The buyer who spents the money therefore?
No, the one i have has no magic parts, but:
Its made in small quantities with precision parts. For example, the coils for this one are really handmade, every winding is really parallel to the next one, the windings are exactly the same numbers, the are really 90 degrees attached and so on.
The alutube cantilever is designed and made for this cartridge only,( its 28 grammms heavy) and the tip is inserted ( pressed) into a predrilled hole.
Maybe you know how drill a hole of starting diameter 10 mikrons, with an angle of 22 degrees into an alutube with lesser than 0,3mm millimeters and maybe you have the tools therefor. I do not have and do not know.
Then the tip is pressed in and exactly adjusted for 90 degrees and in the end secured with minimal amount of glue( nearly invisible even with microscope)to keep the moved tip mass low.
The tip has radi 15,5 microns, double polished and is so small as possible.
The soft iron armatures are hard to get and every part in the MC is precise adjusted, so there are no tolerances affecting the sound quality.
It has a rare earth magnet, designed for this MC.
Body is milled , laser engraved and so on. It has engraved top side v-channels to allow decoupling from headshell and so on.
Simply absolut lowest tolerances.
Beside that the maker can adjust the compliance in a limited range to match the arm, thats what i did first, before i used the Thales arm. The maker also makes service and clean the whole thingie for an affordable price, where other makers lie to me ans say the tip is worn, but in truth its just magnetic dirt in the gap.
But however, the most influence in sound in every MC is the damping rubber, IF the rest is made like it should be made ! Believe or not!
Spheric tips are not so sensitive to surface scratches and dust down in the groove, since the tip sits in the middle of the groove wall, contact area is few square microns only, but pretty much constant and need precise tracking weight adjustment apx 2,3 gramms
And finally, there is a dealer margin, which is a percentage , not a fix amount of $.
Of course it is not 9 times better than a 1k MC, but it is better and IMHO i never had a better sound quality , no matter which brand.
I had Lyra, Koetsu, ZYX, Kiseki, Ortofon, Spectral, Grado, VdH, Sumiko. Genesis, Audio Technica, Technics, Clearaudio, and some more.
Beside that, i had his smaller brother before( i still have it on the Goldmund Reference Turntable) the Magic Diamond, and the tip hours counter showed me 3'840 hours without noticable wear, but it distorted due dirt in magnetic cap. Cleaning cost was a total of 250$ and its like new now.
This makes me happy and the maker was very proud, that his MC provide first quality for such a long time and still is alive.
Thats what i call a fancy diamond!
Sounds like bog standard watch repair and fabrication techniques. The parts are always machined using fixturing, and once the fixturing it good, the parts are easy. When a setup is working right, you always make tons of the same part, that way, even if one isn't good, you still have stock.
I worked out a fixture for a wooden clock gear, and when it started producing good gears, ya just don't stop!! The clock uses one of them, but hey, I have spares in 4 diff woods..
However, the most important lesson I learned is to NOT have any coffee prior to doing work that small (watch small). Under a stereoscope at 60 power, coffee creates earthquakes.
jn
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jn, one of the wood gears lost one theet ( left side)
Good eye. Hence my statement "even if one isn't good".
The maple produced the best results, purpleheart tended to clip teeth no matter how fast I ran the router. Mahogany and walnut were good as well, but they still showed surface texture even when I switched to spiral up cut bits.
When I play with a clockmaker's lathe, no coffee. If a watch springs all to heck and parts fly, coffee taint gonna be my drink of choice.....
jn
I am glad that some of you have a significant investment in audio, be it experience or putting your money where you find improvements.
There is very little that is not compromised when it it is made as cheaply as possible. Sometimes it is a wonderful breakthrough when some piece of equipment CAN be made extremely cheaply, such as some new electronic devices from Harbor Tools. A wonderful resource for seldom used instruments. I have purchased: a digital caliper, an electronic scale, and a multimeter. For casual use, they are an exceptional bargain, but if I worked with them all the time, I would use better. It is much the same with phono cartridges, etc. To play an occasional record, WHY spend thousands of dollars? Put it into your CD collection. However, for someone like me, I really need the best reference audio sources that I can find, just to see what can be done, and in return, I get to hear an exceptional performance at its highest sound quality.
