Building Baseline System; Cartridge Advise Needed

hearingimpared

My goal right now is to take my existing equipment (which has never been connected together and is currently in boxes) and build a baseline system around it. I am currently in the process of buying a new home (we have a bid in on a home and it's looking real good that by tomorrow we will have a contract in hand) and when I move in want to hook up the system and start listening to music. After a while, I will start tweaking and upgrading to reach the nirvana of music reproduction that I can afford. I am a music lover first . . . a neurotic tweaker second (that changes hour to hour:D ). If I do get the home, my 2-channel rig will reside in a 20' x 11' room with 200-amp service. I'll be installing 20 amp breakers terminated with hospital grade outlets for the equipment, probably one for each facet of the system. The wife is being very cooperative here (thanks honey!;) ).

My signature reflects the equipment I currently have or will have in the near future. It does not reflect the NEC CD-601 I won in Wes' karma (thanks again Wes:) ). I plan to use this as a CD transport connected to my Timbre DAC. I am still working with a friend of mine who has an in with the powers that be for acquiring an upgraded and modified Music Hall CD 25.2. I will be doing a lot of A / B ing with these but this is not my concern in this thread.

The only gear in this rig that has ever been connected together is the TT/Tonearm/Cartridge combo and connected to the Spectral preamp and I remember it being very, very sweet. The cartridge in this rig is a Talisman Alchemist. This cartridge, at one time, was raved about in the high-end world (and I loved it to death) but alas the suspension is toast and retipping would cost aprox $500 which is out of the question. The point is that I haven't listened to a real rig of my own, in my own home for quite a few years so as stated earlier, I am accumulating the necessary equipment to get some music going, enjoy the music for a while then start the insanity. I have had to rely on opinions as to what equipment would match up to what. Opinions and research are the criteria I used when I purchased the Adcoms and I'm okay with using opinions to build my baseline system. The same occured with the Timbre DAC. I knew what the SRSs were because I owned a pair so that was a no brainer.

Other things that I am considering are purchasing an electronic cross-over and a really nice sweet amp and bi-amp the 1.2 TLs. However, I think if I do throw this into the mix now, I will be complicating the evaluation and analysis of the system.

There are two holes left in the system. The first is a new BASELINE cartridge. The second are BASELINE ICs and speaker cables; I'll save them for another thread.

I've been reading up on cartridges in every magazine, ezine, and website I can get to. I've even wasted my time going to some high end stores and listening to cartridges (time wasted for obvious reasons). There is so much to consider. The convenience of MM vs. the sweetness of the temperamental MC. Loading issues resistive, capacitive, and reactive with the temperamental MCs. As with cartridges, the list goes on and on. I really just want to get the cartridge on the tonearm, set it up perfectly and start listening. One note; the Spectral can be set up to accommodate pretty much any cartridge that is out there. I am leaning towards an MM due to the ease of set-up and lack of temperament but I'm very open minded. There is only one person on this forum that I know of that has the tonearm / preamp combo that is on the same level of what I currently own. As a matter of fact madmax has the exact tonearm I have but with a killer pre that I’m sure probably outperforms my 20 year old Spectral.

I am willing to spend up to $500 on a BASELINE cartridge but I don't think I will have to spend that much. I have a couple of friends who have given advice as to which cartridge to try. Some recommendations I have are, the Goldring 1042 (MM), Grado Reference Sonata (MC), Sumiko Blue Point Special EVOIII (HOMC). As you can see the MC seem to be the more popular.

I am very aware of the fact that this system is going to take a lot of listening to discern what is performing how but I just want to get it going.

Sooooo, I would like to know if any of you folks are enamored with any particular cartridges in the $500 range and why. Your opinions are very valuable to me and I will appreciate all the feedback (wisecracks included) I can get on this one.

Thanking you in advance,
Joe

PS: I am so close I can taste it!!!

RuSsMaN

The EVO III could be a baseline, it might actually suprise you. I ran a Rega 300 with the Sumiko, and honestly, I don't think I could do substantially better, without dropping a LOT of coin. You want to talk baseline? Shure V-15, done. Anything you roll, will be either better, or worse, and it should be obvious - and you won't spend $500 experimenting.

