYX sound.  The Goldring Eroica LX is not perfect, but at the price, it's still the biggest MC bargain around in my opinion. It's very musical and fun! Don't suppose any of you own any vintage classic ADC cartridges? They are a bit special. |
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Post by dsjr on Aug 8, 2018 22:53:47 GMT
'Course I own several classic ADC's!!! XLM, XLM II, XLM III. Phase IV, ZLM (two off), 26 which needs a negative lass arm to trackm or a Transcriptors Fluid arm - never tried an Astrion - oh and a treasured good Sonus Blue which comes out to play on high days and holidays... Things have moved on chaps, they've moved on and the gloriously musical sounds of many old ADC's is swamped by a too-safe sense of dynamics which you may not have noticed before digital happened and showed what was wrong with vinyl playback. The ZLM's are best of these and both mine have no surface noise issues. Empire cartridges had total Sh#t diamonds on them, but |I have to say RD's 1000GT is a good one with life and energy to it while tracking stably at 1.25g. I have a 2000E IV which wobbles at the same tracking weight and under a proper microscope, it has a opaque nail on the end of the cantilever.. I found Goldring's cheaper mc's microphonic and crude, even in an RB300 and especially in a Linn arm... ZYX effed the UK market by all but doubling in price a few years ago. Everyone else has done it now so we paupers in the UK get royally shafted as usual... Just putup with the pain, get a NAS tonearm and fit a bloody podded Decca Gold to it. Wipes the floor with all the cack we've discussed above, it seriously does and if like me you had master grade recordings to compare it to, you'd know why I revere this brand so much for it's utter truth to what's cut on them grooves-
- while it works...... |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2018 23:13:14 GMT
Ah. You may own ADC's Dave. I doubt anybody else here will. You've been around HI-Fi as long as me.
I no longer own any XLM or even VLM ADC variants. Gave up with 26's, unless in a Black Widow or Transcriptors arm, they won't work right, even a Mayware is borderline. Still got two 10E Mk.II's, a 10E Mk.IV and a 550 XE though. They sound just fine to me. Work a treat in the 774 arm.
Had a couple of Empire 2000E III's, but not the IV. Pleasant, but not world shaking in my view.
If by cheaper Goldring MC's you mean the Eroica, I've not had any microphony issues, but have tried one in Rega arms which simply have not suited the cartridge. My old Helius does a far better job, as does a 774.
I agree about Deccas, there's something special there! The only one I have left is a Mk.III Elliptical.
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Post by alit on Aug 9, 2018 7:16:35 GMT
Have an AT31E which I thought very good. Also have a Denon DL-S1 which is excellent but a royal pain in the arse to set up correctly. Best of all is the Benz Gullwing SLR I use now. Great cart to my ears.
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Post by dsjr on Aug 9, 2018 12:48:51 GMT
Ah. You may own ADC's Dave. I doubt anybody else here will. You've been around HI-Fi as long as me. I no longer own any XLM or even VLM ADC variants. Gave up with 26's, unless in a Black Widow or Transcriptors arm, they won't work right, even a Mayware is borderline. Still got two 10E Mk.II's, a 10E Mk.IV and a 550 XE though. They sound just fine to me. Work a treat in the 774 arm. Had a couple of Empire 2000E III's, but not the IV. Pleasant, but not world shaking in my view. If by cheaper Goldring MC's you mean the Eroica, I've not had any microphony issues, but have tried one in Rega arms which simply have not suited the cartridge. My old Helius does a far better job, as does a 774. I agree about Deccas, there's something special there! The only one I have left is a Mk.III Elliptical. Lower caste Decca 'London's' (Blue and Export) could be a bit 'twangy' and I think the 12 - 20k region was 'lively' to say the least. The Maroon was a step in the right direction and the Gold much better. The GB clamp had the right idea but I worried about the tin can case being crushed. The Decca-Pod seemed to sort it for me and my Garrott Microscanner is sublime, although I don't have a suitable deck for it - I need different length threaded studs to even try to fit one in a Dual carrier.
My pal HiFi Dave sold two Deccas recently, a Gold and a Jubilee, the Gold having had light dem use for a year or so before. BOTH failed within the first year and although I think repairs are done well (my Microscanner certainly was), this shouldn't need doing!
The 774 arm changed it's exit cables, making it too silly to use with any suspended decks. this killed it for Linn dealers and of course the Ittok came along around this time, so the 774 was all but abandoned by a few hundred Linn dealers then... Mission did get the finish much better later on, the bearings weren't as variable as early ones and of course different exit cables of various types are readily available now (Linn's expensive 'Silver' cable in thinner tonearm guise would be a great match but at what cost? - it even improved an Axis with Basik Plus on it which stunned me I mow recall).
Back to the OP. I think modern AT's are flat response to slightly rising as many Jap cartridges are. I feel the AT31 was the first when they 'got it right' - the 30E tends to peak up a bit... I need to have a diamond grafted onto my OC30 as I liked the extra 'balls' in this model (the diamond chips are butt mounted and easily knocked off). had I a better regular income I'd get this re-tipped and the Koetsu Black re-wired (it has a broken coil wire) but it's going to cost a few hundred whichever I had done (probably by ESCo as I trust them implicitly)
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Post by alit on Aug 9, 2018 13:37:59 GMT
I was very surprised by the 31 considering what it cost me, bit of a giant killer.
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Post by dsjr on Aug 9, 2018 16:15:24 GMT
Not cheap used now sadly. Jimmy H 'discovered' the 30, which was a bit wild. I have a body he gave me with the screw lugs squashed almost flat (Linn tight, remember?). The stylus is fair still but one of the V coils has come adrift and I lack the fine skills to put it back together - the wiring's fine...
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Post by karma67 on Sept 8, 2018 14:02:28 GMT
i think everyone should here a decca,for me it was the c4e,i had mine retipped by j.wright and it was very good,the drive and slam it produced was huge,so much so i tried a cadenza black and it bored me to death. ultimately it wasn't an every day cartridge and it frustrated me that some records sounded stunning whilst other sounded awful,i used it on a rock2/alphason hr-100 and a zeta. in the end i sold it on and it was replaced by a denon 103sa which i was much happier with.
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** I'll come back to that one. 