To think that everything is 'overpriced' if it is not just the 'cheapest' example, is an implied insult to the designers who do make the effort to make something better, either to perform or to use.
There is very little that is not compromised when it it is made as cheaply as possible. Sometimes it is a wonderful breakthrough when some piece of equipment CAN be made extremely cheaply, such as some new electronic devices from Harbor Tools. A wonderful resource for seldom used instruments. I have purchased: a digital caliper, an electronic scale, and a multimeter. For casual use, they are an exceptional bargain, but if I worked with them all the time, I would use better. It is much the same with phono cartridges, etc. To play an occasional record, WHY spend thousands of dollars? Put it into your CD collection. However, for someone like me, I really need the best reference audio sources that I can find, just to see what can be done, and in return, I get to hear an exceptional performance at its highest sound quality.
To think that everything is 'overpriced' if it is not just the 'cheapest' example, is an implied insult to the designers who do make the effort to make something better, either to perform or to use.
More carbon fiber in wire but not what you'd think and not for audio uses!
Celanese, Southwire combine carbon fiber, thermoplastics in utility transmission conductor : CompositesWorld
Celanese, Southwire combine carbon fiber, thermoplastics in utility transmission conductor : CompositesWorld
There's a large WAF at play here. Ugly doesn't get hung in the living room. I dwell the wood for about a year or so in the same humidity and temp (50%RH/65F), and after final cuts and sanding, seal it with at least 3 coats of a water based poly. So far, no distortions or warps.
Why not? How do you prevent wire sag between your cable lifters when you crank up the volume??
It's all in the TCE baby, TCE...
jn
It's all in the pendulum and the escapement. Assuming the works provide consistent force through the gear train, the tce of the pendulum and bob will dominate. Using lignum vitae has always been good for the lubrication and hardness, but I understand it's getting scarce. And staying away from a recoil escapement, as the wooden gears REALLY do not like the recoil due to machining tolerances and looseness required to prevent binding. Deadbeat is better.
jn
Beware of bowling woods….many were made of fruit woods - such as cherry. LV has always been expensive and bowling people were usually from the lower income brackets, so cheaper woods were more common. All forms - not just Crown Green' of bowling used real wood until 'Hensilite' came along. Best source in UK is probably eBay.
a.wayne,
How about Adyton, I never heard of them but they claim no instrument can measure the output impedance (probably because it's a moving target). Heroic output currents and a price that would make you wish you had invested in an Oslo flat 30yr. ago.
Such prose
"The quintessence in this concept is that audio amplification being a pure analog statement shall perform as an optimal analog event.
Contrary to standard restricted and limited concepts found in conventional open loop designs or negative feedback designs.
The Cordis Signature 3.6 utilises a sophisticated algorithm providing regulation and signal control. Proportional and harmonious
combinations of stable open loop circuits, sophisticated feed forward topologies and moderate overall feedback functions enable the
amplification to breath easily even under the most demanding conditions."
How about Adyton, I never heard of them but they claim no instrument can measure the output impedance (probably because it's a moving target). Heroic output currents and a price that would make you wish you had invested in an Oslo flat 30yr. ago.
Such prose
"The quintessence in this concept is that audio amplification being a pure analog statement shall perform as an optimal analog event.
Contrary to standard restricted and limited concepts found in conventional open loop designs or negative feedback designs.
The Cordis Signature 3.6 utilises a sophisticated algorithm providing regulation and signal control. Proportional and harmonious
combinations of stable open loop circuits, sophisticated feed forward topologies and moderate overall feedback functions enable the
amplification to breath easily even under the most demanding conditions."
Creative copywriters earn (?) much more than any designer.
The quoted copy is designed to confuse and is as slippery as an eel to tie down other than that it is formulated to reach an audience comprised of both those with 'scientific' aspirations and those with spiritual/subjective hopes…..but neither is expected to have any solid knowledge……the customer is buying into a desire fulfilment.
Having said that it may be most excellent kit!
The quoted copy is designed to confuse and is as slippery as an eel to tie down other than that it is formulated to reach an audience comprised of both those with 'scientific' aspirations and those with spiritual/subjective hopes…..but neither is expected to have any solid knowledge……the customer is buying into a desire fulfilment.
Having said that it may be most excellent kit!
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