van den Hul Colibri Grand Cru

[bonzo75]

I suggest buy from ddk. It will be more expensive than you source from Netherland or HKK for sure. But what you get is a cart that he went through. He bought each time in dozen and select. Don't worry too much or too picky on specs . I think the same as him. The sound varies a little bit but you get great sound anyway. I don't think much about the premium price I paid because this cart at its top form already give so much more SQ /$ comparing to the uber $ carts and of course for peace of mind too. Not advertising for ddk. Just see you people have so many quality problems with vdh and share my experience. In fact me saying this in public will give him more trouble work harder to keep his reputation which he cares most. Maybe he wishes I had not comment.

I agree, because the people who bought from the Dutch seller seem dissatisfied. I heard one that was not good. And yours seem to be extremely well handpicked, as do the ones I hear at Munich every year but vdh is doing the rounds there himself and working with them. One that I heard in Norway was also excellent not sure how he sourced it

 

[tima]

I agree about purchase from @ddk. His superb customer service pre-screens the cartridge so you will have a positive start.

 

[tima]

Tima, before you sent your cart back, when it was not the right match for the 4p, how did it sound? Did it sound plain wrong, or just a little bit off

From what I remember ... When I received the first one that had higher compliance, it sounded okay - not plain wrong, but not the top end energy. It rode a bit low with the coils almost touching the record which tipped me that the compliance did not work with the 4P's 17g effective mass. So really only a half-side of play before I took it off and sent it back to distributor. (Needing a working turntable for a review.) When it came back the first time with the loose cantilever, I couldn't get an alignment and realized it was "broken". Never played that iteration. Turns out later the distributor told me when he got it back the little bubble level was loose in the box, rattling around which he fastened down but it had done its damage - or I figure that's what caused the loose cantilever. Why he even sent it to me, I don't know. Happily that's all downstream now.

 

[PeterA]

Peter, does this mean that the actual output of the cartridges bears only a tenuous connection to the outputs which Mr. vdH thinks he built into the cartridges?

I do not know Ron. I’m just going by relative volume settings on my preamp.

 

[Ron Resnick]

vdH cartridges are for many audiophiles literally magic generators sonically. But I find disturbing and plainly unacceptable at any price, let alone at prices up to about $15,000, the lack of quality control and sample-to-sample variation and erratic customer service by Mr. vdH I read about here and hear about privately from members.

I am sure Mr. vdH is doing his personal best. I have no doubt he is trying to do the very best that he can do. But if Mr. vdH's eyes or his diligence or his patience are no longer up to the task then he should accept the reality and stop making cartridges.

But I, too, want the most realistic reproduction of sound. For many members that is vdH cartridges. Even knowing what I know about vdH quality control and inconsistency I still want a Grand Cru for my SME 3012R!

It seems to me that the only practical answer to this very difficult and unfortunate conundrum is for David to do exactly what he is doing: buying small batches of cartridges and vetting them himself for proper build quality and mechanical functioning and sonic attributes, and then sending us the properly built and excellent sounding ones and returning the rest to vdH.

THANK YOU, DAVID!!!

 

[spiritofmusic]

I'd love to know how many David will return.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I'd love to know how many David will return.

Where is your stiff upper lip?

 

[spiritofmusic]

The UK lost it's collective stiff upper lip after Princess Di passed away.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Hmmmm.....i disagree.
A chunk of the populace did completely over react, but an equal sized chunk were left cold and bewildered by the saturation coverage and public response
I count myself among the latter

 

[ddk]

I'd love to know how many David will return.

None were ever returned Marc, the odd ones that don't make the cut are redone. You need to keep in mind that these vdH cartridges aren't made in a production line or subcontracted like most high end brands, they're hand made one by one from scratch by a true master of the art, we're so lucky to have him. vdH cartridges are intricate works of beauty, very magical and very fragile made by an exceptional soul. Yes there are variations between them but that's what makes them all unique!

david

 

[howiebrou]

None were ever returned Marc, the odd ones that don't make the cut are redone. You need to keep in mind that these vdH cartridges aren't made in a production line or subcontracted like most high end brands, they're hand made one by one from scratch by a true master of the art, we're so lucky to have him. vdH cartridges are intricate works of beauty, very magical and very fragile made by an exceptional soul. Yes there are variations between them but that's what makes them all unique!

david

Well said. I'm sure Faberge had exactly the same issues!

