I'm on LP gear buying the same stylus I usually get for my cart because it's excellent... But today I saw the following added to the description:
"Crafted by Japanese shokunin seeking perfection with each stylus"
It's a noble idea, but how accurate is it? I take pride in my work, and I know most people on here do also... But really? Seeking "perfection"? Are the workers really "shokunin"?
I seek "98th percentile". It seems much easier to achieve than "perfection".
Thoughts?
"Crafted by Japanese shokunin seeking perfection with each stylus"
It's a noble idea, but how accurate is it? I take pride in my work, and I know most people on here do also... But really? Seeking "perfection"? Are the workers really "shokunin"?
I seek "98th percentile". It seems much easier to achieve than "perfection".
Thoughts?
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Perfection is a theoretical idealized state not achievable here in the real world. The masters and geniuses among us sometimes come close but examine anything or any work of art or any theory hard enough and long enough and flaws will be found. Nobody, not even the folks who sculpt silicon with 7 nanometer features do it without tolerances and allowable deviations from nominal.
It may not be "new-added". See post #12 here:
Older cartridges - Tell me/Rate what I have | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums
Jico also make this claim on their website, and historically it would most certainly be true. My wife is Japanese although she hasn't lived in Japan for 25 years. Our kitchen knives are engraved with both the name of the Shokunin who made them and the name of the owner. Traditionally each year when we travel to see the family in Japan we take our knives to be sharpened by the shokunin who made them for us.
Unfortunately our traditional knife shop in central Kyoto has in recent years been overrun by tourists wanting Japanese knives as souvenirs and it is almost impossible to even physically get inside the small store. The 70 and 80 year old Shokunin have disappeared and the shop assistants who were their 50 and 60 year old children have been replaced by attractive teenagers and young adults with no history or family connection to the knife industry, probably working the tourist season to pay for university studies.
In order to get our knives serviced these days we have had to seek out another old family business in a back street at the fringe of the city. Sadly I don't see these old family businesses surviving much longer as business in Japan is drifting towards western capitalist 'Walmart' models, about 40 years behind the USA and 20 years behind Australia, IMO.
Unfortunately our traditional knife shop in central Kyoto has in recent years been overrun by tourists wanting Japanese knives as souvenirs and it is almost impossible to even physically get inside the small store. The 70 and 80 year old Shokunin have disappeared and the shop assistants who were their 50 and 60 year old children have been replaced by attractive teenagers and young adults with no history or family connection to the knife industry, probably working the tourist season to pay for university studies.
In order to get our knives serviced these days we have had to seek out another old family business in a back street at the fringe of the city. Sadly I don't see these old family businesses surviving much longer as business in Japan is drifting towards western capitalist 'Walmart' models, about 40 years behind the USA and 20 years behind Australia, IMO.
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"JICO manufacture approximately 2,200 different models of record styli with each stylus carefully hand-assembled by experienced staff and artisan who has been serving for JICO over decades. Today the JICO name is well known by audiophiles around the world as the maker of the Super Analog Stylus, a rare needle known for both superb quality and excellent fidelity."
ABOUT US – JICO
ABOUT US – JICO
Ya it's probably JICO, but I figured that was only for the Shibata, not the "vivid line"... It seems the Shibata is discontinued...
Maybe I should buy an extra vivld line for this cart while it's still available!
I've compared this Pickering XV-15 and the Vivid Line with the Ortofon 2M blue, and I can say the Pickering kills it. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Maybe I should buy an extra vivld line for this cart while it's still available!
I've compared this Pickering XV-15 and the Vivid Line with the Ortofon 2M blue, and I can say the Pickering kills it. Just my opinion, I could be wrong.