Cables? Cable-up mid /midhi Audioquest. The common mans HiFi cable.

I thought I was the only one that had a Lead Balloon. Love it, and damn nice to know I'm not alone.

Cheers,
Russ

hearingimpared

RuSsMaN wrote:

The EVO III could be a baseline, it might actually suprise you. I ran a Rega 300 with the Sumiko, and honestly, I don't think I could do substantially better, without dropping a LOT of coin. You want to talk baseline? Shure V-15, done. Anything you roll, will be either better, or worse, and it should be obvious - and you won't spend $500 experimenting.

Cables? Cable-up mid /midhi Audioquest. The common mans HiFi cable.

I thought I was the only one that had a Lead Balloon. Love it, and damn nice to know I'm not alone.

Cheers,
Russ

Thanks for the info Russ!:) I read up on the Shure V15 xMR and really wanted to get one but thought that it was out of production. If it is not, this post would not exist. I need to seek a little further and try to snag one.

The Lead Ballon; When you purchased that, did you get the urge to bend those heavy lead bars? I bought it when my oldest was very young and used to bend the bar. . . to this day at 23 he still thinks I am a superhero.:D That piece really deadens airborne vibrations but doesn't muddle the mid and highs performance, at least that is what I remember of it.;)

RuSsMaN

I was a young punk, when my friend Charlie (via con Dios my friend) bought it. I picked it up from him about 2 years ago (I'm 34 now) for $75. The lead bars are VERY deceiving. MUCH heavier than you would think by looking at them.

The V15 is OOP, but last I checked Music Direct or Acoustic Sounds still had some remaining stock they were closing out.

Cheers,
Russ

BTW, thanks for the trick. I just showed Logan (my soon be 7rd old son), and he flipped. Jaw open, and 'WOW RUSS, You really do have big guns'.

Maybe he'll eat his spinach tomorrow now.

hearingimpared

RuSsMaN wrote:

I was a young punk, when my friend Charlie (via con Dios my friend) bought it. I picked it up from him about 2 years ago (I'm 34 now) for $75. The lead bars are VERY deceiving. MUCH heavier than you would think by looking at them.

The V15 is OOP, but last I checked Music Direct or Acoustic Sounds still had some remaining stock they were closing out.

Cheers,
Russ

BTW, thanks for the trick. I just showed Logan (my soon be 7rd old son), and he flipped. Jaw open, and 'WOW RUSS, You really do have big guns'.

Maybe he'll eat his spinach tomorrow now.

Great stuff Russ. I'll check those sites to see if I can get the V15, keep your fingers crossed. Heck if I had any incling that they were still available I would have bought one months ago.

TroyD

Another option is the Dynavector 10x5.....I have that in my VPI and think it's stellar. The EVO is a tempting choice as well.....either one, I think would be fine.

Forget the x-over jazz. Get a nice amp and be done with it.

BDT

hearingimpared

I just watched some maniac spend $439 on a used Shure V15xMR on eBay????? Are they that good that people are paying more for used than the new price?

If I am going to spend $400+ on a cartridge, it is definetely going to be new.

hearingimpared

TroyD wrote:

Another option is the Dynavector 10x5.....I have that in my VPI and think it's stellar. The EVO is a tempting choice as well.....either one, I think would be fine.

Forget the x-over jazz. Get a nice amp and be done with it.

BDT

Troy are you speaking of the Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III Moving Coil Cartridge?

Also with the Dynavector, did it have a lot of loading issues or were you able to go right with 47k?

Thanks,
Joe

RuSsMaN

Yeah, the Sumiko BP EVOIII MC.

Troy's Dynavector tracks like you wouldn't believe. It almost seems to grab hold of the record. We played some Dire Straights 180g, and the bass was unreal. I swear you could see it moving side to side.

Got your emails, I had no idea they were going that high for the V15's. Makes me wish I had bought a couple at the closeout prices.

Cheers,
Russ

hearingimpared

That is what I wanted to hear a great tracker. I have some very very awesome recordings that the low end is so intense that it almost looks like the run-out grooves.

Toka78

The Audio-Technica 440MLa is a giant killer at just under $100. It'll track anything.

55LS70

In the 80's, while still into vinyl, I ran nothing but A-T's. The best one being a Shibata (sp?).