The comparative cartridge dem -- a thing of the past
Posted by: Joe Petrik on 04 February 2001
It certainly isn't the mid-to-late '80s, a time when the better flat earth dealers used to have several (!) LP12s on the floor to give customers a comparative dem of various arm, cartridge and power supply options. Yup, those days are as extinct as the dodo.
And it's easy to understand why. From a business perspective, it makes little sense to stock several (fragile) multi-thousand dollar cartridges just for the occasional sale to an analogue nutter. But all the same, it is frustrating that you can't compare the Linn Archiv B to the Dynavector Te Kaitora to the Lyra Parnassus -- all on the same table, through the same gear, in the same room.
I didn't do that, but I had a chance to try a DV Te Kaitora in my system this weekend. As part of the 12-step Audiophool Anonymous program I've been asked to not list my system in every post but I'll be forgiven here. I have a Rega p9 with RB900 arm, 102, napsc, Hi-Cap, 250, and Royd Sorcerers. Usually, a rebuilt Linn Karma sits on the p9... but not his weekend.
I'll get the nerdy stuff out of the way first. The p9, like all Rega decks, doesn't allow you to easily adjust the VTA. Rega sells spacers you can put under the arm, but they don't allow for fine adjustment or easy A/B comparisons. Fortunately, the Te Kaitora doesn't seem to really need them. With needle in groove, the arm seemed parallel with the record but I understand that adjusting by ear is the only way to ensure the VTA is right. If you're a real nutter, you might want to fiddle.
Unlike the XX-1L (the other DV cartridge p9 users seem to like), the Te Kaitora is fairly light at 8.8 grams. You can get by with the stock counterweight Rega supplies. Again, it's not a big deal but it is nice to try a cartridge without having to hang a brick off the back to balance it.
I'm not certain which phono boards are best with the TK since I only had my K-boards on hand. For what it's worth, if the S-boards make the TK any better, that cartridge is truly a coup de grace for analogue replay. It's one of those products where it's hard to imagine extracting more music from them thar grooves.
And that it did. It's hard to describe the TK because when something is done right, it seems silly to describe it. But much the rug in the dude's apartment (reference to The Big Lebowski, a Coen Bros. film), it just held the music together. That's the word I'm looking for: coherence. The separate instrumental lines work together to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts.
And da riddim, mon. Yup, it has that, too. I half expected the TK would smack me over the head with groove but after listening to several records, it seems that its portrayal of rhythm is just like what you get from real musicians. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow, sometimes it's in between. The Karma, by contrast, seems more "beat-like" -- it certainly gets your toes tapping, but it doesn't seem to fully understand that toes can tap at different speeds.
The TK is the most sophisticated and detailed cartridge I've heard. Cymbals have a nice bite but without the nasty edge. Kick drums have wallop but without the false bass "thump" many systems produce. And hidden instruments appear from what was once haze. My only reservation is that on the p9, in my system, the tonal balance is a bit too forward. I assume that the S-boards would fix that but I didn't have a pair on hand to try.
The only other high-end cartridge I've spent quality time with is the Troika, and I'd put the TK clearly above that. So if vinyl is your thing and you have the bucks (the TK retails for $2,450 US), put this sucker on your short list.
Joe
[This message was edited by Joe Petrik on SUNDAY 04 February 2001 at 23:21.]
quote:
Wouldn't it be great if somebody would have a CD-ROM that had the Ekos vs Aro, or the Geddon vs Lingo, or Troika vs Lyridian....True we would be at mercy of our CD players, but what we are talking about are differences that probably are larger than those between good cd players.Just an idea. Any takers?
Nah, I'd rather see a table with columns and rows comparing the main contenders across several important parameters. 
Joe
1. Are you buying one?
2. How green is Vuk, now that you've heard a better model on a P9? 
I didn't know there was a Dynavector forum....
Regards,
Frank.
quote:
1. Are you buying one?
It does look nice on the end of my RB900 [momentary pause to clean slobber from keyboard] but the TK is $2,500 US, an amount I neither have nor can justify for a widget that wears out. I think the XX-1L is more my speed.
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2. How green is Vuk, now that you've heard a better model on a P9?
Honestly Frank, I've never seen him like this. He can't eat or sleep. I think I've triggered his descent into madness.
Joe
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The reality for me is that it has taken a long time to find a cartridge that is as musically involving as the Troika, even my old and somewhat worn one.
Doesn't surprise me at all since the Troika is one hell of a cartridge and works wonderfully on an LP12, whether it has Linn bits or Naim bits. But I am surprised you didn't get on with the more expensive Dynavectors. Several people here with solid Naim systems have been bowled over by the Te Kaitora (an anagram for 'Eat Troika'?) and the XV-1. But different strokes for different folks, I guess.
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I do not claim to be an authority on vinyl, or anything, I just know what works best for me.
Although I don't go as far as Mike 'Mr. Relativity' Hanson, I fully agree. I know what works for me. I'm definitely a grooviness/tunefulness head and can live with squashed dynamics or imperfect tonal balance. But if your priorities are different, you won't like my system.
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I have recently heard a cdr that Michael Fremer made from a Rockport with Helikon through NBL/500 system and you could tell that the Rockport is probably the best turntable ever made, but the price.....good god, y'all.
It wouldn't be this table, would it? Jeez Louise, you'd think that for $75,000 they'd at least have the good sense to put BNCs on the phono cable, eh.
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It was Michael that turned me on the Helikon-he really liked it, and he was right about it, and it works in an ARO.
Isn't MF the spawn of the devil?
Joe
[This message was edited by Joe Petrik on FRIDAY 09 February 2001 at 18:36.]