This is some definite food for thought.
Think the challenge will be to find one I like, can get demoed and that fits on the Rega tone arm without too much fussing.
Also wondering if the Apheta fits the bill but that will be overkill for my Planar 6 I think.
I imagine that a Dynavector 20X would fit your needs nicelyā¦
I have an Audio Technica AT150 body with a VMN50SH Shibata stylus which sounds great on my P6 the really nice thing about the Audio Technica Moving Magnet is the different styli that fit there is a Micro Line and Nude Elliptical too.
The Dynavectors are great carts if the 20x2 is a bit expensive the 10x5 is also excellent.
+1 4 10x5
That does look like a very good cartridge indeed. Only it seems on the P6 you need to shim the tone arm.
Ideally, as a total noob to modding hi fi equipment I would prefer to start with a mostly plug and play cartridge. Putting spacers between the cartridge and the headshell I will do but removing the tone arm, I dunno about that.
I listened to the clip you posted, via iPad and its speakers, and didnāt note any particular abnormal sibilance, though it was rather a short clip to be able to tell properly. Certainly nothing like the clearly excessive sibilance that I have heard from time to time on The some recordings, and/or some systems, vinyl and not. Unfortunately it seems that as you suggest you have a heightened sensitivity to it - and that may mean you will struggle to find an acceptable solution and so may have to listen to multiple options. If the source changes donāt fix it, it may also be worth hearing through different speakers as some tweeters are more prone than others, and although you havenāt experienced it with digital source it is possibly a combination of the vinyl source and that speaker. (This is just speculation, but may be worth considering if cartridge changes donāt resolve adequately.)
A difference in the effect between channels and/or between inner and outer parts of the disk is just a foible of the vinyl medium.
It is exactly as you say, I will need to really dig in to find something. Thing is I really love vinyl for a lot of other reasons so I will be sticking with it. I really love the tactile, visceral experience of it.
When I listen to my own recording it is pretty much exactly what I experience and gripe about so it is very valuable for me that you took the time to listen and respond. Thank you.
As for speakers. I have Sonus Faber Concertinos which lean more to the darker side and also experience it on my Sennhiser HD 660s headphones. I think it is my head and not the speakers, honestly.
Even if I could decrease the presense of it, it would be worthwhile. Will investigate other elements in the future. For now going around listening to everything is pretty difficult (not to mention stressful) with our Covid level. So will leave this for a time when I can do it more relaxed. Hey a third of my record collection does not trigger my sensitivity.
Easy - no vocals, or none with the letter āsā!
Hahaha yeah.
All jokes aside I lean to instrumental a bit so that helps.
I held my view back so far as I was thinking it could have been a particular, defective unit, but given your dealerās reaction I think you may be in a minority of people that cannot actually stand mistracking - and excessive sibilance is a form of that. Iāve been to demos where others enjoyed the sound while overlooking it whereas I could not get past the effect. Plenty like cartridges that I donāt think track all that well and that doesnāt get brought up in reviews or user comments.
For example, even some mentioned on this thread (including the DVs) I wouldnāt rate highly in this regard, having experienced them while searching for something that would work for me. It is not enough to just have a line-contact or better stylus profile - the DV20 doesnāt track anywhere near as well as an OC9, for example.
Iāve had very good luck with ATs in this regard. Worth noting that they also need very different loading from the phono stage, as many of them can sound splashy otherwise.
This would appear to be the case.
I am pretty sure that regardless of if I get this solved I will stick to vinyl. So will take the long game approach to this.
Because nothing is bust I at least know the element is not damaging my records.
So firstly I want to see if I can get something Rega to solve this. Maybe the Ania Pro. This I can at least have a demo of at the dealer.
If that does not work I will look at other options that I can install without modifications.
Last resort are things that need tone arm shimming and such.
I certainly can relate to that, remembering the āmagicā of the whole process: album sleeves, putting on the turntable, lowering the arm and then the initial anticipatory background noise of the blank lead-in and with some albums the pre-echo of the opening sound all made for a good curtain raiser on the musicā¦ But for me the better sound quality of streaming (from my own store) plus lack of deterioration plus freed up space etc has brought greater playing satisfaction.
Iām still running the humble P3 but the Hana sl mc is a very good cart to my ears. It will transfer well to my P8 when it arrives via Santa Claus.
Ha! You describe it so well.
Another thing I love is how it forces me to reconnect to the music. Put on the album, listen the whole thing. With digital I am much too much of a free spirit so sometimes I miss out and forget about some interesting nooks and crannies in the music.
Iād say my listening is about 60% digital 40% vinyl at the moment.
Unless Mr C is from your householdā¦he will be banned from visiting.
Did you have to modify anything to get it on the Rega arm?
And well done on convincing Santa to deliver such a thing of beauty!
No modification needed. There is a photog on here somewhere after I wondered whether the vta would need adjustment. It didnāt. Foolishly I didnāt keep a copy of the photog.
Santy will be in the form of Mrs Bruss this year.
Iāll keep an eye on that cartridge thenā¦
And yes, in the lockdown he has to do things remote as well I guess.
I almost invariably only play whole albums - digital gas made no difference to that (except positively, in that a double or triple can play all the way through without a break).
I envy your self controlā¦