They are and you shouldn't spend much when you put a new cartridge on your Crosley
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?
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?
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- 174 posts total
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One issue might be that IF the geometry, you know, the vertical tracking angle, is not perfectly correct, if it’s off by 1/10 DEGREE, the distortion will be more than 100%. Without even getting into azimuth, overhang, etc. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that records do not all have the same thickness. Therefore, you guessed it! The sound will almost ALWAYS BE DISTORTED. Hel-loo! |
Apparently almost everyone agrees with you. With all of the positive threads you started it really is difficult to disagree. Cartridges: Complete Scam? Basis Turntables: Worth it or Ripoff? CD players = dead? Class D = Trash? Rega and ProAc: Bad? Anticables: Scam? |
- 174 posts total