ortofon kontrapunkt 'b'

Posted by: ken c on 14 May 2001

in the latest hifi news (i think), there is short review of this cartridge -- cant remember who by -- scanned through this while waiting from my train at kings cross. however, more to the point, the reviewer ws very positive and concluded that this cartridge has a good balance of all the good attributes we expect.

as i said last time, my lp12 is at infidelity awaiting repairs and reset. i will definitely listen to the kontrapunkt as well, in an ARO/prefix/armageddon config.

enjoy...

ken

Posted on: 24 May 2001 by JosephR

Thanks, I'm changing as I heard the Lyra in friends' systems and I really like it. The Dyna 10X4MK2 will be my backup. I just love this cart, great on heavy metal, classical, pop/rock, same volume level as CD too. Not as detailed as the Spirit, but I find the 10x4MK2 more musical, more PRAT, more slam, more bass ... I am going for the Lyra because of its musicality as well on almost all music genres, plus some refinement, even if I need to use another manufacturer's external phono stage - but of course, I'd like to stick to the Naim phono board which I found to be better than other much more expensive stages like AR PH3SE, Acoustech, Klyne, EAR, Black Cube, etc. A remarkable phono card !!

Yes, I can play the Spirit at 11 o'clock. But the sense of power is missing, even at 3 o'clock (noise already creeping in), James Newton Howard, Led Zeppelin, or Fritz Reiner LPs don't kick well enough. With the Dyna, all I need is 10'o clock and it pins me into my seat. Not just my observation, but all who were with me evaluating the cart. CD becomes better in terms of power and slam. With the Dyna, CD is left in the dust ... Unfortunately, we are headbangers, so powerful music from Metallica or Mahler have to be kicking, not softly, but hard.

Don't like the XX1-L, super-smooth.

Posted on: 25 May 2001 by Frank Abela

Joseph

Are you using the same boards for the 10x4 as the Spirit? If so, you're probably using MM boards and this would account for the extent of the loss and the missing 'kick'. You must use different boards for low (0.2 - 0.6mV) and high (2.5mV) output cartridges.

Joaquin - In my view the KontrapunktB is a more all-round performer than the Rohmann. The Rohmann is very good at certain things, but I prefer the overall balance of the KontrapunktB. However, I haven't heard it played in a RB300 arm. The KontrapunktB is neutral, not tonally rich as such so it may not be such a good comparison.

Regards,
Frank.

Posted on: 25 May 2001 by Tony L

quote:
My current arm is a RB300 with ExpressMachining Heavyweight counterweight (fantastic).

I have seen this advertised. I take it you really like it, what does it do to the sound compared to the standard Rega weight? Do I need to buy one for my RB900?

Tony.

Posted on: 26 May 2001 by ken c

you will recall i had planned to demo 1 or 2 catridges this week. this wasnt possible as one of the candidates (an xx2) hadnt been delivered to infidelity. so we have scheduled next friday for the dem as infidelity believe they will have a demo cartridge then. watch this space.

enjoy

ken