Clearaudio MM -- AT-95E and beyond

Toni Rambold · « **Reply #1480 on:** 17 Nov 2016, 02:50 am »

Hi Neo,

Acoustical Systems is signed in under the name of Axinia Schäfer
in Rott. This is a small town in Bavaria, Germany, south-west of
München (Munich).
She's a diploma economist and, I think, in cooperation with
Dietrich Brakemeier and maybe other partners.

This is the website: http://www.arche-headshell.de/

I know you are perfect in German - so here's the first review of
the Palladian:

http://www.hifistatement.net/tests/item/1834-acoustical-systems-the-palladian?limitstart=0

Mit den besten Grüßen - Toni

neobop · « **Reply #1481 on:** 17 Nov 2016, 12:50 pm »

Thanks for the link Toni. Gruben - pits, dig? Is that like, can you dig it, or happy hunting? None of the above?

Yes Brakemeier was Dertonarm on Audiogon, if anybody cares. It might have something to do with the cart going down under, but what difference does that make? Another ho hum megabuck titanium cart, this one with an aluminum cantilever and a shibata, can join the ranks of Atlas, Anna, etc. Everyone says it sounds like live music. I'm kind of sick of Keith Jarrett, and Jan Garbarek makes me barf, how about Jazz at the Pawnshop?

Henry,
I hear the ART1000 is better and half the price, not that I've tried it.
Seriously, congratulations.
neo

Halcro · « **Reply #1482 on:** 17 Nov 2016, 01:23 pm »

Neo,
The Anna and Atlas in particular are not even in the same town let alone playing on the same field as the Palladian

Diamond-coated boron anyone....

But don't sneeze at aluminium as a cantilever......
Beryllium aside......many of my favourite LOMC cartridges come equipped with the humble bauxite derivative:-
FR-7, FR-7f, FR-7fz, and all the old SPUs and new SPUs I believe.....

And yes....Detonarm (Dietrich Brakemeier) has always been a 'champion' of the FR-7 series cartridges.
Whilst I haven't yet heard the ART1000.....its paternal ancestor the Victor MC-L1000

whilst interesting and fun.......suffers some biological faults which I can't imagine its projeny could correct...

At any rate.....Dietrich's sonic sensibilities are as far removed from Jonathan Carr's as mine are and for that I'm eternally grateful

neobop · « **Reply #1483 on:** 17 Nov 2016, 03:34 pm »

Nothing like a little sarcasm and kidding to get the conversation going, but I really can't take Jan Garbarek. The "critics" got upset over in Jazz Circle when I said Phil Woods wasn't my favorite. Who cares? Well, I guess they do or they wouldn't get upset.

Halcro,
Did you have/had an L-1000 ? I know it has the coils attached near the tip, but seems very different from the ART1000. The Victor has .22mV and 25 ohms ? The AT is coreless with .2mV and 3 ohm impedance. The Victor specs look more like a Denon and the AT looks like a hot rod 50ANV. It must have some powerful magnets.
neo

Halcro · « **Reply #1484 on:** 17 Nov 2016, 09:38 pm »

Quote

Did you have/had an L-1000 ? I know it has the coils attached near the tip, but seems very different from the ART1000. The Victor has .22mV and 25 ohms ? The AT is coreless with .2mV and 3 ohm impedance. The Victor specs look more like a Denon and the AT looks like a hot rod 50ANV. It must have some powerful magnets.

Yes Neo....had it and sold it....

neobop · « **Reply #1485 on:** 18 Nov 2016, 02:28 am »

That coil connection to the cantilever looks icky.

The Palladian must be one hell of a cart. Did you hear its predecessors? Apparently this is the third and best entry from them. Funny thing is, there's nothing new here, it's an optimization. The HIFI Statement review was a little strange regarding aluminum resonances being lower in frequency than boron therefore less objectionable. Say what? What did make sense was the varnish (special?) on the cantilever and its shortening made a big difference. A shorter cantilever will resonate at a higher frequency. So will a more rigid one.

