Cartridge Reviews

But have opted for the Goldring Elite LOMC for $752.00. Let it play a little longer, or experiment with the arm height if not happy. Good review.

The quintet blue? I sold my black and kept the blue as it sounded better to my ears. The Quintet Blue is half the price! Don’t believe all the hype of the Black!

A good informative review. However I think it is worthwhile pointing out that the Shibata stylus profile on the Ortofon Quintet Black really requires very accurate setup. Having an arm without any immediate means of adjusting its height makes this difficult and some of Malachi's initial reactions to the sound of the cartridge seem indicative of this.

Rega cartridges are typically 15mm high whereas Ortofons are, as mentioned in the review, higher. 18mm is typical ( e.g. the 2M range) although some Ortofons are as tall as 19.5-20mm. I am unsure of the Quintet range but am confident that the preset arm height of the Rega will be too low.

Eyeballing how level the cartridge is will not be a substitute for getting it right and the tiny dimensions of the stylus can allow for significant error in setup which may still look OK from a simple visual aspect.

Fortunately Rega do offer shims which are used to raise the arm pillar. Try a 2mm one to start. If the sound is too dark ( as remarked on in the review when first heard ) then the arm is probably too low. If harsh and/or bright it may be too high.

Coincidentally I actuall installed an Ortofon cartidge with a Shibata stylus ( 2M Mono SE) yesterday afternoon in an Audiomods arm which uses a Rega sourced armtube. My nitial presumed correct level setting of the arm by eyeballing only was way out in reality and I needed to lower (in this case) the arm a few millimetres, checking by ear, before the sound "popped" into correct balance.

I wonder if Razorball's preference for the Quintet Blue ( nude elliptical stylus, more forgiving in this aspect) stems from the same cause?

Trolls only listen to lossy Mp3s of Maroon 5 and Jimmy Buffett.

Mikey, your gift of the shims is very cool. It will allow Malachi to get a better appreciation of the UD1S S&G pressing. I cannot even begin to agree with his assessment of that album.

I play it on a VPI Prime w/Unipivot 3D tonearm (2nd pivot assy), Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge, Audioquest Leopard phono IC, Bob's Devices Sky 30 stepup and Liberty B2B-1 phono preamp. That setup show the S&G UD1S to be what others have said.

It is a very good pressing and I wish they would have released it on the new SuperVinyl, but its great the way it is. I am really looking forward to Yes - Fragile on a SuperVinyl UD1S pressing. I have several reissues and a first US pressing of that album but I suspect the UD1S will be one of the very best of that title.

Ed

Malachi, I'm so glad you have caught the analog bug. And your enthusiasm is great.

That being said, if you're experiencing thin sound a flat soundstage, you need to check your adjustments and/or equipment.

I have an original, the Classic Records 33, and the One-Step. On one hand, the One-Step shows both the greatness as well as the flaws in the recording in the mastering. On the other, this is the most liquid, most full- bodied, and most naturally fleshed out pressing. With the best sounding songs, such as Baby Driver and The Only Living Boy In New York, the sound is rich and complex, and the soundstage is deep and layered. Bass is deep and tuneful. It's a most analog sounding of recordings.

Sometimes Halee futzed around too much and it sounds over processed, such as El Condor Pasa.

But Song For The Asking is glorious for its simplicity, naturalness, and presence.

If you're not hearing that, there's something off with your equipment somewhere.

... (Planar 3 + Elys + Quintet Black S + UltraPhono), skip the new phono preamp and upgrade the turntable and cartridge.
For example, a Technics SL-1200/1210GR with either an Ortofon 2M Black or an Audio-Technica VM760SLC.
If you prefer belt drive, there's the MoFi UltraDeck with a MasterTracker cartridge.

changing from MM to MC with a budget of less than $1000 is always frustrating. MM is rounder and more involving in comparison with cheap MC systems (sadly 1000 for MC is too cheap to give satisfying results). I tried several MCs and it would have been much wiser to stay with MM and wait until the budget allows for a cartridge of at least $1500. At this price range is a tilt towards the professional MCs and the hated S-sibilance gets under control. The only "cheap" cartridge not being an MM I could live with is a London Decca Gold, which can be very involving and revealing with a tubed preamp. I for myself now have a range of EMT monos and stereos and did not change them for years. A new MC will again be from EMT one day in the (hopefully) far future. On a TD 124 I settled 20 years ago after a disappointing Graham/Oracle Delphi combination. The TD 124 cost me 300 euros. Mounted is an old unipivot Haycock tonearm. Perfect to me. And analog heaven I get from the 2-track tapes played on my Revox machine.

