cmdc
|
In the listening room system, alongside the Koetsu, I have an Aidas Durawood Bee and an Ortofon MC Anna Diamond (recently upgraded from the Ortofon MC A90), all mounted on a pair of a Thorens TD124s. In addition to the ZMA in my signature block, I’ve been running an SE84UFO25 in that system for about a year now.
In the second system in my home office, I have a Clearaudio Charisma on an SME3009ii-I running on a Thorens Td125, the latest in a long line of MM and MI carts.
The Aidas Durawood is fast, detailed, and lively. It’s particularly enjoyable with rock, bossa nova, etc., but maybe lacks the bass depth of some of the others. It’s been my go to when I couldn’t use the Ortofons for some reason.
The Ortofon MC A90 was just a terrific all around performer—very fast, extremely detailed, great with subtle transients, a clear and really beautiful midrange and very coherent bass response. It’s just an excellent cart all around—for all kinds of rock, female vocalists, flamenco, classical guitar, Johnny Cash, Nina Simone, blues, funk, Flaming Lips. Pretty much everything shone on it.
The Ortofon MC Anna Diamond is more expensive than the Koetsu RWS,—even if you’re lucky enough (like me) to get a used one—so it’s less of a fair comparison. The Anna Diamond has everything the A90 had, but with this combination of both greater top end extension and much deeper bass response. If there was ever any question of whether the Decware amps could deliver truly deep, powerful bass, the Anna answered that for me. It’s really one of those “I feel like I’ve never really heard this record before” pieces of gear. I may get other carts for the other table, but I can’t see ever wanting to replace the Anna Diamond.
The Clearaudio Charisma runs on my secondary system now, but IIRC, I had it on the 124 before I got the A90, and when I did, I pretty consistently preferred it over the Koetsu. It doesn’t have quite the level of detail as the Ortofons, but it’s a great all-a rounder and a really musical, fluid, engaging cartridge.
The Koetsu is a really beautiful sounding cartridge . I just don’t find it as engaging as the others. Perhaps most saliently for this conversation, everything but the Anna Diamond is less expensive than the Koetsu.
|