Since many years, I have had Transfiguration Proteus cartridges in my main analog set up (Brinkmann Balance turntable and SAT tonearm). I also have a Lyra Etna and a Phasemation PP200 mounted on two other turntables.
When my first Transfiguration Proteus had to be retipped, Immutable Music proposed me to swap it against a brand new enhanced version. At the same time a limited number of of Proteus D cartridges with a diamond cantilever was produced but I never had to chance to lay my hands on one. In a rather old post, Gary reported his experience with the Proteus D.
A few weeks after I received my enhanced version of the Proteus, Seiji Yoshioka passed away and Transfiguration closed its doors.
For future retipping services, I knew I could rely on François from Ana Mighty Sound. Some months ago, François hinted me that he was getting diamond cantilevers for a still confidential new cartridge project. I asked François to keep a diamond cantilver for me as my cartridge was due for retipping. It was the opportunity to upgrade it to a « Proteus D » status.
The Proteus was shipped to François in late July. The retip and upgrade were performed in less than 5 weeks. Though the job was not inexpensive, it was still very reasonable considering what I was getting in return as, at the time, a Proteus D was fetching around 10,000$ whereas a standard Proteus was around 6,000$.
François provided me some pictures of the retipping process.
Before:
During:
After:
The translucent square shank diamond cantilever and the new diamond tip were shining when I opened the box. The suspension was also modified. François advised me that I had to increase the vertical tracking force from the initial 2 to 2.3 grams.
When the needle dropped into the groove, I immediately realised that something special was happening. Though some burn in would be required before the cartridge would reach its full potential, I was getting all the great features of the Proteus but on steroids. As the hours passed, things were getting even better: speed, transparency, precise imaging and a perfect tonal balance like I never experienced before even with my own Lyra Etna and other high end cartridges I had the chance to listen to (top of the range Phasemation, My Sonic Lab, Mutech, Lyra, Jan Allaerts and Koetsu).
According to François, these improvements are due to the extreme rigidity of the diamond cantilever compared to the boron cantilever of the original version.
Anyway, I am good for about 2000 hours of musical bliss and won’t be looking for another cartridge before long.
I am just curious to see what François is going to do with his stash of diamond cantilevers. Don’t ask me as I promised not spilling the beans…
When my first Transfiguration Proteus had to be retipped, Immutable Music proposed me to swap it against a brand new enhanced version. At the same time a limited number of of Proteus D cartridges with a diamond cantilever was produced but I never had to chance to lay my hands on one. In a rather old post, Gary reported his experience with the Proteus D.
A few weeks after I received my enhanced version of the Proteus, Seiji Yoshioka passed away and Transfiguration closed its doors.
For future retipping services, I knew I could rely on François from Ana Mighty Sound. Some months ago, François hinted me that he was getting diamond cantilevers for a still confidential new cartridge project. I asked François to keep a diamond cantilver for me as my cartridge was due for retipping. It was the opportunity to upgrade it to a « Proteus D » status.
The Proteus was shipped to François in late July. The retip and upgrade were performed in less than 5 weeks. Though the job was not inexpensive, it was still very reasonable considering what I was getting in return as, at the time, a Proteus D was fetching around 10,000$ whereas a standard Proteus was around 6,000$.
François provided me some pictures of the retipping process.
Before:
During:
After:
The translucent square shank diamond cantilever and the new diamond tip were shining when I opened the box. The suspension was also modified. François advised me that I had to increase the vertical tracking force from the initial 2 to 2.3 grams.
When the needle dropped into the groove, I immediately realised that something special was happening. Though some burn in would be required before the cartridge would reach its full potential, I was getting all the great features of the Proteus but on steroids. As the hours passed, things were getting even better: speed, transparency, precise imaging and a perfect tonal balance like I never experienced before even with my own Lyra Etna and other high end cartridges I had the chance to listen to (top of the range Phasemation, My Sonic Lab, Mutech, Lyra, Jan Allaerts and Koetsu).
According to François, these improvements are due to the extreme rigidity of the diamond cantilever compared to the boron cantilever of the original version.
Anyway, I am good for about 2000 hours of musical bliss and won’t be looking for another cartridge before long.
I am just curious to see what François is going to do with his stash of diamond cantilevers. Don’t ask me as I promised not spilling the beans…
