The Cartridgeman Isolater.

Hi

I bouught the Isolator about a year ago and mounted it on my Transfiguration Temper V. At the time, I really found it to boost the performance of my analog system a lot, and I really could not detect any drawbacks. So I would recommend the Isolator highly. However, sometimes you have to change things back and forth some times to really get to the bottom of the sonic differences. Since it's glued to the cart, it's very difficult to take it of whithout ruin it. That's not so good I think, because as with everything else in HiFi, a suppose the benifit of the Isolator is system dependent. I really think the Cart Man should put a couple of those double-sided adhesive tapes inside the box, so it would be easy to use it on several cartridges.

Theo

hi all
iv'e used the isolator on my three carts that i have owned and found it only improved the performance of one
However it did not adversly affect the performance of the other two at all.
in certain circumstances this little tweak works and is a real improvement for a quite small outlay
but it is very unpredictable.
IMHO
worth a gamble
all the best

I don't want to sound critical of the isolator but the Koetsu cartridges love mass. The isolator does just that and it makes a huge difference. It is a wonderful solution when the tonearm is not the right match for the cartridge. I placed my Koetsu in the Ikeda and that accomplished the same. I also used some blue tak and it accomplished the same. A much less expensive solution.

Hi Dgad.

The Isolater will add a very small amount of mass, and that may have some sonic advantages with some carts. However, what I heard when using the Isolator was the result of the decoupling. So I don't think adding blu-tak will have the same effect.

Theo

Darren

I know the Koetsu's luv mass. I had a 3gm headshell weight on prior to using the 2gm isolator. The added mass has nothing to do with the big change the isolator brought to the musical equation.

I have also played around with blu tack extensively, on the headshell and strategically placed along the arm tube. It does make a differences but only in certain frequencies and is cartridge dependant. It added bass weight to my system, however also made the tempo more clumsy and lumpy with the koetsu.
The isolator changed all the frequencies for the better and has made the top to bottom coherence so much musically better.

funny I have now received my 2nd isolator to put onto the other arm wand with my dyna xv-1. BUT I am in no hurry to do it. the system is sounding that nice with the isolator/koetsu combo.

Anyway, it is very easy for all of us to be critical of something seemingly simple that many of us can "somewhat replicate" at home.
For me proof is in the listening and the isolator is THE BEST $150 I have ever spent on my hi fi.
With all the money we spend on out hi fi, especially cables and tweaks, the $150 on the isolator is trivial if it works in your system - like it has for me.

cheers

Shane