I’m betting that thin flat or lifeless sound the youngster is hearing is due to some more set up or dial-in work needed, I concur. Microline styli are a PITA to get right. That doesn’t make them bad, it just means a bit more work is needed, that’s all. It is also important to make sure the cart and arm are a match. I run a microline (Shibata stylus) on my table and it took me about an hour and a half start to finish, to get right and it was not my first rodeo either. Even though we are talking millimeters, ellipticals are more forgiving. I learned how to set up my tables before I even saw Michael’s videos and such. In my opinion, Michael is not only a master at table setup, but also does a great job at stressing the importance of learning to do it yourself and doing it right. Anyone who wants to get into analog should learn these things as mandatory. There is the side benefit of knowing you did it successfully when you get it right, it’s a good feeling. (By the way, there are also plenty of good MM carts as well. MC carts are not superior, just different in my view, Both are good).
In my opinion, I also think that there may be a bit “cart before the horse” in the setup, no pun intended. Putting a $1000 cart on an RP3 and only allotting a $500 preamp going into a AVR is like putting racing wheels on a Prius. It doesn’t address the bottleneck, only moves it. If it were me, I would have put that $1000 into a nice phono preamp before going to that length in a cart. One can do pretty good on the Phono preamp area for $1000 and even maybe have a nice left-over amount for more records. (Real nice phono preamps out there for both MM/MC that will best the MoFi one for around $700 and that includes ones with load adjustment).
Hmm, just a thought Malachi, does the MoFi preamp have adjustments? If so, you might want to experiment with that as another part of dialing things in.
I also would recommend considering saving up for a nice 2-channel amp situation. Doesn’t have to cost a fortune, there are some good decent integrated amps out there for well under four figures you could be happy with for a few years. This would effectively kind of clean up the signal path compared to everything but the kitchen sink in AVRs. Until recently, I was using a top shelf AVR myself that sounded lack-luster and very 2D because it had everything and a poorly implemented dac in my opinion. Even though I run a high-end phono pre into it, it still did not do well for 2 channel. In fact, I think the only reason the kitchen sink was not in it was because they ran out of room. (I now run a proper 2 channel system and the difference is literally night and day.

Just my penny thoughts.

For those wondering, VTA was 90 degrees, so it was “in the ballpark” for measurements. I’m sure 92 degrees sounds better but I just want to clarify for those who think VTA/SRA is inaccurate.

thanks for the info on the bridge over troubled water, i just bought a first copy,NM, for a dollar and it does sound great! just pulled it out and cleaned and vacuumed and disc record cleaned it..NM now.
God , the sound is really good!

Malachi;
I am sure your mentor has warned you but please please please don't put much stock in anything posted in the comments section, including this comment. Stick to what you are doing and always remember that nobody else was there to hear what you heard. Nobody else was there to align your cartridge. All attempts by others to explain your perceptions are pure speculation. Often, even engaging in conversation or responding to the comments section is an exercise of pure futility and frustration. FWIW, I own several Ortofon cartridges including the Quintet Black and Cadenza Bronze. I think your comments are pretty spot-on, and you didn't even have the benefit of comparison of multiple MC cartridges. All this said, I am a bit confused about your criticism of the wide body of the cartridge adversely affecting the ease of getting optimum alignment. IMO, the body of the Quintet is relatively narrow and further, the body should not affect your ability to see the zenith of the cantilever since you should be looking from the front and not the side. But no big deal. Keep it up and don't let anyone shake your confidence. I am still blown away by your knowledge of music and your writing ability; your review of the Coltrane hullabaloo is mind-blowing. And this will be sacrilegious to many, but IMHO VTF, azimuth, and zenith are more important than VTA. I have had multiple turntables with adjustable VTA on the fly and the effect is minor compared to the previously referenced parameters. I am not familiar with your choice of mat, but I would suggest setting VTA for a 150 gram record and then forget things until you change your cartridge. The few fanatics who list optimum VTA for each and every record they own clearly have issues.

if the master tapes are in such bad condition why bother with a fancy one-step re-issue ?
it's not exactly a rare record .

I could be wrong, but my guess is there's going to be a second review with that same cartridge once the teething problems are overcome.

Very grateful too read a review using Kendrick. Keep up the good work!