Yes, it is a screw on adapter which rotates the pin orientation 45° so that the cartridge pins are compatible with the SME arm without modification.
Natural Sound
- Thread starter PeterA
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Yes, it is a screw on adapter which rotates the pin orientation 45° so that the cartridge pins are compatible with the SME arm without modification.
I have now had a chance to live with my DST Replica cartridge for a few weeks. It is mounted on an SME 3012R arm in the right side location of my turntable. It is quite heavy and has a tracking force of 6.25g, so I am using the extra counter weight. It was fairly easy to set up using a special jig for alignment and an adaptor that rotates the contact pins 45 degrees.
This cartridge sounds great. It basically combines the mass/body/weight of my Ortofon plus the resolution of my Colibri. It is a more complete and natural sounding cartridge. The sound reminds me of DDK's original Neumann DST that I have heard in two of his systems plus in a third system with his new turntable, but there are too many variables to really know how close it is to the original.
In a different thread, I described what I think are the biggest differences between listening to recorded music at home and listening to live music in the concert hall, small chamber, or jazz club. Whether it is a large orchestra or choir, a string quartet or jazz trio, or a soprano or single guitar or piano note, the main distinguishing characteristic between recorded and live music is the unmistakable clarity and energy I hear from real instruments in a space.
When now playing some familiar recordings, string instruments have more texture and attack. Piano notes are more percussive with longer decays. Brass has more bite and color. Drums have more impact while cymbals are more delicate and metallic. Everything sounds more articulate with greater mass and presence. Individual instruments in complex music are easier to follow, and timbres are more distinct. Music has better flow and rhythm.
It is a bit difficult to describe what I am hearing, but my records now remind me more of live music, primarily because of the increase in clarity and energy I am hearing in my room. I am hoping to take the cartridge out to Utah this winter to directly compare it to DDK's original Neumann. That should be fun.
This cartridge sounds great. It basically combines the mass/body/weight of my Ortofon plus the resolution of my Colibri. It is a more complete and natural sounding cartridge. The sound reminds me of DDK's original Neumann DST that I have heard in two of his systems plus in a third system with his new turntable, but there are too many variables to really know how close it is to the original.
In a different thread, I described what I think are the biggest differences between listening to recorded music at home and listening to live music in the concert hall, small chamber, or jazz club. Whether it is a large orchestra or choir, a string quartet or jazz trio, or a soprano or single guitar or piano note, the main distinguishing characteristic between recorded and live music is the unmistakable clarity and energy I hear from real instruments in a space.
When now playing some familiar recordings, string instruments have more texture and attack. Piano notes are more percussive with longer decays. Brass has more bite and color. Drums have more impact while cymbals are more delicate and metallic. Everything sounds more articulate with greater mass and presence. Individual instruments in complex music are easier to follow, and timbres are more distinct. Music has better flow and rhythm.
It is a bit difficult to describe what I am hearing, but my records now remind me more of live music, primarily because of the increase in clarity and energy I am hearing in my room. I am hoping to take the cartridge out to Utah this winter to directly compare it to DDK's original Neumann. That should be fun.
Very interesting, Peter! That sounds like a perfect cartridge!
Does that tracking force -- 3 to 5 times greater than what we're used to -- give you any concern about the longevity of your records?
Will you now be selling one or more of your vdH cartridges?
Does that tracking force -- 3 to 5 times greater than what we're used to -- give you any concern about the longevity of your records?
Will you now be selling one or more of your vdH cartridges?
Hello Juiced, I am not using anything. I have five dedicated 30 amp lines from a separate panel. One for each amp, one for preamp, one for phono, and one for turntable. All wires are same length.
Well, it is one way to approach the problem as suggested by DDK. The dedicated panel is right under the listening room and is the closest to the service feed coming before the main house panel servicing the rest of the house. I noticed an increase in clarity mostly around the quality of the low frequencies.
Ron, I’ve been trying to find an original Neumann for years. This may or may not be the next best option. The comparison with my other car is interesting. I switched between the other two in part depending on the music, but this cartridge seems to be able to play everything equally well.
I have no idea whether or not I should be concerned about the tracking force of this DST replica. Those who own the original don’t seem to be concerned. The issue was discussed a couple pages back.
I have a lot of spare cartridges and may end up selling one or two of the Colibris but I am hesitant because they all sound slightly different and I plan to listen to records for a long time.
Tube amps without feedback are very sensitive to Voltage drop on the AC line. This is an ideal way to minimize that problem in your home, unless you have some means of regulating the AC line Voltage. That isn't all that crazy expensive to do BTW, using an automated variac.
David Karmeli walked me through the power delivery for my system. My electrician then carried out the plan. We drove an 8 foot solid copper rod under the foundation of the house where there is moist soil, but it’s against code to hook up the panel ground wire to the rod. I can switch back-and-forth between the rod and the water supply pipe.
Yikes! There's a very good reason its against code. I'd be a bit nervous switching back and forth, since the neutral (white) wire of the AC line in the wall is connected to the breaker box and the same place the ground (green) wire is. There could be a difference in Voltage! Additionally, the house wiring ground is the one that is important if you really want to keep noise down (along with proper grounding practice in each bit of equipment used).
In many countries WBF could probably be sued if this advice was published without a proper disclaimer ...
In fact the Lamm's are extremely sensitive to variations in mains voltage. Most of the time I had to use them with a variac.
The 6C33 has a really big filament circuit (8Amps!). There are two in that amp; as the AC line Voltage changes there are very measurable changes in transconductance and consequently output power and output impedance, which is part of why the AC line changes are so easy to hear. I'm sure the regulation helps but the regulator's performance is being affected by the AC line too.
We had the same problem in our MA-3 amplifier, which we solved by regulating in the incoming AC line Voltage.
Hello Milan, no, I have not tried any of the DAVA cartridges.
The system sounds great when the grounding wire is connected directly to the copper rod. Don’t worry, the current configuration meets local codes.
Why would people do something against the code for the sake of audio? Doesn’t matter if sound improves personally I think that’s silly unless you are living alone in a trailer aged 90
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