EMT new TSD cartridges

[Loheswaran]

I am in the process of finally getting my act together and having my EMT 950 restored.

I have an odd dilemma and want to know if someone can advise or speak from experience on whether they've tried out the new magnesium bodied EMT cartridges against the original TSD 15 etc?

Have they removed the little spring mount? Are they better sounding than the originals - worse - different? I assume they've been mounted in EMT arms - but if not tell me what.

On another note - why/how do EMT arms have a 7 pin plug?

 

[mtemur]

I don’t know how the new ones sound but original German made TSD and TMD cartridges sound great, balanced and organic. If the new ones sound like other Swiss made EMT cartridges then they probably sound tipped up in the highs and analytic. those are my opinions YMMV.
I assume additional 2 pins on EMT tonearms are for the stylus lamp.

 

[DasguteOhr]

the only one I really liked was the hsd6. sounds very natural and really punchy in the bass. for me the lord vader of cartridges. if you are not sure, ask dusch studiotechnik. they offer new revised tsd 15 . here

Studiotechnik Dusch

 

[Loheswaran]

the only one I really liked was the hsd6. sounds very natural and really punchy in the bass. for me the lord vader of cartridges. if you are not sure, ask dusch studiotechnik. they offer new revised tsd 15 . here

Studiotechnik Dusch

Hello

My EMT is currently with Benjamin for restoration. He says no difference and staying original is nice. Saves me a fair bit too - although it is not my first consideration...

I tend to like getting new cartridges generally because of the fact that you know it is as intended.

I was hoping someone else could give a back to back comparison - if not I will probably follow the advice of Benjamin.

I find Dusch Studiotechnik a real pleasure to deal with - clear - straightforward - enthusiastic and engaging. I wish everyone in the industry were so easy to deal with. I find this to be the case with most German people in my experience.

Lohan

 

[pcosta]

I had a good experience in dealing with Dusch.
As for cartridges I have the "new" TSD SFL. I have no experience the the "old" EMT TSD carts. So I was never able to do a comparison.

 

[DasguteOhr]

Hello

My EMT is currently with Benjamin for restoration. He says no difference and staying original is nice. Saves me a fair bit too - although it is not my first consideration...

I tend to like getting new cartridges generally because of the fact that you know it is as intended.

I was hoping someone else could give a back to back comparison - if not I will probably follow the advice of Benjamin.

I find Dusch Studiotechnik a real pleasure to deal with - clear - straightforward - enthusiastic and engaging. I wish everyone in the industry were so easy to deal with. I find this to be the case with most German people in my experience.

Lohan

the Germans go down to the basement to laugh, but they can do precision
for the tsd 15 there is something else to tell. the suspension and damping of the cantilever is the achilles heel of the cartridge. Unfortunately, it often gives up and then becomes soft, the new rubber should be better. unfortunately I have no experience with this. the new edition hsd 006 should correspond to the original hsd6. I have no idea how exactly Micha Huber (thales new owner emt) work is.

 

[mtemur]

my German made TSD N 15 SFL was sounding great over Swiss made HSD 006. IMHO Former was balanced, organic and latter was bright and analytic. unfortunately TSD 15’s suspension is deteriorated and I sent it to Switzerland for a retip. once I got it back I didn’t open the box and sold it. after that two nos TSD 15 cartridges showed up locally in the used market for around 120$ each not more than a year ago. it was crazy cheap cause only the headshell worths more than that. I didn’t show interest due to quick deterioration of the suspension but a friend bought one of them. we opened the box and installed the cartridge. the test paper indicates that cartridge was manufactured in 1980 and sat in national radio and tv company’s storage for all those years. interestingly and against my suspicions about the suspension everything was looking good and sounding good. I test the cartridge with AM software and saw the presumed resonance peak only associated with perfect suspension and perfect cartridge-tonearm matching. some people are lucky.

