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How to choose a cartridge you can't hear on your system?

My personal cartridge history has gone from a humble Goldring to a decent Benz H2 and finally a Dynavector XV-1s.  Recently my 3 year old decided to break the needle on both my Dynavector and Benz (two arm setup).  This tragedy prompted a me to send my Dynavector out for re-tipping and the purchase of a new cartridge to sustain me through the expected rebuild period.  I bought a decent Sumiko Evo III.  

All of this is to come around to a realization.  In many ways, each cartridge brings something new to the table.  The Evo II had more solidity or weight to the sonic presentation than the others.  The Benz had a seductive warmth and the Dynavector a detailed nuance I most enjoyed.  I don't think it is possible to know ahead of hearing a cartridge in ones own system which brands house sound one prefers.  

I find cartridges to be the hardest audio component to buy.  How do you choose?  
chadlesko
inna
5,245 posts
 
I see. You support the system as it is and then complain that it’s no good. Who in fact makes it possible to thrive? Stop buying this multikilobuck $hit without listening. In one year they will beg you to listen, personally deliver it to you and will send you flowers on Christmas. And if not - to hell with them and their cartridges.
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
1,174 posts
 
inna, i'm not sure as to who you are responding to. However, your thought that by waiting a dealer is going to be essentially begging you to buy, just doesn't seem to jive with reality. 
IME, the dealers are all pretty independent when it comes to this issue. While i agree with you that this is not in the best interest of the consumer, it certainly seems to be a somewhat uniform response....at least in the dealers in my area. In some ways, i cannot blame them, once a cartridge is mounted it becomes a 'used' device. How the mounting and care of the cartridge is accomplished is also a variable. When we are talking of multi thousand $$ pieces, the rest follows along. Not at all a great situation for the consumer, and certainly one that I would love to see changed, but I see both sides of the picture. 
Buying without listening first is, at least IMHO, never a good thing to do....unfortunately,with cartridges, I don't see a lot of options! YMMV.
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@daveyf at the same time there are many people who can buy demo from the dealer with warranty to save 30-40% at least on multi thousand $$ cartridge, most likely you're talking about MC cart only. Demo unitls sells well, in fact i bought demo amp, demo speakers, demo tonearm and happy about them, no issues. So for the serious dealer it's not a problem to have demo and to get rid of demos. But this is a proper customer service. I think the dealer must have a demo set-up with demo units, the re-seller or shop may not have demos. 
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
5,112 posts
 
Great question...the answer is you can't.  The dearth of stores willing to demo cartridges are dwindling, and even if you hear two different cartridges in the store, setup is oh so important (I look askance at all "experts").
inna
5,245 posts
 
Dealers could have at least a few set-ups for auditioning.
Not my problem, though. When and if I am ready to pay thousands  of dollars for a cartridge, I'll make couple of phone calls and get precise advice. You got to have priviledges and connections, then you'll be fine, cartridges or not.
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