Good carts with SME V

I have tried the following Koetsus on my SME V: Black, Urushi Sky Blue and Coralstone. The Black was a very good match, the Urushi was a tad too romantic, and the Coralstone sounded, well, a bit disappointing. Right now, the Coralstone is mounted on my FR 64 FX, which IMO is a much better match for it than the SME V.
Mvh Tønnes

Dear @o_holter : "  But I love the Io’s rich sound and am willing to live with some tube noise.  ""

""  Bigger, bolder, better able to tackle dynamic music."""   

tube noise means higher distortion levels and that rich sound means " tubey ". Live MUSIC and what's in the recording and LP recorded grooves is way different to all those.

"" to polite the Cadenza Black.... ", not really problem is that you are accustomed to a " fake " sound, to much make-up when does not exist in the recording or live events.

As @nkonor I told you months ago that the weak audio item in your system is that IO: no matters what, period.

Again, forgeret rigth now for that cartridge/tonearm resonance frequency that has you: terroryze " when it's not exactly as you said.

Remember your Atlas thread where you insist on that resonance frequency issue that in reality you don't have it?.
In that thread my very first post was that because your Atlas had over 1,500 hours the problem belonged there and only at the ""  "" and after " thousands " of posts from other gentlemans you, by facts you experienced " was convinced that the problem was in the cartridge it self.

Now, you don't need to change your arm and if you like the Lyra signature then you can go with the Kleos that was the first Lyra design with the new  design characteristics where came the Atlas and Etna.
The Benz Micro is a great option too over the Koetsu and near to the Lyra.

But if I were you my focus will be in two subjects: a change in the phono stage and that Lyra fix your Atlas. No you don't need a different tonearm, your experiences with told all of us that the culprit was just from began the cartridge it self.

@lewm , it's almost ridiculous ( even that we all know it. ) to think that we will change the resonance frequency changing the counterweigth position and its weight. That's why almost never helps to change the resonance frequency say from 6hz to 8hz or from 12hz to 10hz.
The inertia moment is directly proportional to the distance of the weigth and that's why as far away from the fulcrum we change the weigth as higher or lower can be that resonance frequency value along a compliance that we can't really change.

Sometimes we want to invent the " black thread " when already " invented ".


Anyway, @o_holter  you already have the Atlas where I think no one can buy it from you so to fix it is the best way to go and in the mean time you have the Titan i and you can send the Clavis DC to Andy for retip with boron cantilever and I'm sure you will like it. Repeat, you don't need to change the SME 5.



R.

Tønnes – thank you. Probably, the Black would be most interesting to try, in my system.

Raul – I know you don’t like tubed phono stages. Yes, there are minuses, but plusses too. It is not like I go to friends places with solid-state stages and then when I get home I hear “fake” sound. I suggest we agree to disagree on that one. We agree on the tonearm, however.  The Atlas + SME V combo has a low ca 7hz frequency. But is it an issue? I thought so, but was probably wrong. The real reason for the problem (woofer pumping) seems to be the diamond/cantilever connection gradually going bad, until the diamond got lose and then finally fell off. It happened after 12-1300 hours (I recalculated).

The Titan i has maybe 1800 hours, but happily, after a little adjustment, still runs fine, although a little worn-sounding. After more adjustments most of the worn sound (harshness and sibilants, muddy bass) was gone, and I was reminded of what a great cartridge the Titan i is.  Going from the Clavis to the Titan was a larger step up, for me, than from Titan to Atlas. But this may also be due to a problem with the Clavis (riding too low). So yes, a retip and boron cantilever may be a good idea, when the Atlas has been fixed (for now, I need the Clavis as backup).

My SME V does not have mistracking issues. Mistracking occurs only when the vinyl groove is really bad. I did some testing of the arm bearing and found no problems. Maybe the Atlas tracks best, then Titan, and then Clavis – but they are quite similar. If the record is reasonably OK and the arm is fully adjusted, there are no tracking problems. This behavior is very different from the Souther/Clearaudio Triquartz parallel arm I had before, I never managed to get it to control the cartridge properly.  With the SME V – no problem. The rigid construction, materials etc probably means that it can work well even if resonance is on the low side. The Titan, weighing ca 1 g less than the Atlas, is less challenging in this respect (and the Clavis, weighing even less). I can confirm that reducing effective tonearm mass by shifting the counterweight towards the arm base, taking off the upper bridge, and similar, does not have much impact on the resonance (testing with the HFN record). It became only a tiny bit higher, from maybe 7.1 hz to 7.2 if I remember right; it did not seem worth it.  

I am considering a Koetsu Black offer here on Agon, but have to check on the production year and the number of hours. The underside is black, not gold as I've seen from review pictures.

Raul suggested - get a boron cantilever for the Lyra Clavis. I guess my model has a  "Ceralloy" composite cantilever. What would be the sonic benefits?

I also wonder - would it be worth it, considering my experience with Lyra carts over the years. Comparing Clavis, Titan and Atlas, there is no doubt there has been improvements. Lyra made several step up attempts (Helikon, Evolve) trying to improve the Clavis. The first new line "flagship" was the Titan, soon followed by an improved "i" version. I had both, and the "i" version really was a main step up, compared to the Clavis. Putting the Clavis back in my system, my first thought is: "hi fi sound". It sounds restricted. Like sound we put up with, twenty years ago. Putting on a different cantilever probably won't solve the problem. But who knows? I've seen some serious Clavis tweaking on the web, including a semi-nude, holed up, version of the body.

Testing some more, the Titan i. Yes: The Yes album, and Fragile - UK originals.Certainly heavy duty fare.The cart is mainly up to it.Not much congested but a bit flat and hard on the highest dynamic parts of the music.The Atlas tones this down and - all in all - delivers more information.But the Titan, properly adjusted, does very well indeed.Some is a matter of taste - on this level.The titan is a bit like a "panzer in the desert", less humane than the Atlas - more direct, but may sound great e g on electric passages. Maybe a bit tighter than the Atlas in some respects. Bass is fast and tight.