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EMT TSD15 tonality..colouration ?

I am looking for a cartridge upgrade. I started with a Denon 103pro and now use a ZYX RS30. I listen to a good mix of old (pre 70s) and new records.
I am considering the EMT TSD15 cartridge because of its reputation of being musical and dynamic at the same time.

I have heard the TSD15 SFL in the past on a Scheu TT and I could notice some lower mids boost which alters the timbre of the instruments and voices a bit. That worries me. The DL103 is spot on in its tone and timbre reproduction, its my reference but it doesnt have the dynamics I look for. The other day I also heard a JSD5 and somehow I did not notice the lower mid colouration that I first heard with a TSD15 SFL. But the JSD is outside by budget.

Has anyone else found this character with TSD15 ? Is it a colouration with the SFL version or is it also there in the SPH (spherical) tip also ?
pani
sksos1
385 posts
 
Ive been using a Brinkmann EMT Titanium (modified TSD15) cartridge now for almost a year and it has been the most musical instrument I've listened to in cartridges, even more so than my beloved Kondo IO-m. I've heard a "standard" TSD15 in a customers system but given it was in an unfamilar system, it was hard to tell the differncies between the 2, although his sytem was extremely musical.

(Dealer disclosure)
millsoft
1 posts
 
Hi Thuchan, Since you said "If you especially go for a TSD15 Lzi you will go for one of the great carts in this audio world - the Japanese know, most European and American not."

What's the real difference between the Lzi version and original TSD 15? Of course I know the technical difference but I didn't have any chance to listen a real Lzi, so let me know more! Thanks a lot!
thuchan
955 posts
 
Hi Millsoft,

the diamond in my Lzi is a special version with an especially polished, naked diamond bar on a boron bar and this in a sandwich construction with the cantilever leading to a clearer sound picture. As you might know the better the diamond the less modulations and noise. It depends very much on the polishing form but also (!) on the used material. The Lzi is very open, providing more details in a subtle and somehow emotional approach. 

Nevertheless a good TSD15 is a fine cart system I am using in many variants too.
pani OP
1,049 posts
 
Thuchan, what is the right way to amplify the Lzi ?
thuchan
955 posts
 
Pani,
I am using SUTs and a MM phono but you may also go with an appropriate phono pre like the EMT 66JPA. I am running it in a FR-66s.
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