van den Hul Colibri Grand Cru

[spiritofmusic]

I have a dumb question.....


Can sibilance not be resolved or ameliorated by proper cartridge set up. IOW does the presence of sibilance suggest less than stellar cartridge set up

I did wonder that w my Lyra Skala, hence my post. I could never get it right, it had to go after 12 months.
However lapsed member Davey F claimed it was a misunderstood cart, and he got it running no issues.

 

[Lagonda]

I did wonder that w my Lyra Skala, hence my post. I could never get it right, it had to go after 12 months.
However lapsed member Davey F claimed it was a misunderstood cart, and he got it running no issues.

Wasn’t he using a Linn table as his reference ? How would he know the difference ?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hey Milan, you leave Scotland's best (only) tt alone Lol. As a paragon of audio uber marketing and creating a whole new paradigm on the tt (source) being the critical component, not the spkrs, designer/attention seeker par excellence Ivor Tiefenbrun was the king. Bar none.
And it was a damn fine sounding tt which hypnotised this proto-audiophile at the time.

 

[bazelio]

I have a dumb question.....


Can sibilance not be resolved or ameliorated by proper cartridge set up. IOW does the presence of sibilance suggest less than stellar cartridge set up

The case here, Steve, seems to be that the Master Sig is unforgiving of poorly recorded or mastered material that themselves have sibilance. Tuning it out via alignment would then proceed to suck the life out of the music along with the sibilance. I listened to the Master Sig at @mountainjoe 's house and what I found is that hot records sounded ... Hot. But it's not a pervasive problem across an entire record collection. It's a rare occurrence. I brought a few of my own records to verify.

 

[Steve Williams]

The case here, Steve, seems to be that the Master Sig is unforgiving of poorly recorded or mastered material that themselves have sibilance. Tuning it out via alignment would then proceed to suck the life out of the music along with the sibilance. I listened to the Master Sig at @mountainjoe 's house and what I found is that hot records sounded ... Hot. But it's not a pervasive problem across an entire record collection. It's a rare occurrence. I brought a few of my own records to verify.

I ask because that is what I read in prior posts as well

Plus I have one on order that arrives next week

 

[PeterA]

The case here, Steve, seems to be that the Master Sig is unforgiving of poorly recorded or mastered material that themselves have sibilance. Tuning it out via alignment would then proceed to suck the life out of the music along with the sibilance. I listened to the Master Sig at @mountainjoe 's house and what I found is that hot records sounded ... Hot. But it's not a pervasive problem across an entire record collection. It's a rare occurrence. I brought a few of my own records to verify.

This describes very well and more clearly, what I was trying to explain earlier. Thank you Brian.

 

[Tango]

Without the tease, too

I was not teasing. I told that I bought a vdh during my dormancy. I kept my word not to say what it is till they gave a green light. I think Peter did a great job describing the characters of vdh top carts. The lightning striked Peter first. I am very happy for anyone who has one of these. The vdh would reveal itself even more with a system carrying Peter's approach. The lightning didn't strike me. I told ddk I have two MS I wait until I break one again. He said pls dont do that. See Bonz, I am starting to make more sense and be more rational after all this time I am friend with you. Anyhow ddk deals with "special ones". He didnt ring me when Ortofon or ZYX came out with their new best and he has been their dealer for a long time. Some time you can't say much in public. But you learn where to go.

 

[PeterA]

I was not teasing. I told that I bought a vdh during my dormancy. I kept my word not to say what it is till they gave a green light. I think Peter did a great job describing the characters of vdh top carts. The lightning striked Peter first. I am very happy for anyone who has one of these. The vdh would reveal itself even more with a system carrying Peter's approach.

Thank you Tang. I’ve had this cartridge for a month and did not share the news until told I could do so yesterday. I must say the recent changes I
have made to my system set up seem to be very synergistic with these VDH cartridges. It is all coming together. I have a great deal of appreciation for the guidance I have received from DDK.

The new approach to which you refer plus the talents of Mr. van den Hul are helping me to understand what is possible from old familiar recordings.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Congratulations, Peter, on receiving this unique cartridge! As one of only two people in the world to have it, you have a very special device there!

I am very happy for you that the Gran Cru is even better than the Master Signature which I know you already love!

 

[PeterA]

Ron, Thank you very much.

I have one of the earliest samples of this cartridge but more have been made and they are out there in the hands of lucky music lovers. It is indeed a very special cartridge.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

exciting stuff for you Peter. congrats.

this last month, i'm sure your mind was working overtime comparing the two VdH's. it will be interesting to see where this goes and whether you find any particular musical directions/preferences between these 2. and how you might rank them? one better, or just different?

from what you wrote so far the Grand Cru has the Colibri Strad family sound with more meat on the bones and less HF tilt. similar direction to what Lyra has done with their Lambda treatment of their upper range.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Fascinating thread. Thank you PeterA
I'm now also joining the Grand Cru club. Just deciding on which wooden body.