 

[spiritofmusic]

A DDK-approved VDH inside a Fabergé Egg...the perfect gift for him AND her.

 

[Solypsa]

From what I recall learning, Faberge was a master of delegating designs to his skilled craftsmen.

Anyways it makes sense to me that each piece will have unique characters as ddk described. What would be useful is to have someone trusted do as ddk is doing for the entire production. I would imagine that to be a totally normal requirement...

 

[spiritofmusic]

A DDK-approved VDH inside a Fabergé Egg...the perfect gift for him AND her.

Actually, just for me. And the funds I'll realise from the sale of said egg. Ra wouldn't know what to do with the money.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Since i may have inadvertently kicked off this particular debate, allow me to share that I've owned four vdH cartridges, a Crimson and three Colibri, and i found no faults for which i was not responsible in any of them.

Furthermore, being 1) a clumsy oaf, and 2) learning the ropes on cartridge installation, i have had to send all of them for repair at least once. And each time the required repairs were performed correctly, competently and fairly quickly.

There were major differences between each cartridge....but each cartridge was of different specifications, and the differences were consistent with what other people have experienced as appropriate for the differing specs

I have experienced some sibilence in the treble, but was able to correct this by applying a Derenville (sp?) damping pad in between headshell and cartridge, as suggested by Shakti.

I came to vdH to fill a single niche on my multi- armed turntables; to play acoustic alt-rock-folk like Zero7 or Alt-J when my other arm-cartridge combos would be tailored for macro dynamics, extended bass and large scale presentation of bass - driven electronica and dance music.

However
I have found that Colibri excel at both macro dynamic swings and micro dynamic air, timbre, subtlety and communication of delicate emotion. I have experienced such extended bass from a moving coil cartridge that i was forced to reappraise what an mc cartridge is capable of, combined with simply mind-boggling airiness that has lead me to question whether multiple arm-cartridge combos are strictly necessary

This is why I'm a vdH fan

 

[PeterA]

I have found that Colibri excel at both macro dynamic swings and micro dynamic air, timbre, subtlety and communication of delicate emotion. I have experienced such extended bass from a moving coil cartridge that i was forced to reappraise what an mc cartridge is capable of, combined with simply mind-boggling airiness that has lead me to question whether multiple arm-cartridge combos are strictly necessary

This is why I'm a vdH fan

Excellent. I had one of my Japanese cartridges on one arm and one Colibri on the other thinking that on some material I needed a more forgiving cartridge. That is no longer the case. Both arms now have Colibris on them and the "completeness" of these caretridges continues to astonish me every day. They do everything well, IMO.

 

[marty]

None were ever returned Marc, the odd ones that don't make the cut are redone. You need to keep in mind that these vdH cartridges aren't made in a production line or subcontracted like most high end brands, they're hand made one by one from scratch by a true master of the art, we're so lucky to have him. vdH cartridges are intricate works of beauty, very magical and very fragile made by an exceptional soul. Yes there are variations between them but that's what makes them all unique!

david

I'm a bit confused. If there is significant unit to unit variation, are you saying you listen to each and every one of them before deciding which are worthy of purchasing? Can you share what percent are returned so they can be re-done?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Returned/re-done. You have to return it to be re-done. Assuming we didn't have Dave's clout in such a transaction, what is the process? Send it back with a note saying why it didn't sound right, and getting a replacement, again with a random chance it may not be up to snuff?

Are returns made from different users with the same sonic complaint made? If so, surely VDH can screen this before they're sent out to customers.

 

[bonzo75]

There are lots of reports of his lack of unit variation but all say good things about his service and response time. I think the latter is more important in hifi. Where everything breaks, it is how people then fix it that matters

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ked, are there similarities do you think between VDH variation and Jan Alaerts hand made limited availability examples?