Calling RP10 owners

[Paul Gravett]

The best cartridge I have heard, by some margin, is an Ortofon Cadenza Black on my Roksan Xerxes 20+/Artemiz II. It has no real identifiable characteristics and just lets the music flow. Not sure how well it would work on an RP10, however, and it is very expensive at about £1900. I was fortunate enough to get a near mint example at just half that price.

 

[pt109]

I'm using a Lyra Delos on mine. But you should really consider the Hana ML. I think this one to be the best VFM in cartridges seen in the last 20 years...

 

[Mr Pig]

I think a Rega Exact would sound great on an RP10...

That' a cart I'm keen to hear. Not liked other Rega MM carts but I've heard the Exact is different.

 

[Mr Pig]

I'm using a Lyra Delos on mine. But you should really consider the Hana ML. I think this one to be the best VFM in cartridges seen in the last 20 years...

It's not so much about value, or even ultimate quality. It's more about how it matches the deck and my system.

 

[2ManyBoxes]

If you like the K9 then you'll love a K18, I remember thinking it was a great improvement. That was a very long time ago though, I hope you're not going to find the arm skating across a record because the whole cantilever has come off.

BTW I admire your restraint with Mr Paul Mc, I'd have told him to f^$k off you troll c*%t The internet really is full of them, where do they all come from? Is there an academy or something? Do they holiday together or compare notes down the pub? Maybe they hold an equivalent of the Oscars on the dark web.

 

[Dark Energy]

I'm using a Lyra Delos on mine. But you should really consider the Hana ML. I think this one to be the best VFM in cartridges seen in the last 20 years...

Wow! I wonder if this could tempt this lapsed MC Koetsu/Kondo/Linn/Supex/Dynavector etc, etc, user back into the fold, I am tinkering with the notion of an DV17DX although at present I'm happier than I've ever been in Strain Guage and Exotic Vintage MM Heaven.
PS my first MCs were Fidelity Research, Supex, Entre, Ultimo (Dynavector), Ortofon SPU,and Koetsu all in the 70s. Also owned a Win Labs FET-10 in the 90s.

 

[Mr Pig]

If you like the K9 then you'll love a K18...

I've had a K18. Pretty like the K9 really. These carts are old and you can't buy the styluses so a new cart seems more sensible. These new AT carts look like they might be similar to the Linns but hopefully better maybe? Progress and all that.

The K9 on the RP10 really rams home the turntable hierarchy thing. Best sounding turntable I've owned. Or heard actually. I could buy a £1000 coil if I thought it would be worth it but I'm not convinced. I really don't buy the automatic superiority of MC any more plus, having bent the cantilever on a brand new MC in the past, the idea of cheaper styluses is appealing!

 

[Mr Pig]

...at present I'm happier than I've ever been in Strain Gauge and Exotic Vintage MM Heaven.

Which old... I mean exotic MM carts are you using? I find it interesting that a significant number of people prefer MM to MC. Considering how much MCs can cost, that should be an impossibility. It's certainly true that some of the MM carts I've had on the RP10 sounded better than any MC I had on an LP12.

 

[Tony L]

The AT VM95 range of styluses fit a K9 body perfectly (the K9 was only ever a posh AT95E with a better tip), so you can now upgrade an old K9 body to have a fine-line or Shibata tip. Probably an excellent strategy if you like the Linn/AT sonic signature as the metal K9 body is likely better than the stock VM95.

PS Thread here.

 

[Mr Pig]

The AT VM95 range of styluses fit a K9 body perfectly, so you can now upgrade an old K9 body to have a fine-line or Shibata tip.

It is something I'm considering. I'm tempted by the better Audio Technica MM carts though. I'm thinking that they might sound better than the Ks if the internals of the cart are better, which surely they should be considering how much they cost. They too have metal bodies and I think I read somewhere about the compliance being altered so they matched modern arms better? Maybe I dreamt that.

I have tried a fancy aftermarket stylus on an AT-95e. It sounded like...a slightly better AT-95e!

Carts are just a matching thing. I have used AT carts a lot over the years but it just depends on what suits your system. To be honest, I think it's hard to buy a truly bad cartridge these days.

 

[Tony L]

Carts are just a matching thing. I have used AT carts a lot over the years but it just depends on what suits your system. To be honest, I think it's hard to buy a truly bad cartridge these days.

Matching and tip profile for me. I’ve learned so much about the actual ‘math’ of phono cartridges over the past decade or so and now far better understand mass, compliance, load, capacitance etc, but an awful lot comes down to tip-profile and stylus tip-mass, and here paying more makes sense as it equates to better end-of-side tracking and less distortion. I’d really not want to go back to something without a nude micro-line, Shibata, Geiger or whatever even though old clunkers like say the DL-103 or spherical tip SPUs can sound great on short playing-time jazz records etc. If you want to be able to play anything with ease, especially classical, you need a good tip!

