van den Hul Colibri Grand Cru

[crosswind]

First impressions ?

Detailed, rich, balanced and smooth with deep bass and delicate highs. Then the rest of the family made me join them on some cross-country skiing.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Detailed, rich, balanced and smooth with deep bass and delicate highs. Then the rest of the family made me join them on some cross-country skiing.

It's the 'smooth' part that concerns me...

(I have one on order)

 

[crosswind]

It's the 'smooth' part that concerns me...

(I have one on order)

Only very early first impressions. Haven’t worked on the fine adjustments other than VTF. Don’t put too much in to it.

 

[Lagonda]

Only very early first impressions. Haven’t worked on the fine adjustments other than VTF. Don’t put too much in to it.

In my setup both VTF and VTA are very specific points for best sound, this cartridge sounds best right on the edge of distortion/ bad tracking. Sibilance is obvious if present on record, but will be less prominent after a few month of use

 

[crosswind]

In my setup both VTF and VTA are very specific points for best sound, this cartridge sounds best right on the edge of distortion/ bad tracking. Sibilance is obvious if present on record, but will be less prominent after a few month of use

Yes, this is my experience too. I have had a few Colibris in my house, from the standard Colibri>Stradivarius>Grand Cru>Elite and (besides the Elite, which I haven’t tried yet) they all sounded best that way in my setup. My G.C had a very shallow cantilever angle so I wasn’t able to fully push it to its distortion limits VTA wise in my Reed-arm, but this is something VdH has adjusted as he upgraded it too the Elite, on my request. So this will all be adjusted and tested.

 

[Lagonda]

Yes, this is my experience too. I have had a few Colibris in my house, from the standard Colibri>Stradivarius>Grand Cru>Elite and (besides the Elite, which I haven’t tried yet) they all sounded best that way in my setup. My G.C had a very shallow cantilever angle so I wasn’t able to fully push it to its distortion limits VTA wise in my Reed-arm, but this is something VdH has adjusted as he upgraded it too the Elite, on my request. So this will all be adjusted and tested.

Did you order it with specific compliance for your air- bearing LT arm ? I will try mine on my LT arm at a later point, it sounds so good on the SME 3012R now, i don't want to mess it up !

 

[crosswind]

Did you order it with specific compliance for your air- bearing LT arm ? I will try mine on my LT arm at a later point, it sounds so good on the SME 3012R now, i don't want to mess it up !

I did. I specified the effective mass on my Odin (which is similar to med Reed 3P so I can swap between them).

 

[Lagonda]

I did. I specified the effective mass on my Odin (which is similar to med Reed 3P so I can swap between them).

Cool !