Zero Distortion: Allnic, Aesthetix, Magic Q7 mk2, Alieno, loads of carts, Vyger, Kodo Beat

[DaveyF]

Tang, Music Direct is the distributor for Koetsu...not so for Top Wing. Although i think he must have gone to the same biz school, LOL
Here's something interesting, prior to passing, poor AJ Conti was the distributor for the MSL line. Music Direct has now taken over, and have told the manufacturer that they believe that AJ was pricing the cartridges too high....so they reduced the prices by +-1%...LOL

Margin...great point, LOL....at 1000% they are definitely losing big$$

 

[Ron Resnick]

Or conversely you will not accept the circumstance that what you heard was an incorrectly set up cartridge- and refuse to conclude any other possibility.

You stated that you have heard this cartridge on several occasions...is it not possible in your experience that all of those occasions, that the set up could have been faulty...not in your realm of experience, is that right?

If you could state to me that you knew enough to absolutely conclude that the set up was done 100% correctly in each of your examples, and you still failed to like the cartridge, that is one thing...unfortunately I don’t believe that you can stipulate that.
Ron, is it possible that numerous people immensely enjoy this cartridge ( the Lyra Atlas), and therefore because you don’t, they are all wrong...
In other words the inverse to your point to me, just saying.

Please cite for me where I have ever written that somebody who has a different opinion about the sound of a component than I do is “wrong.”

That is exactly the point: I have never said that anybody who has a different opinion than I do is wrong. It is you who thinks this way.

I always see it as a matter of personal, subjective preference, not as a matter of objective right or wrong (a philosophy which would be completely absurd in this subjective hobby).

 

[DaveyF]

Ron, I'm certainly not stating that you are not entitled to your opinion, instead I am simply trying to suggest to you that perhaps...perhaps- what you heard is not a great representative of the sound of these cartridges...and you are having none of it and are unwilling to concede that this is even a possibility! Therefore I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ron, you'd have loved the Lyra Parnassus. Like you, I really struggle w toppy carts, and left the room screaming when the Lyra Skala was installed 15 years ago. But the Parnassus was something else, and it was made w you in mind.

 

[DaveyF]

Marc, I think what you posted needs to be placed into context. Having heard the Parnassus and the Skala, ( which BTW I felt was a little soft in the mids and lacked a little in dynamics, compared to the current crop of Lyra's) I felt that the Skala was actually the better cartridge. I am VERY sensitive to high frequency problems, so I can easily understand IF you heard the Skala in a horn based system or one with the dreaded titanium/beryllium dome tweeter, you would come to that conclusion. Any cartridge with the ability to scale up into the the higher regions is going to sound 'toppy' ( your term) in that situation. So, a less resolved cartridge is going to sound preferable in that situation.
One thing I can say for sure, the Lyra's need to have extreme care and attention taking to what they are matched up with. More so than just about any other cartridge of my experience. Get it wrong and they are unforgiving! Unfortunately, I am seeing here that a lot of folks have heard them set up wrong and/or with the wrong ancillary gear and ascribe a sound quality to them that is, IMO, incorrect. The Skala was more resolving than the Parnassus...so we can agree that in a system that has inherent high frequency problems would sound worse than the Parnassus. BUT not in all systems.

 

[bonzo75]

Atlas and vdh and red sparrow, all of which have the highest highs among carts, do best in horn based systems with SETs

 

[DaveyF]

Atlas and vdh and red sparrow, all of which have the highest highs among carts, do best in horn based systems with SETs

Maybe horn based systems that don't have high frequency control and accuracy issues ( a pretty rare bird, IME)...otherwise I would completely disagree with you.