Phono Cartridges

Here are some initial impressions, moving from the Denon DL-103R (in stock form), to a used Lyra Delos (newly re-tipped by Andy at needle clinic). According to the seller, the Lyra had about 10 hours on it with the new stylus, which was installed on the existing cantilever.

The seller was local, and came over to help me set up the cart, which was friendly. As of now, I'm still not 100% with how everything is mounted... I'm getting a slight channel imbalance (left channel is louder). Everything seems to look alright, but I'll need to get a test record to see if I can figure out what is causing the imbalance.

Regardless, here are some thoughts... I find the Lyra to have an overall effortless clarity. Where the Denon had a cohesive, satisfying overall sound, the Lyra puts forth clarity and speedier dynamics. The Denon seemed to have a slight midrange emphasis, whereas the Lyra sounds more neutral.

I've also found vocals to sound stunning with the Lyra... There is a raw quality in its presentation that really seems to translate an emotional connection. I don't find the Lyra to sound bright at all, however I do find the Denon's treble to sound slightly rolled off. The Lyra's treble just comes across with more sophistication in comparison to the Denon.

The Lyra could also be a pickier cartridge than the Denon, in that the Denon seemed to always pull everything together regardless of the material. I highly regard the Denon for being able to do this... It's a unique trick that goes back to my description above of an overall cohesion. The Lyra however tends to really shine when given the opportunity; sax, trumpet, vocals... drums all sound more sophisticated and also effortless in presentation. The sophisticated sound seems to be due to a more precise, resolving ability with dynamic material, where the Denon seems to get a bit congested.

Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Lyra, for its ability to bring forth an emotional connection. I also wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Denon, for it's phenomenal performance to price ratio. (I paid $249USD for a new DL-103R, which outperforms the Ortofon Bronze, which normally sells used around that price).

Edit: here's a link to an Audiogon discussion with regards to the Lyra. Some good info on the design philosophy, and discussion on the overall ability.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/new-lyra-delos-cartridge

 

@sphinxvc , if you want to look at a seriously good MM cartridge, try this one:
http://www.lpgear.com/product/NAGAOKAMP300.html

The MP500 is top notch, but it is definitely priced a bit higher. The Soundsmith Moving Iron cartridges are excellent as well.
The Goldring gets a lot of good reviews, but I haven't PERSONALLY heard it, so can't say one way or another.

If you like, you can do the Denon DL-103R which will work your medium effective mass tonearm. NOT the regular Denon DL-103 which requires a heavy effective tonearm mass to sound right.

 

Well Hec! You should be on top of the world with that one. If for any reason, you decide to sell it, ping me.

 

@shaizada My friend in the RP needs a cart in the $600 range. He will run it in a Rega Planar 3 24 volt. Which cart would you recommend in that range?

@sphinxvc Impressions on the Nagaoka, dude? It should be nicely breaking in right now?

 

I saw this earlier today, and the heading made me laugh.

 

The Rega sound is unique. Depends on what your friend really wants to do. Look at the Denon DL 103R with proper high quality phono, Nagaoka series (really, buy the best he can from this series...I feel they are amazing!), Ortofon Quintet series, Ortofon Cadenza's. All of these would do quite well with the Rega tables.

With the Denon 103R, with the money saved, a high quality step up transformer can be bought and matched.

 

Thanks, Gaurav. He already has the Denon, will have him look at the Ortofons. Not the slanted ones, though.

 

coming from Technics 1200 w/ Denon dl103r - has anyone tried any of the Hana carts? eyeballing the EH low output versus the Shibata versions, or vs. the Nagokas at similar price points, i.e., $500–$750.

 

I'm not sure if this solution is known here (or even a good one) but i found a thread on reddit today that talked about a way to tweak the 2M Black to reduce surface noise: https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/5z9xik/tip_for_ortofon_2m_black_owners/

 

This is a real late reply, but I highly recommend the SAE 1000lt cart for Rega tonearms. It's a high output MC so it works fine on an MM phono stage, I'm using the built in phono stage on my integrated amp and it works great. I bought one used on a whim about 6 years ago for $100 to try against my Denon 103r with SUT and thought it did everything better, in addition to playing with less surface noise. Mine went on my Rega p25. There is a german site selling NOS versions for 318 euro, which includes tax for germany, which you don't pay if it's being shipped out of country, so it works out about the same with shipping.

https://www.thakker.eu/en/pickup/sae-1000lt-cartridge/a-5171/

lots of reviews online from when a bunch of NOS versions came up on ebay.

 

I was reading this (click me) article from Fremer today and something occurred to me...

Since it seems to be impossible to make a completely flat response MC cartridge (due to the rising top end) the best ones seem to generally fall into one of two frequency response "camps". Either they go for neutral bass/mids with varying levels of tipped up top (Ortofon Black, Lyra etc..) or they roll off earlier (Zyx, Hana SL etc..) having a top that is closer to neutral at the "expense" of a warmer sound.

Am I the only one that's noticed this? Really make me want to have three arms; one for each camp plus a mono....

 

The blackbird came with my turntable, it sounds good and all, but I think I just prefer a warmer more fleshed out sound. Has anyone heard a clearaudio maestro v2? My tone arm is 8.5 effective mass if anyone has another recommendation. I don’t really want to go with a sut at this point so was looking at mm carts.

 

While adjusting the VTA, bent Ortofon 2M Black Cart cantilever a bit. I couldn't discern any playback problems or sound degradation but keen to bend it back to original position if possible. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

I think you are stuck with it bent. Ortofons have had a recently bad rep for dickeyed styli, or mounts.

 

I guess that I might have to stuck with it for quite a long time since it is only ran 20 hours from new so far....