3 Top Cartridges Picks

For which tonearm and phono stage?

Tonearm BASIS VECTOR,phono stage ART AUDIO VINLY REFERENCE
thank you

I have listened to a goodly number of good to excellent phono cartridges over the years, but have really owned only one that I consider to be a true high-end analog product: the Grado Reference (4.5 mV output, $1200 MSRP).

I have a Lyra Titan in a Basis Vector arm and this combination sounds terrific. According to a test record, this combination is just inside of the ideal range for mass/compliance compatibility. This combination brings so many records to life, both in terms of speed and dynamics, as well as rich harmonic palette. I don't know if this is a problem unique to the Titan, but I hear a big difference in sound for relatively small changes in VTA (thick records sound a bit dull when VTA is set for average records). I am not one inclined to fiddle with VTA, but if you are, the Vector arm is a pain in the ass to adjust VTA. I understand that Basis just came out with a retrofittable upgrade for easy VTA adjustment, but it costs something like $700 dollars and I think something (arm, armboard?) has to be sent back to Basis.

I also like the Temper W cartridge a lot -- extremely smooth and neutral sounding. I could live with either.

I don't like the sound of Grados myself -- overly rich in the midbass, muffled sounding (like sound coming through many layers of cotton) and the music seems to just slow down. However, if you like that kind of rich, creamy sound, I would suggest looking into the Allaerte cartridges which have that kind of sound, but not to the extreme of Grados.

Well, with due respect to Larryi, I disagree with his comments about Grado cartridges. In my system, at least, there is nothing overly rich, nor muffled, nor creamy, about the sound of the Reference. In my system, the sound from the Reference is very well-balanced, and sufficiently detailed without being etched, as is the case with many moving coils.

For what it's worth, the Grado Reference was one of The Absolute Sound's picks for "Editor's Choice" among the upper-priced cartridges.