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Cartridges: Complete Scam?

I’m very new to analog, and researching my options on forums I keep coming across the same sentiment: that past the ultra low-end cartridges, there is very little gains in actual sound quality and that all you’re getting are different styles and colorations to the sound.

So, for example, if I swapped out my $200 cartridge that came with my table for a Soundsmith, Dynavector, Oracle, etc, I may notice a small improvement in detail and dynamics, but I’m mostly just going to get a different flavor. Multiple people told me they perffered thier old vintage cartridges over modern laser-cut boron-necked diamonds.

It’s possible that these people are just desperately defending thier old junk and/or have never heard high end audio. But if what they’re saying is true, than the cartridge industry is a giant SCAM. If I blow 2.5k minimum on an Air Tight I better get a significant improvement over a $200 bundler — and if just all amounts to a different coloration, than that is a straight-up scam ripoff.

So guys — are these forums just BS-ing me here? Is it really a giant scam?
madavid0

Showing 5 responses by lewm

lewm
6,770 posts
 
Next time you find an SP10 Mk3 in a dumpster, call me immediately and I will have it removed to a safe place in my house, at no cost to anyone.

No, it is not anyone's contention that "all modern engineering techniques and materials have little to no value to turntable/cartridge performance". But SOME vintage equipment certainly CAN match up to and exceed that of SOME modern gear.  Seems to me that you are the one who is brim full of assumptions.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
"Whether", not "wether".  Unless there's a change in the weather.
Otherwise, this thread is just BS.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Madavid is now living under an assumed name in Uruguay or Moldavia.

My feelings as regards the last few posts between Luiz and Chakster is that both are correct.  Based on my admittedly limited experience there IS a big difference between "low cost" LOMCs and very expensive LOMCs; if there is a Nirvana it is to be found somewhere among the high end LOMCs. They can often be a lot better than inexpensive LOMCs (or they can be awful).  But even here, no generalization holds, because we have acolytes for one or another modified version of the DL103 or 103R who will tell us how giant-killing those cartridges are or can be, for one example.  On the other other hand (note that there are 3 hands), it is my opinion too that there ARE MM and MI type cartridges that play at the same level of excellence as any of the most expensive LOMCs.  Good enough that preference is a matter of legitimate opinion and certainly also system-dependent, probably also room-dependent.  
lewm
6,770 posts
 
Larry, Some speakers DO suck, obviously.  
Madavid, You don't HAVE to do a damn thing, if it irks you.  Among the rest of us, you will have launched yet another sidebar on what protractors are used, if any, how often one adjusts or checks adjustments, etc.  FWIW, you can download an excellent arc protractor off the internet for FREE, if you have a printer that can be set to print at a 1:1 scale.  There's no such thing as alignment "by sight".  That technique is called "misalignment".  And you certainly do not need a microscope, at all, ever.

It's obvious you are trolling, by the way.
lewm
6,770 posts
 
When confronted with life's dilemma, one can always do the "uberwaltz" and forgeddaboudit, at least for a while.

FWIW, I wouldn't go as low as 20 ohms, even WITH a SUT.  But (Madavid) keep in mind that the "20 ohms" is the reflected load, in the case where you use a SUT, not the value of the load resistor.  When you use a SUT, the net load seen by the cartridge is equal to the value of the load resistor on the secondary side of the SUT, divided by the square of the turns ratio of the SUT.  For a 1:10 SUT, use "100" as your divisor, etc.
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