Hear my Cartridges....🎶

^^ Exactly. This means you have so many cart/headshell/arm/deck combinations that is not easy to tell which combination suits best a certain cart, so actually there are several possibilities to choose. Halcro knows his system´s options and has carefully chosen the arms/decks for these evaluations and of course we totally trust him.
Furthermore, as for our home listening situations, probably ALL of us have DIFFERENT combinations of TTs. Not to mention phono preamps, amps and speakers, and cables and our environment. Everything is relative, in the end. So the best cartridge(s) are the best for the listener alone at his/her home, of course two persons may have the same opinion of a certain cart but that´s another thing. This is off-topic of course but true.

Anyway, his tests show the importance of the mighty Decca Reference, but the appropriate arm(s) needs to be chosen carefully. I know one arm that makes the Reference (and the Jubilee) sing but the cart is darn expensive I simply can´t afford it now, hopefully in the future. It has one disadvantage... unfortunately it´s a dust magnet in my system: /

And as for Decca recordings, the original UK pressings never let you down.

Thanks for the latest Decca Reference option, we much appreciate your enthusiasm : )

Absolutely appreciate your enthusiasm. Thank you for indulging me to the extent that you could. I totally understand your explanation and I certainly trust your reasoning behind the chosen cart/arm combinations. It is a treat to be able to hear this very impressive collection of cartridges on such superb equipment; even with the limitations of the methodology.

Hearing the Signet and Decca on the same arm and table is fascinating and confirms much of what I have been hearing so far from and about each of the two cartridges. Both are clearly terrific cartridges. However, since the goal here is to describe the differences, to my ears and preferences the difference between the two can be summarized very succinctly. Decca: more of the music.

From the very first chord of the piece one of the main differences is heard. Consistent with the thickness in the lower mids/upper bass that I have noted in previous comparisons involving the Signet, the basses and celli are pushed forward a bit and “crowd” the violas and violins playing an octave higher; not to mention the bassoons and horns which also play. The balance between the four different sections of string instruments (violins, violas, celli, basses) is better allowing the character of each to be heard more clearly without the cello and basses dominating. The question becomes: is this because the lower mid/upper bass is a little more prominent with the Signet or because the Decca is more realistically brilliant in the highs allowing the character of the violins to balance out the blend even when playing in their lower range? I think it is a little of both. The sound is more realistically linear with the Decca and a little bit tubby with the Signet. In a way the effect is analagous 😉, but in reverse (?) to the effect that users of good subwoofers experience. Even when there is no obvious bass content in the music, good and well integrated subwoofers give midrange and hf sounds more body and weight. The Decca’s linearity through the highs gives mid and low frequency sounds more clarity...those pesky harmonics. It also gives trumpets more realistic brilliance without the slightly pinched quality they have with the Signet and trombones more realistic raspiness. With the Decca they have both brilliance and body. Then there is the issue of dynamics (the music):

Both do a very good job with dynamics, but with the Signet one gets the feeling that when the music turns less exuberant and is quieter and slower that the conductor loses some focus. This is obviously not the case as it is not heard this way with the Decca. I hear better clarity of musical intent with the Decca. The musical intensity is better sustained when there is less sheer volume.

This composition has several instances when a short musical motif is “handed off” from one instrument (or section of instruments) to another. Two examples: @1:15 (basses to cellos to violins to violas) and @3:14 (violas, to 1rst violins, to 2nd violins, to clarinets). With the Signet these four note motifs sound a little discreet. With the Decca one hears a little more of the intent of each player (or section) to connect and hand it off to the next player without losing as much musical “steam” in the process in order to create a longer musical line, the sum of the individual motifs. 

Don’t mean to sound like a broken record 😉, but the Decca does it for me.

Btw, adorable young audience member’s voice heard. I suspect she was agreeing that the Decca is king 😊?

Very well then, Frogman. That darn cart costs a minor fortune but it´s worth all the trouble, as reviewed by so many over the years. But when will this money-wasting hobby end ... I should have not started to read this thread at all ; )

Thank you Harold and Frogman for your understanding and kind words....😍
And thank you again Frogman for such a detailed and instructive analysis of the Signet and Decca and your kind words about my System.
Coming from you....it means a great deal to me 🤗

I hope it's instructive for others.....that most of these listening sessions and detailed analyses and impressions, are done with cartridges which are NOT LOMCs?
The vast majority of my collected cartridges comprises 2nd hand (or NOS) vintage MMs mostly over 35 years old bought for $90-$1000 (the average would be $500).
The supposed 'superiority' of the $10,000-$20,000 uber MCs which are establishing a 'Market-for Themselves' is a myth.
You will find exactly the same differences and nuances between them as you are hearing with the 'lowly' MMs.

I will eventually do a 'mad' comparison between my cheapest NOS ($110) MM and my most expensive ($10,000) LOMC.

Stick around......🤪

And now for something completely different......🎸

The Empire 4000D/III Gold was one of the first vintage MM cartridges I acquired after reading about it in Raul's MM Thread here on A'Gon.
It was cheap (even though NOS) and it opened my eyes (and ears) to the 'real' sound of music I had been missing since my last MMs 20 years previously.
The 4000D/III was high-compliance with a miniature nude stylus on a tapered gold-anodised aluminium cantilever.
It had a wide frequency range of 5-50K Hertz making it suitable for 4-Channel.

The Fidelity Research FR-6SE on the other hand was far lower in compliance, consistent with the Company's obvious aim to make it compatible with their high-mass Tonearms like the FR-64S and FR-66S.
The FR-6SE, with its Elliptical Stylus, sounds unlike most other cartridges you will hear being warm, full-bodied and robust. No brittleness or high-end annoyance in sight 😎

EMPIRE 4000D/III GOLD MM Cartridge
Mounted in DV-507/II ToneArm on solid Bronze ArmPod surrounding Vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable.

FIDELITY RESEARCH FR-6SE MM Cartridge
Mounted in FR-64S (Silver-Wired) ToneArm on solid Bronze ArmPod surrounding Vintage Victor TT-101 DD Turntable.