Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement v2
- Thread starter jfrech
- Start date
Wow, Tang! Fantastic!
I am excited about that array of cartridges because I am considering Opus 1 and GFS for my second tonearm.
I am excited about that array of cartridges because I am considering Opus 1 and GFS for my second tonearm.
nice tang. Perhaps I will try the GFS sometime. Don’t deny yourself a Koetsu w/diamond cantilever...either Coralstone or blue lace when you have the chance...
Wow, Congratulations, Tang!!!
If your four tonearms are all identical, then your listening impressions describing the differences between these four super cartridges will be most valuable to the readers of this forum. Even a comparison between the SAT arm and SME 3012R arms with the same cartridges will be very interesting. Thank you for sharing your listening laboratory with us. The choices you will have with all of these cartridges, tonearms, and tables boggles the mind.
If your four tonearms are all identical, then your listening impressions describing the differences between these four super cartridges will be most valuable to the readers of this forum. Even a comparison between the SAT arm and SME 3012R arms with the same cartridges will be very interesting. Thank you for sharing your listening laboratory with us. The choices you will have with all of these cartridges, tonearms, and tables boggles the mind.
Indeed. However, as a reminder, and what goes along with my thread about system vs individual piece, I think that Tango's impressions have to be considered along with his ancillary gear and the type of sound that he prefers. Therefore, while I am sure that Tango's impressions of his new cartridges are perfectly valid for his taste and set-up, they may well not jive with anyone else's opinion of the cartridges in question. Naturally, this all applies to everyone who has an 'opinion' in this hobby....it's subjective and the most prudent thing to do is to listen to gear in one's own system to finally come to a conclusion. So very very hard with cartridges, but true nonetheless.IMHO.
Yes, all very true, and your thread makes this point very well. Tang is an excellent writer describing well his listening impressions, so any such sharing will be good additional information to the already growing data on these particular cartridges. Ron did mention that there seems to be a consensus on the "house sounds" of cartridges. It will be interesting to read if Tang's impressions are consistent with the others. The value here is that there are so many possible combinations within one system context and that the sound of those various combinations will be well described. We can then extrapolate from there.
congrats Tang.
I really enjoy my GFS and it keeps delivering the goods.
last night I was sorting through a bunch of tapes to play to 30 audio club members meeting at my home today. these were mostly classical tapes I've had for 8 to 10 years, but had not played for a long time. I found that my vinyl performance had jumped up beyond a good portion of these tapes. it's not just the GFS, but it was certainly a big part of it.
I look forward to your listening feedback.
nice tang. Perhaps I will try the GFS sometime. Don’t deny yourself a Koetsu w/diamond cantilever...either Coralstone or blue lace when you have the chance...
Dear Christian,
The Koetsu and ZYX are very difficult to source for me. I got my Coralstone from Kedar. And got the ZYX from David. Any diamond cantilever will be even more difficult to source and freakin expensive. (I have a limit to how much I would pay for a cart.) I am hoping some day Gian would be bored of his mother of all queen Coralstone Diamond..but he said that is not going to happen.
Tang
Dear Peter,
I will have 2 3012Rs, a SAT and a SAEC 506 on the AS. With two identical arms I can definitely compare carts. And with two Opus’s I also can compare arms. All can be played with the EMT phono that has 4 inputs. I have a Airtight SUT to use with mm input and Opus1. The same brand of cart and SUT should compliment each other. Also got good tips from jcarr in another thread.
Tang
Dear DaveyF,
You are right. With respect to all experienced audiophiles here in this forum, I always assume readers of carts report 1) analyze and take into account of sound preferences of the writer 2) the system and associated gears being used to evaluate the carts 3) put more importance on cart comparison than a stand alone cart report 4) cross check if the reviewer has played carts with different tts and arms 5) realize that hearing memory fade quickly over time so cart report from a reviewer with two same arms on the same tt is likely more reliable than from reviewer with single arm on a tt 6) check if the reviewer has played with different cart settings, vtf, vtf, loading, etc. All cart reports are just data points. Everything counts in the chain.
Kind regards,
Tang
I start with the powercords, I’ll pass if I see certain audiophile ones used in the system.
david
Dear Mike,
I have been saying offline to a few friends about how my vinyl could attract me to spend time on listening without missing tapes. I have no doubt your vinyl front can sound differently better than tapes. I think this is part of the reason ddk don’t go into tape. Frankly, if I have not put a lot of money into tape already I really don’t have strong incentives to keep buying tapes. Tape is so dependent on ...well...tapes. Ron will realize this once he put his feet in it
.Kind regards,
Tang
Dear Mike,
I have been saying offline to a few friends about how my vinyl could attract me to spend time on listening without missing tapes. I have no doubt your vinyl front can sound differently better than tapes. I think this is part of the reason ddk don’t go into tape. Frankly, if I have not put a lot of money into tape already I really don’t have strong incentives to keep buying tapes. Tape is so dependent on ...well...tapes. Ron will realize this once he put his feet in it
Kind regards,
Tang
A friend who got real deep into tape recently, and he has a Doshi tape pre like you do Tango. He is having doubts about his decision to get into tape, because of the tapes. Some are spectacular and others are just average, and his vinyl rig out plays his tape, and his rigs as good as they are, are not on the level you're at. What you said above is like deja vu with a few other guys I know too. I can appreciate listening to tape and on occasion admire their strengths, but it is not for me , not even if a pile of money fell into my lap.
Thanks for sharing this story. You are confirming what I have long suspected and heard myself. There are so many reports about how tape is the best media. I have no doubt that some tape set ups must sound fantastic. However, I have heard tape in three instances and compared that tape to the owners vinyl and digital. The vinyl was always just as good or better and I ended up feeling underwhelmed by the tape. I was surprised having read and heard all of the incredible reports. The cost and quality of many tapes is also not very appealing to me. I also wonder about the source of some of the tapes. I was a bit surprised by Mike's recent post describing his vinyl quality versus his tape. I appreciate his candor.
My experience in my setup is that the best tapes I have sound better than the best records I have. For any album for which I have a copy of a master production tape, that tape sounds better than the best pressing I have.
I would be interested in Mike’s impressive of hearing the Doshi tape pre in his system vs. his vinyl setup.
When you wear out a Koetsu and need a rebuild, I have a contact in Japan who can get it rebuilt with diamond or boron through Koetsu. Much cheaper getting a diamond rebuild than buying new that way.
The master tape can’t be beat. Sure an RIAA EQ of that tape on vinyl sounds great and a bit different. LP sourced from the same master tape will not sound as good as the tape given reference repro gear in both instances...TT and Tape Deck. Maybe “as good” is too relative a term ? They will both sound great but different.
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