I wonder how the African Grenaille wood body might complement the new iteration?
AJ thinks he might have one down the back of a sofa he can lay his hands on. I prefer the extra body of the AGW compared to Koa, but i wonder if extra body is still needed or if the Grand Cru revisions make it uneccessary, gilding the lily.
Also i haven't heard the Pau wood body, again i may find that to be more satisfying than Koa and negate any desire for AGW. It is said to be the most dynamic- sounding variant.

Does anyone fancy the Amber body?

 

[bazelio]

It's probably hard to isolate the difference between wood bodies unless you have an ideal A/B comparison set up. I've heard both, and I've liked both. But in different systems. I talked to Steve Dobbins on this topic recently, who has heard all the bodies and *can* isolate the differences between them. He didn't agree with the "more body" characterization of the African Blackwood if I recall correctly. And, as I recall, it was his personal opinion that the Koa has been the best sounding body for VdH carts over the years. Just another data point.

 

[Steve Williams]

The case here, Steve, seems to be that the Master Sig is unforgiving of poorly recorded or mastered material that themselves have sibilance. Tuning it out via alignment would then proceed to suck the life out of the music along with the sibilance. I listened to the Master Sig at @mountainjoe 's house and what I found is that hot records sounded ... Hot. But it's not a pervasive problem across an entire record collection. It's a rare occurrence. I brought a few of my own records to verify.

I have read this entire sibilance issue with great interest. I also discussed this with ddk and it was his feeling as well that sibilance can be mitigated totally with proper setup and specifically the SRA.It was David's feeling that unless the SRA is spot on sibilance will likely be present.I'm no expert when it comes to set up so I invited the master to set mine up. Since mine has been installed a few weeks ago I have listened intently for sibilance and I cannot hear any. I love this cartridge as it is the force and delivers the goods. AS more time has passed I find that there are many records that I prefer using my XYX Premium which heretofore was my reference. Well, not any more as the MSS has easily eclipsed that of the ZYX so next week I'm getting a return visit and the MSS will be moved to the SME3012R and the ZYX to the 3010R. But sibilance for me has not been an issue. Thanks of course to David

 

[infinitely baffled]

I have read this entire sibilance issue with great interest. I also discussed this with ddk and it was his feeling as well that sibilance can be mitigated totally with proper setup and specifically the SRA.It was David's feeling that unless the SRA is spot on sibilance will likely be present.I'm no expert when it comes to set up so I invited the master to set mine up. Since mine has been installed a few weeks ago I have listened intently for sibilance and I cannot hear any. I love this cartridge as it is the force and delivers the goods. AS more time has passed I find that there are many records that I prefer using my XYX Premium which heretofore was nay reference. Well, not any more as the MSS has easily eclipsed that of the ZYX so next week I'm getting a return visit and the MSS will be moved to the SME3012R and the ZYX to the 3010R. But sibilance for me has not been an issue. Thanks of course to David

Steve can i just check, by SRA are you referring to an isolation platform?

 

[PeterA]

Stylus Rake Angle. The card trick used to adjust tone arm height in tiny increments.

 

[Steve Williams]

Stylus Rake Angle. The card trick used to adjust tone arm height in tiny increments.

My SRA is 38 cards for my MSS

 

[infinitely baffled]

Stylus Rake Angle. The card trick used to adjust tone arm height in tiny increments.

Aah ok...thank you Peter. You referred to cards when you were advising me, i guess this was it?
I've had a quick goggle...is there a good description of the card trick you can direct me to?

 

[Steve Williams]

Aah ok...thank you Peter. You referred to cards when you were advising me, i guess this was it?
I've had a quick goggle...is there a good description of the card trick you can direct me to?

David uses a narrow deck of cards when setting the SRA The cards are placed in the spot where the arm is raised to hold it up. Heusually starts around 30 and the n adds a few more, listens and either ads or removes cards until he has the correct SRA and once done he tightens the height of the arm to accommodate that number of cards

For my SME 3010R and my vdh MSS it is 38 cards

 

[infinitely baffled]

David uses a narrow deck of cards when setting the SRA The cards are placed in the spot where the arm is raised to hold it up. Heusually starts around 30 and the n adds a few more, listens and either ads or removes cards until he has the correct SRA and once done he tightens the height of the arm to accommodate that number of cards

For my SME 3010R and my vdh MSS it is 38 cards

Thank you Steve