The Colibri “Master Signature”

Mike Lavigne

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Apr 25, 2010
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I have gone crazy (not that it is crazy enough for most of you) and ordered an Ortofon Anna Diamond and a Kuzma Car60. Now the VdH has to go or my wife will sack me! I have used it very little (less than 100hrs) and will sell it for an incredibly low price so it goes fast, if anyone is interested, please contact me. As paypal does not work in Turkey I could not put it on ads part of the site, sorry.

love my Anna Diamond, congrats! fantastic cartridge.
 

Mike Lavigne

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in case any Master Signature fans missed it, i will be reluctantly selling my 15-25 hour vdH African Koa Wood 1.1mv output Master Signature to fund other already made purchases. the wife says 'sell it now'.....and she tells me i'm a motivated seller.:(

there you go.....it will be listed by the weekend.....unless......
 

Lagonda

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in case any Master Signature fans missed it, i will be reluctantly selling my 15-25 hour vdH African Koa Wood 1.1mv output Master Signature to fund other already made purchases. the wife says 'sell it now'.....and she tells me i'm a motivated seller.:(

there you go.....it will be listed by the weekend.....unless......
Regretfully, for your wife, you
are more often a motivated buyer not
seller :rolleyes:
 

PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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As my system and cartridge have been settling in, I am now finding that I prefer loading the Master Signature at 250 ohms on my Pass XP-27 phono. I also use the lowest gain setting of 55 dB for my 1.1mv output and anti skate is set at 0.5g. I had been apprehensive about keeping the VTA constant at the previous loading of 500 ohms trying to get the right balance and best sound for different recordings. I think now that the loading was just a tad too light (higher number). Increasing the loading two notches down to 250 makes the recordings sound more natural and I have less desire to adjust VTA, though admittedly I'm sitting on my hands and not touching the pile of cards now for the 3012R unless I play a super thick 180-200g reissue. ;)

My Master Signature now has about 155 hours on it and it is smoother sounding and less rough around the edges. Sibilance is also a bit less with more hours on it. The cartridge set up guys probably do this quite quickly, but this cartridge has taught me how little I really know about the subject. I have done a lot of trial and error to get more and more out of this cartridge. It is really very special. The cartridge seems quite sensitive to various set up parameters, perhaps because it is so revealing.

At some point I will move it back to my V-12 arm where it was for its first 20 hours before I could set up the 3012R on its armpod. Moving it back may be quite interesting.
 
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Ron Resnick

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Jan 24, 2015
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As a result of hearing a friend’s vdH Colibri XGW Stradivarius (I hope I am stating the model name correctly), the current model one down from the Master Signature, I have a renewed interest in investigating vdH cartridges in general, and this one step down model in particular. On this model I heard (and loved) the resolution and “aliveness” for which these top vdH cartridges are justly renowned, but with slightly less sibilance than I personally perceive from the Master Signature (so a better balance for me personally). (Of course, sample to sample cartridge variation and cartridge alignment differences and differences in associated components may drown out these seemingly perceived subtle sonic differences.)

Does anybody know (not guessing, not presuming) what are the actual differences in materials or components or windings or coils or wires or specifications between the Master Signature and this model XGW Stradivarius model right below it?

David, do you happen to know?

Thank you.
 
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microstrip

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As a result of hearing a friend’s vdH Colibri XGW Stradivarius (I hope I am stating the model name correctly), the current model one down from the Master Signature, I have a renewed interest in investigating vdH cartridges in general, and this one step down model in particular. On this model I heard (and loved) the resolution and “aliveness” for which these top vdH cartridges are justly renowned, but with slightly less sibilance than I personally perceive from the Master Signature (so a better balance for me personally). (...)

We should remember that vdH cartridges are returned to the factory for adjustment after the initial 300 hours. A friend of mine had a similar problem of sibilants with his cartridge and reported it at that time, the problem came solved when the cartridge was returned.
 

ddk

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May 18, 2013
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As a result of hearing a friend’s vdH Colibri XGW Stradivarius (I hope I am stating the model name correctly), the current model one down from the Master Signature, I have a renewed interest in investigating vdH cartridges in general, and this one step down model in particular.