I was playing the Z1/SAS at 52.3K/100pF internal. I think that's close to what you use. Sounds better. 200pF didn't sound right, but different cables.

Enjoy your new cart. Please keep us informed of any developments.
Regards,

Halcro · « **Reply #1486 on:** 18 Nov 2016, 02:36 am »

I haven't heard the other two AS cartridges but Thuchan of course has them.... :thumb:and the Palladian is now his 'Reference' out of the 85 cartridges he has..

But despite the fact that the Palladian appears faultless as of now.....I still can't stop this disease.
Be prepared for some imminent news.....

neobop · « **Reply #1487 on:** 19 Nov 2016, 03:14 pm »

More about the UNI DIN alignment and protractor a little later. I want to show you the Grado Signature Laboratory tonearm:

On Agon we were talking about zero offset underhung arms. This one is a little different. The cantilever points at the pivot in the vertical plane and the lateral alignment is conventional.

This is said to be a great sounding arm. I think it looks pretty cool too.
neo

Halcro · « **Reply #1488 on:** 21 Nov 2016, 12:36 pm »

The new NeoSAS/R stylus is now available.
With tapered ruby cantilever

neobop · « **Reply #1489 on:** 21 Nov 2016, 02:11 pm »

Halcro,
Do you know the differences between the "regular" neo SAS and the more expensive ones?

I was thinking about this the other night when playing the Z1. The new Z1 SAS looks the same except for the sapphire cantilever and the price is now $211.
I saw a regular shibata replacement for an X1, but still no SAS. Lookey here:
http://www.jico-stylus.com/index.php?cPath=18&sort=2a&page=10

Ruby and sapphire have the same chemical composition except for trace elements which determine color. Is one tapered and the other not?
neo

ACHiPo · « **Reply #1490 on:** 21 Nov 2016, 07:43 pm »

Quote from: neobop on 21 Nov 2016, 02:11 pm

Halcro,
Do you know the differences between the "regular" neo SAS and the more expensive ones?

Ruby and sapphire have the same chemical composition except for trace elements which determine color. Is one tapered and the other not?
neo

Neo,
The more expensive ruby stylus is tapered. No idea why they use ruby for the taper and sapphire for the straight cantilever.
AC

Plato65 · « **Reply #1491 on:** 21 Nov 2016, 08:33 pm »

Since ruby & sapphire are for our purposes the same, the only difference is the taper. Does the taper then really make a difference that justifies the doubling of the price?

Halcro · « **Reply #1492 on:** 22 Nov 2016, 02:01 am »

Quote from: ACHiPo on 21 Nov 2016, 07:43 pm

Neo,
The more expensive ruby stylus is tapered. No idea why they use ruby for the taper and sapphire for the straight cantilever.
AC

And as we're talking most probably 'synthetic' sapphire and ruby.....I can't see the reasoning for a 100% increase in cost to US$412...

This puts a vintage V15/III at approx $700 including postage if one wanted the neoSAS/R.
As one can buy a NOS Victor Z1 for $135......it will be interesting to see how the marketplace reacts to this pricing strategy?
I'm tempted to try one for my Garrott P77 though.....

neobop · « **Reply #1493 on:** 22 Nov 2016, 02:17 am »

I suppose the difference in price is a reflection of their cost. They probably break a lot of ruby crystals trying to taper them.
And it gets worse, the M97x SAS(R) is $467.

What is the length of these Shure cantilevers, 4mm ? Even if it's longer the cheaper one might sound better. Even though tapering will reduce tip mass, there isn't that much to begin with. David used to say that tapered is more rigid, but it seems to me the other way around. Wouldn't the tapered end be more flexible? Doesn't matter as much as having the secondary resonances being complimentary to the response of the cart.

I think this question might be moot. Send your cart to Soundsmith or a competent retipper and you can get the stylus of your dreams a bit cheaper. BTW, Soundsmith now has boron/OCL for $399. I think ruby/CL is still $250, but that makes the regular SAS look like a deal.

neo

Halcro · « **Reply #1494 on:** 22 Nov 2016, 02:24 am »

Quote

I think ruby/CL is still $250, but that makes the regular SAS look like a deal.

