A Trilogy of Trackers

[goatbreath]

Just checked,,it is non magnetic..

[goatbreath]

OK after quite a bit of palava,,I'm now running in the Denon DL110..

[goatbreath]

Well if the congestion opens up on the Denon I reckon it could be pretty special..Kind of Blue sounds better than ever with it..My old Yhuedi Menhuin Instruments of the orchestra there are all these inflections in his voice I wasn't catching before..The actual tonal colour seems so much more vivid as well..But this is all on small scale music..Orchestral stuff sounds a bit bloated at the minute..If that goes away after break in,,It may be that I really like the Denon..I'm feeling a bit stressed today too and that can affect your listening I reckon..I will report back..

So far for testing I've been using Tubular Bells side One,,
Kind of Blue Miles Davis..
Instruments of the Orchestra..
Steely Dan,,Can't buy a thrill..
Tangerine Dream Tangram/also Cyclone
Camel Snow Goose.
Fur Elise,,A Heliodor Piano Comp..
A double Baroque comp with all the usual suspects,,It's a 80s red nipper..

Amongst others..

[goatbreath]

Sumiko 11.4 gms without finger lift.. + Audio Technica AT95e 5.7 gms

Altai headshell 9.4 gms + Denon DL110 4.8gms,,I have removed the flip down stylus guard

ADC 7.6 gms + Shure M97xe 6.6 gms,,running with stabiliser brush engaged.

From what I can read it seems the arm without headshell is 5.5 gms approx..I usuakky add a touch more on for cartridge screws,,

AT 95e plus headshell etc..call it 23 gms..
Denon DL110 + hs call it 20gms
Shure M97xe...+ HS a bit over 20gms

As for the compliances,,there may be all types of argument,,but I would say listed low to high..AT95e,,,DL110,,,M97xe..

AT95e Bonded 4x7 stylus
DL110 Nude elliptical,,some strange profile,,not sure if this is finer than 2x7 etc???..Maybe some answers here..
M97xe Bonded 2x7 stylus..

[goatbreath]

My verdict so far seems to be that the Denon bass is a bit lighter than the Shure,,but the Denon is all about timbre..There is more information coming from the Denon although it isn't as blatantly percussive as the Shure..The bass and dynamics of the Shure are amazing..Are they really that powerful in the recording though..HMM!!!

Instruments on the Denon sound more tonally vivid,,therefore real..I am getting the old feeling of knowing you have stepped up a few rungs when you hear things you never before..Things that are suddenly obviously there..With the Denon this is happening in the lower mid,,it was that whole hearing new information that got me hooked on all this in the first place..

So which is best,,neither....And what of the AT95e,,for me it sits halfway between both but paints a picture with broader strokes..Sorry to use a cliche,,but yeah that one seems applicable here...Not as characterful as the other two,,but is it the cartridge that is nuetral ??? The AT95e does not have the bass and slam of the Shure,,It is more like the Denon in that respect..You can hear the bass but it isn't moving the floorboards..

I am a big fan of the AT95e,,at this stage,,and the Denon is not fully burned in yet..My Impression is that the Denon does what the AT95e does,,but so much better..

[Hepokatti]

The funny thing about AT95E is that it actually sounds much better in better systems. People put it in all kinds of cheap systems, but it deserves an expensive one. If you take every factor into consideration (including price), AT95E is one of the best cartridges in the world.

That being said, based on my own experiences and your comments, could it be said that m97xE is actually a bit overrated cartridge? The mid range is full and rich yes, but have you experienced actual enjoyment listening the cartridge? AT95 makes one's foot tap like no tomorrow, that's some musicality!

[goatbreath]

The M97xe in my system is not a toe tapper,,it is more a headbanger..The AT95e I agree about though..I didn't enjoy the M97xe much in the SME IIIs..In the Kenwood it is very good though,,as I said percussive,,so it is very good at rhythm..

[goatbreath]

I have been using the DL110 for a wee while now..Records with noisy surfaces seem much quieter..HMMM!!!! Interesting..

[bauzace50]

MMMhhhmmm,

The plot thickens, as they say. Keep it coming! Good to know actual user's comparisons. Even more pertinent than a single report .