Does anybody know (not guessing, not presuming) what are the actual differences in materials or components or windings or coils or wires or specifications between the Master Signature and this model right below it?

David, do you happen to know?

Thank you.
To my knowledge talking to Mr. van den Hul the main differences between the two was output, Master Sig's achievement was the high 1.1mv output which helps many with noisy phono stages. Low output versions came later when I asked for them, 1.1mv is just too much for system.

I didn't ask for specifics but physically I'm sure the number of coils and probably the magnets are slightly different as is the type of wood he uses for each model. Please note that there are other variants of each model with copper wire and stone bodies too.

Sonically it's the same family sound, the subtle differences are only obvious in direct comparison otherwise you're not going to kick any of them out of bed.

david
 

microstrip

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(...) Does anybody know (not guessing, not presuming) what are the actual differences in materials or components or windings or coils or wires or specifications between the Master Signature and this model XGW Stradivarius model right below it?

David, do you happen to know?

Thank you.


See this thread - David and Shakti said it all:

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/vdh-colibri-xgw-koa-stradivarius-on-the-way.24740/

Particularly post #26

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/vdh-colibri-xgw-koa-stradivarius-on-the-way.24740/post-521552
 
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ddk

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Tango

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So much talk about good sound of the Master Sig. One thing has not been mentioned is the fact it is the best value for the money imo. Try to find a cart at this level for around $6,000. How much is Opus1, GFS, AtlasSL, universe Premium, Universe Optimum, Red Sparrow, Ortofon Diamond Anna, Esturo Gold, etc. Tell me if 5 judges listening these carts could make a verdict that any one of these can "outclass" the Master Sig sonically. But out-money they definitely could. More company should price their carts like the vdh.

Tang
 
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Lagonda

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So much talk about good sound of the Master Sig. One thing has not been mentioned is the fact it is the best value for the money imo. Try to find a cart at this level for around $6,000. How much is Opus1, GFS, AtlasSL, universe Premium, Universe Optimum, Red Sparrow, Ortofon Diamond Anna, Esturo Gold, etc. Tell me if 5 judges listening these carts and could make a verdict that any one of these can "outclass" the Master Sig sonically. But out-money they definitely could. More company should price their carts like the vdh.

Tang
And don’t forget the inexpensive retip, lets all wish Mr. Van Den Hul
a long life !:)
 
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Tango

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And don’t forget the inexpensive retip, lets all wish Mr. Van Den Hul
al long life !:)
Lagonda san. I sent my cart for recondition after 300 hrs and costed me something like $50. The cart came back like a woman just had a repair. Forget retip. You can buy a new one at the price of other carts' retip.
 

Lagonda

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Lagonda san. I sent my cart for recondition after 300 hrs and costed me something like $50. The cart came back like a woman just had a repair. Forget retip. You can buy a new one at the price of other carts' retip.
I am so cheap, I would go for the
retip anytime :rolleyes: if I could,
I would retip in advance :oops:
 

bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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I am so cheap, I would go for the
retip anytime :rolleyes: if I could,
I would retip in advance :oops:

At your age you can't retip. Your Playboy days are over
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Three of us will soon get a week probation plus trophy points taken away by the moderator.

Btw, What are those trophies they gave out a few days ago for anyway?

good question

Only part of our point and trophy system was activated. Members were asking why points maxed out at 131. W hen we looked into it we found that the system was not fully activated.

As a result we pushed the switch to do such and suddenly everyone was caught up. You won't see anything as much as you did a few days ago everyone is now current in the point system.

My guess is everyone will see a trophy now only infrequently but you're right it was a barrage of trophies all at once
 

Lagonda

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bonzo75

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Solypsa

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www.solypsa.com
So much talk about good sound of the Master Sig. One thing has not been mentioned is the fact it is the best value for the money imo. Try to find a cart at this level for around $6,000. How much is Opus1, GFS, AtlasSL, universe Premium, Universe Optimum, Red Sparrow, Ortofon Diamond Anna, Esturo Gold, etc. Tell me if 5 judges listening these carts could make a verdict that any one of these can "outclass" the Master Sig sonically. But out-money they definitely could. More company should price their carts like the vdh.

Tang
Hehe thats half the USA list price ;)
 
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Lagonda

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