With the improvement in sound that the original SAS rendered......you're damn right

neobop · « **Reply #1495 on:** 22 Nov 2016, 02:09 pm »

Quote from: Halcro on 22 Nov 2016, 02:24 am

With the improvement in sound that the original SAS rendered......you're damn right

Yes, but the original SAS no longer exists unless you already have one, or find NOS. What I was wondering about in the first place was the difference between boron and sapphire for my Z1. All other things being equal I'm guessing boron is a little better for this cart. Sapphire should compliment its strengths and boron improve its weakness, if you can call it that.

For the money Jico wants for the SAS(R) I was hoping it would be a hollow tube ruby/sapphire. J Carr told us Namiki has them in stock. That might really be interesting.
neo

Halcro · « **Reply #1496 on:** 25 Nov 2016, 12:56 am »

So despite the Palladian eclipsing all the other cartridges in my collection......
I couldn't help myself from snaffling a rare, mint Sony XL-88 LOMC for which I have been searching a long while.

It is surprisingly small (half the size and weight of its brother the XL-55

But I think they make a charming couple....

Cantilevers and styli appear to be identical...

Just a couple of hours on it but it sounds promising...

neobop · « **Reply #1497 on:** 25 Nov 2016, 01:06 pm »

Halcro,
Nandric (agon) and possibly Griff have the D version (diamond cantilever) of this cart and think highly of it.

It will be interesting to find out what you think of your new red cutie.

neo

neobop · « **Reply #1498 on:** 25 Nov 2016, 02:28 pm »

Acoustical Systems SMARTractor alignment device is said to be the most precise and easiest to use. Of course that's provided you can sight the intersection of the arm pivots, from above. The name is a variation of the original device of this kind, the Dennison SoundTractor. The Feickert version now also has the 3 standard alignments. The Soundtractor and Geo-Disc (platter level pivot sight) have Loefgren A (Baerwald) only.
http://www.arche-headshell.de/alignment-tools/smartractor/

"In the last 2/3 of the record's groove, the UNI-DIN curve offers significant (18-45%) less average - as well as less total! - distortion than Baerwald or Loefgren."

Saying this as a general statement isn't true. It might be true for arms designed for Stevenson where achieving Loefgren A or B is not possible due to headshell slot length limitations, but I doubt it. Uni Din is an intermediate alignment in between Stevenson and Loefgren A. The inner null is moved out to 63.5mm. You can see the curves here:
http://www.analogplanet.com/content/uni-din-versus-l%C3%B6fgren-b-just-clarify#CskXR3sRrZGP1xTL.97

I used a similar alignment 30 years ago when I set up Japanese tables (Technics mostly). Ever notice most vintage Japanese arms have 15mm overhang regardless of effective length? Resulting nulls wind up close to Stevenson and minimize inner groove tracking problems. With "better" carts most people prefer one of the Loefgren alignments.
If you can't change effective length (mounting distance) you can get an intermediate alignment. I used to put the cart at the far end of the headshell and increase offset angle for a similar inner null. You should check the angle of both the inner the outer nulls to be sure new offset angle is correct.
On the cart the distance from headshell screws to stylus varies, but you usually wind up close to uni din, "invented" by Brakemeier.
neo

neobop · « **Reply #1499 on:** 25 Nov 2016, 05:21 pm »

Another thing to ponder is the relationship between alignment error and distortion. To say 3% alignment error is 3% distortion is flat out wrong IMO.

Although Loefgren postulated that alignment error caused distortion, it appears this has never been quantified. Baerwald who popularized the Loefgren A alignment, said the error caused 2nd harmonic distortion. This was in the 1930's and the distortion analyzer was invented in 1941 by Hewlett Packard. Can't find any studies that actually measured angular distortion although our ears tell us there's a difference in the sound of particular alignments.

Who thinks this difference in sound is 2nd harmonic distortion? Please raise your hand.

neo