Whatever, the language is so poorly chosen I'm not sure what they meant. Underdamping and overdamping the "stylus" makes no sense by itself.
The vendor of a 30k preamp will be pretty sure the customer will use MC cartridges. As we have found incorrect assumptions from decades ago are now cast as fact in many areas. I (and LD) were banned from a forum for daring to topple some of these beliefs
The vendor of a 30k preamp will be pretty sure the customer will use MC cartridges. As we have found incorrect assumptions from decades ago are now cast as fact in many areas. I (and LD) were banned from a forum for daring to topple some of these beliefs
I would never be a member of a forum that would have me as a member 😏I (and LD) were banned from a forum for daring to topple some of these beliefs
LD
If one strips this down, bare minimum is an observation of significant differences between pink noise and sweep results.
Which, I think we would concur we have all observed as a general phenomenum?
I think the next step as to understanding why needs some discipline to pin down. So long as one does not gaff the generation or analysis, results should converge. There are various ways to make errors in test tracks, but there doesn't seem any single systematic error that applies to them all. Therefore, observations of differences shouldn't converge - for example even have the same direction.
I would not be so confident of any systematic difference between pink noise and f sweeps from a test point of view.
LD
Not sure where this lives, so putting here for now. Since Paul Miller has taken over the audio publishing world by borging Stereophile some HFN reviews are appearing in a more digestable form online. This one for a £10k optical phono stage intrigued me.
DS Audio DS-W2 Cartridge Lab Report | Hi-Fi News
Frequency response for a start is Awful. But the distortion is fascinating 6% at 7kHz, then a dip, then it heading back up again. Could we be seeing the first 2 peaks of a transmission line resonance there?
Either way not £10k worth, whatever KK says.
DS Audio DS-W2 Cartridge Lab Report | Hi-Fi News
Frequency response for a start is Awful. But the distortion is fascinating 6% at 7kHz, then a dip, then it heading back up again. Could we be seeing the first 2 peaks of a transmission line resonance there?
Either way not £10k worth, whatever KK says.
Whatever the cause may be, I don't understand that when you bring an expensive compulsory combo of Cart + Amp on the market, that you don't compensate for this effect, unless it is highly dependant on the modulation level.
And isn't measuring distortion at -8dB@7kHz ref 5cm/sec a bit unrealistic ?
Hans
Looking again at the EAT cartridge EAT Jo No5 cartridge Lab Report | Hi-Fi News I thought it looks familiar. It's basically a quintet in green version of the MC anna body with lower compliance. Either way interesting that the distortion peak is higher. Still perturbed at the sheer scale of the distortion even if this is an extreme track for it.
I disagree with the explanation of resolution between pink noise and sweeps. Coherent detection techniques with sweeps give good results, I posted some here.
You are right. The other cartridges tested by HFN showed even more distortion in the HF region, even the Lyra.
Although making things comparable by using the same test, the question is still how useful this information is at this level, also because these harmonics are mostly ultra sonic.
Hans
That depends on whether one is intentionally trying to verify the true profile/minor radius of the stylus. If so, it's the right test - just about trackable and will show up differences between stylus radii.
Pulls just under 500G, and if the test is at a spindle radius of 8cm the groove would have peak curvature of 16um. An 18um radius stylus would have about 13% harmonic distortion due to pinch effect, whereas a 7um stylus about 6%.
How else can one verify that the pointy end actually has the dimensions one expects and paid for?
At spindle radius of 15cm, those figures would be about 1.5% and 4% for 7um and 18um respectively. If the cart was perfectly aligned. Just arising from pinch effect.
So it is an excellent test, but not of what it appears ie straight distortion, which is unrealistic.
LD
IM goes both ways, 1/3 octave noise at 10k generates lots of audible LF noise. LD's analysis would derive the harmonic distortion via the basic low order transfer function. Applying a full spectrum signal would produce the harmonics as well as all the inter-modulations.
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No kidding! The comment on no hum was interesting. I did an experiment last night since my new place is dead quiet compared to the last. My re-wired TT is very quiet in differential mode (remarkable for a Grado) but when playing an LP there is audible mains related noise, so I tried letting the motor run with no belt and listened stylus up vs. down. The noise is actually mechanically transmitted through the plinth and not any kind of magnetic coupling.
This is bad because now it bothers me, I see $$$ down the rabbit hole.
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Yes, that doesn't look too clever. The measurement's not directly being used to derive true stylus profile either, more like straight distortion..…………….
LD
A good time for mechanically decoupling exercise (will keep you away from JCIII
George
Yes, it's time for car talk anyway.
@Scott: Damping that shouldn't be too hard without spending lots. Even a couple of rubber grommets might help.
@LD: It would be comforting if all the cartridges showed similar peaks. The fact that they don't does suggest to be a resonance showing up. Another string to pull on at some point.
@LD: It would be comforting if all the cartridges showed similar peaks. The fact that they don't does suggest to be a resonance showing up. Another string to pull on at some point.
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