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Cartridge demonstration

If it’s any help in narrowing down the options ( I doubt ANY Dealer will have EVERY £1-2k cart on demo),
I would suggest at your target price;-
1 Lyra Delos.... probably the one to beat under £2k.
2 Dynavector, maybe a XX2 mk2
3 Ortofon Cadenza Black or the Bronze if you prefer a slightly warmer presentation.
Yes, there are others, for instance I’ve always liked the thought of a koetsu or kiseki but never properly heard them.
Anyway, I reckon any of those 3 could be most people’s ideal cart unless you move into lottery winning budgets.
 
I think you could get lucky with a dealer having one or two demo carts from the bigger manufacturers like Ortofon or AT, but is a dealer really going to have a demo model of something more niche/man-in-a-shed brands or similar?
 
matt j said:
I think you could get lucky with a dealer having one or two demo carts from the bigger manufacturers like Ortofon or AT, but is a dealer really going to have a demo model of something more niche/man-in-a-shed brands or similar?
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Well take for example Signals in Ipswich, that's one NA dealer, they have the Lyra Delos, Dynavector XX2 and Kiseki all in my price range advertised on their website.
Audio Consultants in Berks another NA dealer have Lyra, Benz, Kiseki and also the * DS audio optical pickups.
So maybe not as difficult as forecast to find a good dealer with a selection of quality MC's though I have not approached any of them as yet to see what the actually have.
 
Oh I didn't mean stockist I meant having one to demo, I imagine stocking carts is no big deal, but having some you're willing to write off to demo purposes is another matter.
 
matt j said:
Oh I didn't mean stockist I meant having one to demo, I imagine stocking carts is no big deal, but having some you're willing to write off to demo purposes is another matter.
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Well, I can't answer for sure, but I'm assuming if I rang either of these shops I could go and listen to any of these MCs, if not, well what's the point in them?
 
Well it's like folk have already mentioned, carts are a different ball game compared with demoing a CDP or an amp. I may be wrong and they'll all say - "yeah, come down and I'll open a load of 1500 quid carts and get them bolted up for you to have a listen to" - although I'd be amazed if that were the case.
 
Well, we'll see what they say, I'd of thought they'd have not all but at least some on dem as I don't know how else they'd expect anyone to make a purchase, take their word for it?

I'll post my findings on here.
 
Darren L said:
I think we'll have to agree to disagree, there's no way I'm dropping £1-2 K on an MC without hearing it and I don't think it's unreasonable at all to expect a dealer to have demonstration models. ( that's if they want to sell) The system & room is a moot point as I can quite easily judge the sound using my own tonearms, phono stages, headphone amp and cans. ( all fairly easily transported)
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FWIW I’m with you on this one. I recognise the value of dealers and if I had a dem of something no way would I then shop round and buy cheaper elsewhere, but if no dem is available and I have to buy blind then I’ll be sourcing that cart straight from Japan or wherever as cheap as possible (as I did with my MP-500). That way if I didn’t like it I’d take far less of a hit moving it on. No way would I pay full retail/importer margin for something without the levels of service one expects from a specialist dealer.
 
Cymbiosis have demo cartridges and loads of kit for side by side listening. Ammonite Audio do some cartridge loans. Whether these have what you want is another matter all together.
 
Tony L said:
FWIW I’m with you on this one. I recognise the value of dealers and if I had a dem of something no way would I then shop round and buy cheaper elsewhere, but if no dem is available and I have to buy blind then I’ll be sourcing that cart straight from Japan or wherever as cheap as possible (as I did with my MP-500). That way if I didn’t like it I’d take far less of a hit moving it on. No way would I pay full retail/importer margin for something without the levels of service one expects from a specialist dealer.
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Yes, that's exactly my thoughts on it, if I make the effort and considering expense of flying to England and taking my own tonearm and armboard I would be expecting to make a purchase at the end of the demonstration. However if the 'dealer' can't or won't demonstrate the MCs in my price range, I might as well stay at home and buy mail order/ online.
 
scotty38 said:
Cymbiosis have demo cartridges and loads of kit for side by side listening. Ammonite Audio do some cartridge loans. Whether these have what you want is another matter all together.
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It's whether they stock my TT or not, I'll have a look, ta
 
Tony L said:
FWIW I’m with you on this one. I recognise the value of dealers and if I had a dem of something no way would I then shop round and buy cheaper elsewhere.
No way would I pay full retail/importer margin for something without the levels of service one expects from a specialist dealer.
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And that may be the crux of the OP’s issue........
What can you reasonably expect from a specialist dealer? Is it expected that a dealer should have 3,4, 5 or more carts of similar value on demo at any time?
I would guess that if this is the case, they’d be taking a big hit on items they can’t sell at retail price, having to sell it ex dem etc. That in turn means they would be looking to make more money elsewhere to cover this loss.
Buying from abroad, what happens if there’s an issue with the cart? Communication with a remote seller may be quite problematic. No local dealer back up. Could be a ball-ache.
As has been said before, I hope you do find a dealer willing to fulfil your needs. Maybe Cymbiosis or Signals will be just the ticket. The guys as Signals are decent. Fingers crossed for you.
 
manicatel said:
What can you reasonably expect from a specialist dealer? Is it expected that a dealer should have 3,4, 5 or more carts of similar value on demo at any time?
I would guess that if this is the case, they’d be taking a big hit on items they can’t sell at retail price, having to sell it ex dem etc.
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Well, yes and why not? That's if they wish to sell such items. And why or how does it differ from having 3 or 4 turntables, tonearms, phono stages, CD players, amplification, sets of speakers or cables for dem.
I'll accept that it takes a 'proper' dealer that knows what they're doing but other than that I don't see a difference, all ex dem stock is normally sold off at a discount from full retail, that's the norm, indeed from my experience Demo stock is bought at a reduced price in comparison to 'trade' price to start with.
 
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