VDH XGW Stradivarius

infinitely baffled

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Jul 2, 2015
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The 3012R was far superior to the Ikeda, but that was the 10" version. The VDH carts seem to really like the 3012R.
As it happens, this is a temporary pairing. :)The Colibri is destined for a different arm, and the Ikeda will support a different cartridge. But conveniently, this Colibri variant suits the high mass Ikeda
Eventually a different, MS Colibri will hang from a Schroeder LT on the Beat, and Ikeda will hold a Fuuga over the Artisan Fidelity 301.
But i then plan to compare the new Kuzma 4point against Ikeda holding Fuuga

Currently I'm using the 301, Strad, Ikeda

I've adjusted vta today so now it's closer to parallel, definite improvement. I'll wait til I've put 100 hours on it before final judgement.

Currently tucking into the new vinyl that's been piling up....thievery corporation and another zero7 this evening. And more aural honey, but the bass is deffo filling out. Mezzanine by Massive Attack certainly brought the bass trolls out to play last night
 
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infinitely baffled

VIP/Donor
Jul 2, 2015
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I have also decided to keep my VdH MS Colibri strad but get an sme 3012r for it. I deliberately bought a Kuzma Stabi M so as not to get too many cartridges and arms but I have now found another way to keep them and get even more! I opened up a speaker company and decided to make a demo room. I have a few cartridges already and two on the way so I will be getting another table and put 3 arms on it. It can have different flavors so people may have a clearer window to speakers overall sound. At home, I will keep current favorite for that time :)

I could not feel content with the performance I got from this cartridge on my standart 4 point arm. I also tried a 9" version but still it was not as good as I expect it to be. So, I could not make it sing with that setup but I hope to make it sing with properly matched arm and pre.

Was it the high mass arm variant Colibri?
The standard variant is not happy with a high mass arm

I love how, as an aside, you can say 'so i set up a speaker company '
Respect, that's gangster:cool:
 
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tima

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Mar 3, 2014
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I could not feel content with the performance I got from this cartridge on my standart 4 point arm. I also tried a 9" version but still it was not as good as I expect it to be. So, I could not make it sing with that setup but I hope to make it sing with properly matched arm and pre.

Took me a while with a couple iterations to vdH to get mine where I think it should be on the 11" 4Point. vdH does not provide compliance numbers, only a range for effective mass. Going forward my suggestion is to order the Colibri MS using arm specifications and model rather than buy off the rack and having it modified.
 

infinitely baffled

VIP/Donor
Jul 2, 2015
1,259
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Scotland
Took me a while with a couple iterations to vdH to get mine where I think it should be on the 11" 4Point. vdH does not provide compliance numbers, only a range for effective mass. Going forward my suggestion is to order the Colibri MS using arm specifications and model rather than buy off the rack and having it modified.
That's certainly my plan
 

infinitely baffled

VIP/Donor
Jul 2, 2015
1,259
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Scotland
Fremer in his vdh Stradivarius review gave some details on how he reduced sibilance
Don't s'pose you have a link to that, please Bonzo?
I can't seem to place it
 

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