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  #21  
Old 10-13-2019, 12:58 PM
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Great information everyone. For some reason the Lyra Etna seems to be calling my name. Spec wise it’s a good match for my arm and phono (I think) just not sure if it’s too high quality for my table/arm & phono stage.
Well, in my experience, its the quality of the reproduction of the source that matters most. And the source reproduction with LPs starts with the cartridge. The subsequent amplification chain and transducers (speakers) cannot put back what is lost at the source.

This just my two cents here, but when it comes to TTs, the most important components and subassemblies are the cartridge, the platter bearing and the tonearm bearings.
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Last edited by Puma Cat; 10-13-2019 at 01:07 PM.
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  #22  
Old 10-13-2019, 01:18 PM
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I agree with Stephen that the cartridge makes the most difference. I think the arm is second, disc spinner last. This is contrary to a lot of 'accepted wisdom' that says the disc spinner is most important. But wait.....that was Linn saying that. No conflict of interest there.

In my lake house vinyl rig, I am running a $1200 Dynavector cartridge in an original $600 Rega Planar 3 arm/table combo. It sounds great. Almost as good as the Dynavector running on my Nottingham Dais.

So don't be afraid to get more cartridge than you need - you can always upgrade your table later if you feel the need.

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  #23  
Old 10-13-2019, 02:44 PM
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Originally Posted by W9TR View Post
So don't be afraid to get more cartridge than you need - you can always upgrade your table later if you feel the need.
another good angle Tom ........

and with that being said, with all the serious $$ being spent on your 'gear' do not neglect your room and it's acoustic needs !
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  #24  
Old 10-13-2019, 02:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robd2 View Post
Great information everyone. For some reason the Lyra Etna seems to be calling my name. Spec wise it’s a good match for my arm and phono (I think) just not sure if it’s too high quality for my table/arm & phono stage.
Please don't take any offense as that's not my intention... while the Lyra Etna is a very fine cartridge your current arm will not extract the level of performance that it's truly capable of. A better tonearm will give a higher level of sound quality with a cartridge below the Etna than the Etna will in your current arm.

Some people believe that with analog the cartridge is the most important component since it's the transducer, but you're generally much better off balancing your budget more evenly between the table/arm/cartridge rather than spending disproportionately more on the cartridge.
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  #25  
Old 10-13-2019, 02:45 PM
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and I agree with Bill as well .......
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  #26  
Old 10-13-2019, 03:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audio bill View Post
Please don't take any offense as that's not my intention... while the Lyra Etna is a very fine cartridge your current arm will not extract the level of performance that it's truly capable of. A better tonearm will give a higher level of sound quality with a cartridge below the Etna than the Etna will in your current arm.

Some people believe that with analog the cartridge is the most important component since it's the transducer, but you're generally much better off balancing your budget more evenly between the table/arm/cartridge rather than spending disproportionately more on the cartridge.
I would agree with that. If I had ~$9K to spend on a turntable system, I'd be looking at getting something like a Lyra Delos for about $2K, and then a Rega Planar 8 or a table of comparable performance. Actually, one could get the new Planar 10 and the Delos and still be under $8K.
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  #27  
Old 10-13-2019, 06:20 PM
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Agree he has to be careful to not get too much cartridge for that arm. It's a shame it's a low mass arm, because otherwise Koetsu and his excellent VAC phono stage makes for one of the most beautiful musical matches you'll ever hear. You could get a Fidelity Research FR64fx used for not too much (1400) and it's a wonderful match with any Koetsu, and other high-end MC's as well - probably the cheapest you'll find such a highly capable arm - but I'm not sure how much trouble it would be to get mounted on the Pro-Ject table.
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  #28  
Old 10-14-2019, 12:56 AM
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I had a Project RPM10.1 with the Sumiko Blackbird and when it came time to replace, Sumiko had a trade up program so I went with the Pearwood Celebration II and it was a step up but I reckon the rest of the analog rig was holding it back. When I got a new Acoustic Signature Thunder, using the Pearwood on it yielded much bigger improvements.

Might be worth a thought before springing for an expensive upgrade.

In a similar price range, also check out the Kiseki PurpleHeart (or the Blue)
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  #29  
Old 10-14-2019, 12:58 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robd2 View Post
Great points. Currently my system VERY SLIGHTLY leans towards a detailed, precise, and cooler sonic signature so I would like to avoid anything that would push me further in that direction. I was thinking of targeting a more balanced or slightly warm sounding cart. But not overboard with warmth to lose that speed/detail of instruments.

Reasons for upgrading, mostly age of current cart (4 years) but I’m also thinking this is one of the weaker spots in my system, relatively speaking.

The Lyra Etna recently caught my attention but 1) I’m worried that might not be balenced or warm enough 2) cost was a little more than I wanted to spend.
I'll recommend the Benz LP S from Benz-Micro. Full retail should be ~$6k.

If your 'arm is the 10cc EVO 10" Tonearm, the LP S with its 16g weight and 15 cu compliance should match well with 'arm resonance ~8Hz. It's a well built cartridge that will yield a touch of warmth and excellent frequency balance - with authoritative bass. Output is .36mv which should be fine with your VAC's 64db gain.

The Etna is a nice cartridge, but I doubt you'd get from it what you're paying for with your current 'arm and 'table.
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  #30  
Old 10-14-2019, 06:23 PM
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I am very glad I read this thread. I have an Innovation Wood TT with the Universal 9 arm. It looks to have an effective mass of 10 grams. I have been wanting to buy a Koetsu cart. I was not aware that the Koetsu carts will not play nicely with my arm. I was also looking at the Benz LP-S as well. It sounds like that would be a better match. Thanks for the info!
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