Hello
@joey_v,
Thanks for your interest in this. I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you by answering the question very obliquely. I enjoy the cooperation of many cartridge manufacturers in my efforts to study, analyze and improve vinyl playback. I don't care to hurt those relationships. Further - and VERY surprisingly - most all of them have
no idea of the quality of assembly they are getting from Orbray (Namiki), Ogura or Gyger because they aren't fully inspecting for it as they do not have the equipment nor the expertise to image and measure a 3 dimensional object on a microscopic level. However, some of them are now starting to take notice of my findings and are making efforts to improve their quality control.
Also, stylus/cantilever mount accuracy is HARDLY the only thing that constitutes a wonderful sounding cartridge. There are many other factors in cartridge design that do so. Therefore, just because cartridge X has a bad record with regards to its assembly, it does not mean that it sounds bad - it just means that it implicitly has what it takes to sound better *if it were properly aligned*.
The exceptions for my confidentiality rule might be when manufacturers:
1. Openly claim they don't have a problem when they demonstrably do or claim their cartridges are built perfectly when they evidence shows otherwise
2. Deny that proper geometric relationship of the contact edges to the groove walls is irrelevant to playback performance
3. Make a product that is damaging groove content
Gyger has the tightest tolerances but their contact edges wear out very fast compared to the Orbray and Ogura fine-line stylus profiles.
1 in 7.5 cartridges analyzed at WAM Engineering fail to meet manufacturer specifications, but companies like Hana have a FAR better success rate (at least with their Umami-level cartridges). That doesn't mean they are better aligned than others. It means I
rarely see one that is outside of manufacturing tolerances. (FWIW, I almost never "fail" a cartridge based upon its inability to meet my SRA and VTA goals since the cartridge industry as a whole is a total mess in this regard and has been since the scientists and engineers started to do the analyses on ideal VTA back in the late 50's and throughout the 60's. If SRA and VTA were a metric that I fail cartridges by - with only very egregious exceptions - the failure rate would skyrocket.)
I just gave you two answers to your question with regards to a cartridge supplier and a cartridge brand. PLEASE don't ask me "what about this cartridge brand" on a public forum. Going down that road is just an indirect way to get me to publicly state what I'd rather not. I'm already getting push back for saying what needs to be said out loud and exposing the collective amnesia and/or ignorance of the cartridge designers *as a whole* (some are certainly more competent than others). I'd rather not make it personal between WAM Engineering and the brands.
I hope you understand.
