Transfiguration Orpheus - Has anyone tried it ?

Gary - Your comments are indeed honest as always, but note that your two comments above differed in tenor. I agree with both to some extent.

Gary and Sirspeedy - I've got too much good music on my CDs not to at least think about making sure whether I can or cannot make the CD player closer to the LP player.

Sirspeedy -- Steve Huntley has brought many otherwise ordinary CD players, including mine, much closer to analog. We'll see.

All,

The Orpheus was also reviewed in a German mag called Image HiFi. Bob Clark of Profundo, the US Distributor, plans to translate the review and make it available.

Andrew

Just a note about output with Transfiguration products: they use the JVC test record. Most other manufacturers use the CBS test record which gives values 1.6x the "JVC" values. In addition, most phono preamp gain specs are tied to outputs based on the CBS values.

So to make a fair comparison with (most) other cartridges, and also to determine what kind of gain will be required from the phono preamp, it's necessary to convert the JVC derived values to the CBS value.

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For instance the Orpheus is rated a 0.48mV output, but if it had been spec'd using the CBS record, the output would actually be 0.77mV -- fairly healthy by most MC standards.

I have had the chance to hear the Orpheus in a friend's system. It is in that system on extensive "trial" (we are all friends of a dealer), and if I weren't so lazy, I could also install it in my system for a trial. In my friends system, where it replaced a Lyra Helikon, I thought the Orpheus sounded terrific. It actually sounded more lively than the Helikon (though the Helikon has quite a few hours on it so that might be an issue), while having the great tonal balance typical of Transfiguration cartridges.

Once I get my own system sorted out (just replaced my linestage/phono), I will give it a spin.

I have recently acquired the Transfiguration Orpheus. If so desired, I can give detailed comparisons to previously owned cartridges such as van den Hul Condor, Lyra Titan, Koetsu Urishi and Ortofon Jubilee. Please let me know. banpuku@yahoo.com