04-16-07: Heyitsmedusty
Wow, I can't believe I actually nailed what the sound is called in my post title. It's literally a pre-echo!
I have never heard of this phenomenon. Do more expensive cartridges make this better, or does their better tracking make it worse?
In my experience, line contact type tips usually make this artifact more audible than a conical tip - probably due to taller contact footprint on the groove wall.
This may be one reason that the Denon 103 (which uses a conical tip) actually produces less measurable distortion than some high priced cartridges with line contact tips. I also wonder if this has some bearing on the 'musical', coherent sound that is a feature of the 103.
You can read more on 'groove echo' here.