 

[Mr Pig]

Matching and tip profile for me.

To be honest, I'm not that big a fan of hi-end stylus profiles. Sure, they can sound really impressive on a good record but a lot of my vinyl is either not in perfect condition or isn't the best production or recording. If a cartridge reveals too many of the imperfections you can't enjoy the music. I prefer to give up a little detail in order to keep more records playable, losing the battle to win the war if you like.

Compliance is not something I know that much about. Most of the carts I've bought were ones I knew would at least work or are things I've just tried. I've never been scientific about it.

 

[dave charlton]

I could buy a £1000 coil if I thought it would be worth it but I'm not convinced. I really don't buy the automatic superiority of MC any more plus, having bent the cantilever on a brand new MC in the past, the idea of cheaper styluses is appealing!

It was easily worth it for me. Moving from an Exact to an Apheta was just so much more satisfying on all levels. Not to take anything away from the Exact which is still a great cart. It has a Vital stylus (a first on a MM iirc) and I think Rega reworked it a while back with a new coil winding method.

 

[Seanm]

To be honest, I'm not that big a fan of hi-end stylus profiles. Sure, they can sound really impressive on a good record but a lot of my vinyl is either not in perfect condition or isn't the best production or recording. If a cartridge reveals too many of the imperfections you can't enjoy the music. I prefer to give up a little detail in order to keep more records playable, losing the battle to win the war if you like.

Compliance is not something I know that much about. Most of the carts I've bought were ones I knew would at least work or are things I've just tried. I've never been scientific about it.

What's converted me to fancy profiles, more than anything, is that I've found my Nagaoka MP500 seems to get the most out of both dull pressings and old worn ones. In the latter case I'm guessing it's digging in a little deeper, past where the real wear is. Don't understand how it helps in the former case. Anyway I wouldn't go back now to eliptical.

 

[Mr Pig]

Not to take anything away from the Exact which is still a great cart. It has a Vital stylus (a first on a MM iirc) and I think Rega reworked it a while back with a new coil winding method.

I think the Linn K9/K18 had a Vital stylus. The Alpheta is probably about the most I would consider spending on a cart, and even at that it would have to be one heck of a lot better than a good MM. I just can't see it being justified. I enjoy the K9 so I'm thinking, how much better do I really need?

How big a jump over the Exact is the Alpheta? What does it do better?

The MP500 keeps popping up. It is still of interest.

 

[dave charlton]

What does it do better?

Well, just more of everything. Like the Exact taken to another level. Smiley face job iykwim.

 

[Mr Pig]

Like the Exact taken to another level.

That might help me if I knew what the Exact sounded like ;0) Is it tolerant of poor vinyl? Surface noise? Is the bass lean or full? What other carts have you used?

 

[dave charlton]

Sorry to be vague but I've just found as I've moved up the (Rega) cartridge ladder Elys > Exact > Apheta each time performance has moved up too. Clicks and pops are part of the game but I have noticed a marked reduction in surface noise since the very recent rebuild of my Apheta (it was getting on a bit). BTW I'm not much of a swapper.

 

[Seanm]

That might help me if I knew what the Exact sounded like ;0) Is it tolerant of poor vinyl? Surface noise? Is the bass lean or full? What other carts have you used?

I liked the Exact on an RP6. The whole package (through an Aria) was very nice: full bass, excellent texture in the mids and highs, not at all lean or piercing, strong leading edge, all sounded very detailed and exciting to me, coming from an old Thorens. I didn't notice any problem with poor vinyl. Good with surface noise. The one criticism I had - again of the whole package, I never heard another cart on it so this is all of limited use I suppose - was that the soundstage seemed constricted and it was maybe a little dry.

 

[Allaboutmusic]

I liked the Exact on an RP6. The whole package (through an Aria) was very nice: full bass, excellent texture in the mids and highs, not at all lean or piercing, strong leading edge, all sounded very detailed and exciting to me, coming from an old Thorens. I didn't notice any problem with poor vinyl. Good with surface noise. The one criticism I had - again of the whole package, I never heard another cart on it so this is all of limited use I suppose - was that the soundstage seemed constricted and it was maybe a little dry.

What was your amplifier? I have a P3 with upgrades including an exact and I am considering an Aria and interested in how the MM section compares to my Elex-r. Longer term plan is to keep the aria and upgrade to something like a P8 then use the MC section, question is whether I will benefit from it with the Aria in the medium term.