 

[Loheswaran]

@DasguteOhr
not sure if u ever saw the British series Blackadder but there was a joke about the Brits teaching Germans humour about ‘breaking zi wind’
@mtemur thanks for that insight. I am quite fascinated by the fact that EMT proponents speak about the overall chain - TSD15 cart, 929 arm; 950 deck; original phono stage - though I hear that the phono stage ain’t great…
I wonder if tonearm wire is optimised for the cartridge? I know Audience do tonearm cables to match cartridges
The 929 I had bought came with some awful cable in it - annoying

 

[Loheswaran]

I had a good experience in dealing with Dusch.
As for cartridges I have the "new" TSD SFL. I have no experience the the "old" EMT TSD carts. So I was never able to do a comparison.

Can I just ask - the original tsd 15 has a sort of bent clip onto which is mounted the cartridge - it’s inside the headshell - is that removed in the new tsd headshell? I ask this because I met Van den Hul at a show in a cafe and we chatted for a good while and he said his EMT had the cantilever at 25 not 15 degrees and he removed that spring In the headshell replacing it with a piece of solid wood. I don’t think I asked if this was for when mounted on the 929 on an EMT TT but I assume it must have been

 

[pcosta]

Can I just ask - the original tsd 15 has a sort of bent clip onto which is mounted the cartridge - it’s inside the headshell - is that removed in the new tsd headshell? I ask this because I met Van den Hul at a show in a cafe and we chatted for a good while and he said his EMT had the cantilever at 25 not 15 degrees and he removed that spring In the headshell replacing it with a piece of solid wood. I don’t think I asked if this was for when mounted on the 929 on an EMT TT but I assume it must have been

I'm not sure what you mean by bent clip, but EMT literature states their cantilevers are at 23 degrees now.

 

[Loheswaran]

I'm not sure what you mean by bent clip, but EMT literature states their cantilevers are at 23 degrees

 

[Loheswaran]

I'm not sure what you mean by bent clip, but EMT literature states their cantilevers are at 23 degrees now.

 

[Loheswaran]

I am talking about items 7 and 8

 

[mtemur]

according to drawing you shared the bronze spring has nothing to do with VTA, it's for aligning azimuth. this spring enables each cartridge to be individually aligned for azimuth while headshel's top still parallel to the record surface. this way you can easily switch cartridges (headshells) without worrying about azimuth.

generally speaking a cutter head's VTA is between 16-22 degrees and cutting stylus moves less than 1mm vertically while cutting a lacquer. it moves up and down on an arc. against the common belief a cartridge's VTA does not have to match a cutter head's VTA but it has to match the arc that cutting stylus moves up and down. since cutter heads have longer cantilevers compared to cartridges it's a reasonable way to increase VTA on cartridges IOT match the arc.

 

[Loheswaran]

according to drawing you shared the bronze spring has nothing to do with VTA, it's for aligning azimuth. this spring enables each cartridge to be individually aligned for azimuth while headshel's top still parallel to the record surface. this way you can easily switch cartridges (headshells) without worrying about azimuth.

generally speaking a cutter head's VTA is between 16-22 degrees and cutting stylus moves less than 1mm vertically while cutting a lacquer. it moves up and down on an arc. against the common belief a cartridge's VTA does not have to match a cutter head's VTA but it has to match the arc that cutting stylus moves up and down. since cutter heads have longer cantilevers compared to cartridges it's a reasonable way to increase VTA angles on cartridges IOT match the arc.

Hi

yeah I appreciate it has to do with azimuth. It’s just that VDH said he changed the cantilever to 25 degrees and got rid of the spring. I’m curious as to whether or not the new carts, given now 23degree angle, they get rid of the plastic and the spring to stiffen and get rid of resonance sources.

 

[Loheswaran]

So TSD15 SFL 15 degree VTA TSD SFL 23 degree the old VDH tip had 23 degree according to data sheet. Ahhhhhh dilemma