Regards,
b50

[bauzace50]

@ goatbreath,

At what LF resonance are you running these cartridges? Any significant departure from 10 Hz?
Do you prefer the M97xE with, or without the brush damper in use?

REgards,
b50

PS: One can't count the many glowing users' testimonials for each of these three models! There are so many it's instructive and amusing.

[goatbreath]

I am using the brush with the M97xe as the tomearm is of the higher end of medium mass...

What I think and have read the compliances of the AT95e and DL110 are..They all seem to be in the 8 or 9hz zones..I don't want to start a war here..I reckon the AT95e to be around 13 or 14 cpu...The Denon in the higher teens...The Shure,,I am using the brush to counteract if the compliance is too high..Although I have read some claims the Shure is only 20 cpu...But I'm not sure of that one..

The tests are getting a bit held up because...1...I am blown away by the Denon,,at the moment I am thinking best sounding cartridge I have owned,,the Jico/SAS is good but the Denon is so vivid when it comes to timbre.....I am kind of grudging moving it from where it is..

2...I am blown away by the Kenwood KD7010 I got so cheap...

3......I have 3 music projects on the go just now.Which takes up time and is tiring,,either learning parts,,composing parts or going into practice rooms..I am often in there 3 evenings a week at the moment..And always with my ear protection..If the others don't want to use ear protection that's up to them..I'm only 44 but really physically feeling the effect of humping gear around..Complain,,groan,etc...

If I really had to rate them in order...But that is personal preference,,all seem to track well..And my choice may change as time goes by..But the Shure can slap you around and can have a sense of drama the other two don't..I can also say that all 3 are a hell of a lot better than the Ortofon 510...

1. Denon Dl110
2.AT95e
3.M97xe

But that is only on one turntable.....The AT95e seems to keep it's tonal balance across turntables..The M97xe sounds rolled off on some,,due to capacitance issues..The Denon I haven't experimented further with....I am also still running the Denon at 2 gms downforce..I don't know if I want to take it back to 1.8 once it's ran in,,it sounds so good just now...

[bauzace50]

goatbreath,

I had success tuning one cartridge for better low-frequency performance. It was one Dynavector DV 17D3 on the SME 309 tonearm.

The original setup yielded a high LF resonance of 14 Hz, with nice tight bass. But the bass lacked energy and impact.

On a hunch, I added six grams to the headshell, and re-adjusted the tracking force to the cartridge's specifications. This got me the bass impact I was looking for.

However, I have not been able to duplicate this effect with any other cartridge I own. The fix seems to be exclusive to that cartridge/arm combination.

But there would be no harm for you to try this. You can easily go back to the original setup.

Good luck,
b50

[goatbreath]

Bauzace,the effective mass etc...is here...All seems to be well...I have ran a Shure M97xe in a SME mkIIIs before..That is something crazily low mass like..5 grams or something..It still had that punchy dynamic sound and big bass..

Sumiko 11.4 gms without finger lift.. + Audio Technica AT95e 5.7 gms

Altai headshell 9.4 gms + Denon DL110 4.8gms,,I have removed the flip down stylus guard

ADC 7.6 gms + Shure M97xe 6.6 gms,,running with stabiliser brush engaged.

From what I can read it seems the arm without headshell is 5.5 gms approx..I usuakky add a touch more on for cartridge screws,,

AT 95e plus headshell etc..call it 23 gms..
Denon DL110 + hs call it 20gms
Shure M97xe...+ HS a bit over 20gms

As for the compliances,,there may be all types of argument,,but I would say listed low to high..AT95e,,,DL110,,,M97xe..

AT95e Bonded 4x7 stylus
DL110 Nude elliptical,,some strange profile,,not sure if this is finer than 2x7 etc???..Maybe some answers here..
M97xe Bonded 2x7 stylus..

[Hepokatti]

PS: One can't count the many glowing users' testimonials for each of these three models! There are so many it's instructive and amusing.

To be fair, all three are pretty good cartridges for the price. It's really hard to be objective with AT95 when you've paid less for it than a decent restaurant dinner, and it puts out music regardless.