Moving on after van den hul


I've had van den hul cartridges (grasshopper & colibri) for almost 20 years. I love the sound, but I'm at the point of moving on after dealing with several rounds of questionable customer service.

My question is directed SOLELY at those of you who also love the van den hul sound: What other cartridges have you found that either (i) exceed the van den huls, or (ii) come close in important ways and provide an acceptable substitute?

(For those of you who do not share my enthusiasm for van den hul cartridges, PLEASE DON"T BOTHER RESPONDING TO THIS THREAD. It's not that you're not entitled to your opinion (of course you are), but rather that our ears and taste are sufficiently different as to make conversation on this issue irrelevant.)
jimjoyce25
Hi Koegz
Your turntable has receive it's most legendary reviews with some Clearaudios. I cannot think of a safer recommendation.
It seems that your own personal taste does not favour to the (neutral) side of Lyra (once you've got the PC-1, the Goldfinger has also a slight touch of familiar dryness) & given the fact that you choose only one cartridge to live with, I'm heartily advise for the Goldfinger. An amazing cartridge, very easy going, to align & to enjoy for many many years as it's strengths are not going to let you down (robust build & sonic quality) or to be surpassed any soon.
I suspect it is a natural match for your table.
My Symphonic Line RG6 has spend 2 years of greatness with Goldfinger (even poorly matched with the Pluto 9A) and then I become addicted.
Still is my favourite & has a great distance from the rest Clearaudios. The reason that I choose the (special order for my arm) XPP, was a personal advice from Eddie Driessen. I don't have any regrets (etheral-delicate-dynamic-exciting-speed-finesse-precision-resolution-calmness) but I want to be honest to my shelf : Goldfinger is care-free, fuse-free & a long term world reference (transient speed-power-relentless pace-unimpeded liveness-illumination-clarity-detail panacea) that somehow closes the gap between analogue & the imaginable ideal digital. Where the XPP is let you to explore and detect the mystic of the music's ceremony, the Goldfinger's nerve can shock you with the unexpected directness that throw these as facts.
It's character goes beyond the smooth transaction of the familiar analogue signature to the point that it's vividly & alertly persona can manage to lower the perceived laziness of belt drive signature. Your turntable & your amps will be in heaven.
In my set-up I've found great dissapointment with some carts: Onyx(fat & mellow) LP(flat & boring) PC-1(cold & sterile) to give you an idea for my taste or perhaps the overal synergy. There are so many issues to mind & you can not ignore. You can never be shure. All I can suggest is to arrange a listening session IN YOUR HOME.

George
thanks Geoch, I think I will take your advise. My only concern was the cantilever. I use to have the dynavector, I broke that one twice. I am told this is a different animal all together, much better built. Hearing on my system without buying is not going to happen. So it is another leap of faith.
I have a koetsu and a vd hul , i have changed appartments while i purchased the urushi and before that broke probably a coilwire of the condor it will be repaired soon , i have listened 2,5 years to the condor
A direct comparison is difficult but will come in the future.
Going to koetsu is a step forward i would say, you may lose a little bit of detail but the overal sound is one of more class, more coherence and emotional involvement its more a special product although also the condor just trashes the wadia player.
both strong advocates for analogue ,i have not heard the colibri in my system
I have both the Calibri and a EMT JSD 6. Both with different character and I could live with both. I play solo, and light music with Calibri, but when it comes to symphony, I must put the EMT on the vinyl. With both, I could enjoy a whole spectrum of music.
I used a VDH frog for several years and my daughter currently uses this one on her michell gyro system. I do like the sound but moved on to utilize the ZYX line of cartridges. I have the airy 3 and UNIverse and utilize both of them on my Maplenoll tables. As far as differences, I find the UNIverse is a more neutral cartridge than the Airy 3 or Frog. I think these two are closer together and other than the frog having a broader sweet spot on vta than the airy 3, both are very similar