Managed to arrange an A vs B demo in late January. They should be able to fit the arm and cartridge to the Xerxes. If they cannot then I can still compare my deck to their full demo one (which is a full Vertere set up admittedly - so circa £11k’s worth!!) to give me an idea. I think what I am looking for can be summed up as:-
More detail
Better definition
Less top end sibilance
The usual stuff really. The dealer rang me and said that he did not think I would be wasting my time. Feels wallet lightning and I must resist going further than the arm and cartridge!
Hi Alan,
We started with Roksan Xerxes 20+ with Tabriz zi and Dynavector XX-2. The tonearm became a Roksan Artemis 2, which was tremendous.
Then the Xerxes 20+ / Artemis became a Vertere MG-1 with SG-1 tonearm and HB tonearm internal wiring.
Gosh. Music became ALIVE. Hifi terms don’t describe it adequately. Music became more lifelike, engrossing, captivating, rhythmically compelling and generally gorgeous.
We have since changed cartridge, having worn out the XX-2. Now it’s just lush and utterly captivating. Apart from the above, it’s okay, I suppose.
One care point though, the SG-1 tonearm has many degrees of freedom, just like a unipivot. It needs a good dealer to get the geometry and cartridge loading spot on.
Good to know then, as my dealer was even not able to set up properly my Lyra Kleos on the P10. Fortunately I haven’t bought the Vertere. But it’s sad however that we don’t have the same dealers as UK here.
It does. Many thanks. It feels like going back to the beginning - for me an SME IIIS + Ortofon VMS 20E after half a days worth of other permutations. Great fun. Check was a TD160.