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Did some interesting cart comparisons last night

OK Quick 1st impressions from my side, I've purposefully not looked at the other posts so as not to be swayed.
1st up given the range of carts I was actually very surprised as how similar they all sound when burnt onto an Audio CD and played back via my CD player through the main rig. I was expecting a little more variation, still there were some discernible differences.

After an initial spin through all, I picked out 7 as my initial fav.
In comparison I found the others a little too lean or lacking control, either up top or down below.

7 gave the best tonal balance on my system, nice body to the vocal yet crisp and tight on both the bass and high hat front.

I then used this as a baseline and compared the other recordings 1:1 directly with this.

1-2 are very similar, a little too forward in the upper mids and lacking a little control in the top end.
3 more evenly balanced but without the body of 7 and not quite as tight, still not quite spot on up top.
4 and 5 again I found similar to each other, but all round cleaner than 1-3 and more open
6 not too bad - need to come back to this one, but prefer 7
8 was a little muddled, especially in comparison to 7
9 not too bad again a little on the lean side for me and in this company fairly middle of the pack

Of these recordings my top three then would be;
1st: 7
2nd: 4
3rd: 5

As I say though I was expecting to hear a little more variation in this group and am left wondering if all is coming through.
BC - Would be very interested to hear your thoughts of what you heard while doing the recordings, do you believe they've captured most of what you could hear real time?

Anyway - all very interesting. I'll try and find time to go back to them over the weekend if possible to galvanise my thoughts.
Am looking forward to the unveiling.

Cheers
Dave
 
DaveyW said:
BC - Would be very interested to hear your thoughts of what you heard while doing the recordings, do you believe they've captured most of what you could hear real time?
Click to expand...

Yes, most definitely - although to be fair, I wasn't listening very critically while doing the recording. But I like to think that, because they were all captured under identical circumstances, it levels the playing field.

So far, it's very interesting to me that some of the cheaper options are beating out the more expensive and/or better reputed options...
 
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flavio81 said:
Further comments:

- Funny to find more than 1 person finding #7 and #9 the best... According to the resonance frequency analysis these are the only ones that have the warp resonances outstandingly controlled.
.
Click to expand...

First of all, Beatcomber, you're the best. This is wonderful stuff.

The power was out here for over 2 hours, and when it came back on, I checked in first with AK to see what was up and found this thread. Wow! Fun With Electricity! Fortunately, I was early enough that there weren't more than one or two rankings of the clips, so I downloaded the zip file.

Played the clips though the PC and then burned them to CD and played them on the hi-fi.

Contestants 7 and 9 ranked best on both, with 9 being ranked ahead of 7 both times. Number 1 ranked last on both.

And now the wait for the identities. Suspense!
 
beatcomber said:
So far, it's very interesting to me that some of the cheaper options are beating out the more expensive and/or better reputed options...
Click to expand...

You big tease :D

OK without spilling the beans just yet, which of these do it best for you?

Looks like I'm not alone in preferring No. 7
The Suspense!

Great stuff BC :thmbsp:
 
DaveyW said:
OK without spilling the beans just yet, which of these do it best for you?
Click to expand...

I'm personally divided between 2, 6 & 9.
2 has been getting the most turntable time lately, although the positive responses 7 is getting is making me want to give it closer attention.
 
Frank Sol said:
Even more interesting for ME

Strictly by 'ear' I chose 2, 7 & 9 as my finalists; 7 & 9 virtually a tie but settled on #9 as the winner
Click to expand...

This is exactly where I was until I played Number 9 backwards. :)

It's 9 for me with 7 a close second. Hope 9's not the Grado! ;)

John
 
boreas said:
This is exactly where I was until I played Number 9 backwards. :)

It's 9 for me. Hope it's not the Grado! ;)

John
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input!

Y'know, it might make things even more interesting if, assuming you own any of these carts, you state which model you THINK you like best. :scratch2:
 
beatcomber said:
Y'know, it might make things even more interesting if, assuming you own any of these carts, you state which model you THINK you like best. :scratch2:
Click to expand...

Of the group in your test the only one(s) I currently own are the M91ED w/US Hi Track and another with an as yet to be identified generic. Of the cartridges I do own the M91ED w/Hi Track is my favorite with a Signet TK3Ea/ATN120E combo currently making a serious challenge.

John

PS: does your EVG generic have a red dot on the top surface of the cantilever directly above the stylus?
 
I have the files and started to review them this morning but ran out of time due to having to work. I started but some are really close and will need more time to come up my own order of preferred sound.

I won't get back to them until this evening. I won't be able to post my results until 5 pm PDT.

Hopefully the list won't be posted until then. I would really like to do this blind.

I did not even want to read what other people posted yet.

I am sure a lot of people want to see the final list. So I understand if the cart list is posted before I get back.

Cheers.
 
rexrider said:
I have the files and started to review them this morning but ran out of time due to having to work. I started but some are really close and will need more time to come up my own order of preferred sound.

I won't get back to them until this evening. I won't be able to post my results until 5 pm PDT.

Hopefully the list won't be posted until then. I would really like to do this blind.

I did not even want to read what other people posted yet.

I am sure a lot of people want to see the final list. So I understand if the cart list is posted before I get back.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

No problem at all. My plan is to post the final results sometime on Sunday evening, unless the responses peter out before then.

Take your time and enjoy the process.
 
Still reserving chiming in here as I really haven't had a good opp to listen. What I did hear so far vs what I've read was making me think I was missing something. :) I only have notes on 4, 6, and 8. Apparently I liked the drums w/ cart 6 enough to comment on it. I find a lot of them kind of 'mush' the high hat and horns together in the beginning of the track.

FWIIW, I had to convert to MP3 to listen here. 320hrtzVBR.

Great test, I'm sure I'll be digging a bit deeper. Looking forward to your results. We run very similar tables and carts :)
 
DaveyW said:
OK Quick 1st impressions from my side (...)

1-2 are very similar, a little too forward in the upper mids and lacking a little control in the top end.
Click to expand...

My friend dave, you are the pioneer in online cartridge comparisons! Are you sure you find #1 and #2 similar? I found them radically different, #1 being light on the bass and bright, while #2 had noticeably stronger bass and a depressed midrange, sort of a "loudness filter" applied -as i described it before-. I'm starting to suspect that one is the Grado. Or a LP Gear Deft 2 that somehow sneaked in :D

This is pleasing to the ear, but far from flat.
 
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beatcomber said:
How did you get the resonant frequencies in Audacity, flavio?
Click to expand...

1. Open audacity
2. Open the wav file
3. Select "Analyze -> Plot Spectrum"
4. Change "Size" to 16384
5. Change axis to "Log frequency"
6. The "hump" between 4-13Hz (depending of the cartrige) should be readily visible.
7. Move your mouse near the hump. Below the graph, a "Peak: X Hz" value will appear.
8. I compare the dB value of the peak with the highest value of the spectrum, which is at about 61Hz on your sample.

Works every time :thmbsp:
 
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