Top Tier Cartridges, Sleepers and Amazing Values

My Ortofon Cadenza Bronze sounds very good with my VPI Scout.
 
I'll vote for the Etna. I wasn't prepared for how great it sounds. Paraphrasing German Audio's September 2015 review: 'What immediately strikes you in listening to the Etna is its momentum and openness. It is supremely clean, extremely dynamic, and has a dreamlike tone and naturalness. It is natural on instruments, and especially voices have an almost magical beauty.'

Also, it really does do well with every type of music.
 
You have forgotten the Ortofon Winfield.....only a small tick less than the very top Lyra, but much less cost.
 
Hay Mate....regarding the link to E-bay. ...just my take.....be careful of the free shipping....it may not include customs fees. also...to get a cartridge from who knows where and send it to Ortofon for refurbishing........they may not do it because of the grey market aspect. ...and ....are you sure this is for a used cartridge, and not just a brochure. You could get that as a download directly from Ortofon.
 
Hay Mate....regarding the link to E-bay. ...just my take.....be careful of the free shipping....it may not include customs fees. also...to get a cartridge from who knows where and send it to Ortofon for refurbishing........they may not do it because of the grey market aspect. ...and ....are you sure this is for a used cartridge, and not just a brochure. You could get that as a download directly from Ortofon.
Thanks... although I'm not sure why you wrote any of it... Free shipping means just that - free shipping, it has nothing to do with Customs fees. I never even touched a cartridge in my life, yet alone owned one, yet alone sold one. I have no idea what made you think that I'm selling cartridges. I'm in brochures business. You want a specific Ortofon brochure? You talk to me. You want that in digital form? Go download it, there is always someone who wants original printed material.
 
I generally only comment on gear I have heard in my system.


top tier : Lyra Atlas - is your system up to this level of neutral magnification - on the right recordings Atlas is absolute king

top tier superb value : Dynavector XV-1s. Its been around for a long time now, so is easily forgotten in this : must have the newest and greatest mentality"
I have had dyna's in my system for over 20 years and the XV-1 series I am on my third. Hard to say a 5k cartridge is good value, but in comparison it is. Does everything well and the true all rounder cartridge that sounds excellent on all your record collection.

Both the Lyra's and dyna's top end micro line stylus last considerably longer than say the Ortofon replicant100 stylus profile, which adds to their overall value equation.

Best value: imo easily the Lyra Delos

best sleeper value: Denon DL-S1 at less than 1k is a bargin - your phono stage needs to be up to the task as its very low output.


Love to hear cartridges: Koestu top of range stone cartridges to hear for myself the syrup all gone.
My Sonic Lab top cartridge, never mind OEM Air Tight, I want to hear the guy who makes these cartridges own company -
Lyra Etna


cheers
 
I am more than pleased with the performance of the Ortofon Cadenza Black on my Michell Gyro SE with an SME309 tonearm. Fabulous sounding moving coil cartridge.


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I am also thrilled with the sound of my Ortofon Cadenza Blue on my Micro Seiki DD-40 with the MA505 tonearm. Love the ruby cantilever. Very clean sound.


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I generally only comment on gear I have heard in my system.


top tier : Lyra Atlas - is your system up to this level of neutral magnification - on the right recordings Atlas is absolute king




cheers

Got mine yesterday. Hope you are right.
 
I generally only comment on gear I have heard in my system.


top tier : Lyra Atlas - is your system up to this level of neutral magnification - on the right recordings Atlas is absolute king

top tier superb value : Dynavector XV-1s. Its been around for a long time now, so is easily forgotten in this : must have the newest and greatest mentality"
I have had dyna's in my system for over 20 years and the XV-1 series I am on my third. Hard to say a 5k cartridge is good value, but in comparison it is. Does everything well and the true all rounder cartridge that sounds excellent on all your record collection.

Both the Lyra's and dyna's top end micro line stylus last considerably longer than say the Ortofon replicant100 stylus profile, which adds to their overall value equation.

Best value: imo easily the Lyra Delos

best sleeper value: Denon DL-S1 at less than 1k is a bargin - your phono stage needs to be up to the task as its very low output.


Love to hear cartridges: Koestu top of range stone cartridges to hear for myself the syrup all gone.
My Sonic Lab top cartridge, never mind OEM Air Tight, I want to hear the guy who makes these cartridges own company -
Lyra Etna


cheers

Since you like the Lyras, no Lyra Olympos?
 
Since you like the Lyras, no Lyra Olympos?

Hi Ked

They don't manufacture the Olympus anymore, unless you already have one. J Carr told me the Atlas and Etna are better sounding cartridges. He is a straight up and down guy so no desire to hear the Olympus.

That said, there are now SL versions of the Atlas and Etna .25mv output vs .5 mv.

Myles Astor has an Atlas SL in for review. That will take a while while he extensively listens to it.
 
My picks for sleeper cartridges are:

The EMT line of cartridges. Great performance and value.

Shindo - Difficult to find, and only comes mounted in a Bakelite Ortofon A headshell, but worth the search.

My system in my signature has changed some and I now own both cartridges as well as a Garrard 301
 
Hi Ked

They don't manufacture the Olympus anymore, unless you already have one. J Carr told me the Atlas and Etna are better sounding cartridges. He is a straight up and down guy so no desire to hear the Olympus.

That said, there are now SL versions of the Atlas and Etna .25mv output vs .5 mv.

Myles Astor has an Atlas SL in for review. That will take a while while he extensively listens to it.

I didn't want to wait for a low output (the .56 wait was bad enough), but I am very curious as to what you are hearing about improvements in linearity visa-vis the .56. Do you have any scoop?
 
I didn't want to wait for a low output (the .56 wait was bad enough), but I am very curious as to what you are hearing about improvements in linearity visa-vis the .56. Do you have any scoop?

I guess we will just have to wait for Myles review in Positive Fedback. He owned the Atlas for 3 years so will be well placed to give his opinion.

personally I don't feel any cartridge envy not having the SL :)
 
I guess we will just have to wait for Myles review in Positive Fedback. He owned the Atlas for 3 years so will be well placed to give his opinion.

personally I don't feel any cartridge envy not having the SL :)


Very hard to conceive it will be an improvement. Can't think of a better source for info than Myles given his Lyra history and fine set of ears.
 
The Etna is certainly in the top tier.
I'd vote for the AMG Teatro and the Dynavector 20X2L as the best values. I could be happy with either one.
 
My Lyra Delos just arrived after an 11 month wait...excited to install it next weekend. If I had more budget would have bought a Proteus
 
Keith, I own a Kleos. But for the money the Delos is better. I had a Delos in my system before i bought the Kleos, and to be honest I'm not so sure the Delos isn't better.

The Delos is VERY underrated !!!!!
 
I haven't seen the Benz LPS mentioned yet, has it fallen from grace? A while back everyone wanted one.
 
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