My initial impression of this new vdH Colibri Grand Cru (CGC) is based on having listened to my Master Signature (MS) for about a month with 40+ hours on the SME V-12 arm and then installing the CGC on the V-12. After the first 4-5 hours, The CGC came into its own and started sounding really good. What follows are my impressions during the first 64 hours of break in. It is no longer appreciably changing in character. The MS is now on the SME 3012R and has about 70 hours on it.
The CGC retrieves slightly more information from the grooves, and presents it in a slightly more natural way than does the Master Signature. The MS already set the standard in my system for resolution and energy, that sense of the music being “alive” and convincing. I heard more spatial information from the MS than from any other cartridge. However, that energy was most apparent in the mid to upper frequencies. There is great low end extension, punch, and articulation, but it is not quite as well balanced and a bit less developed than on the CGC. Some might find that my MySonicLab Signature Gold has a more pleasing tonal balance with some music because it has more body and weight, and richer tonal colors, but it lacks the energy and “aliveness” of the Master Signature. And it is not as resolving.
The Grand Cru seems to combine the very best quality of the MSL Sig Gold with the resolution and energy of the MS. It seems to extend that sense of energy and “aliveness” to the rest of the frequency range while increasing the sense of body and weight in the lower range. It has a more even tonal balance. Timbre is just a bit more accurate and convincing. The overall frequency extension seems the same as with the MS, but it is just more fleshed out with the CGC. Finally, spatial information is even more apparent and varied from recording to recording. This reflects the greater information retrieval or resolution. Both vdH cartridges have outrageous dynamics, but they are clean, natural, not hyped at the extremes to emphasis “jump”.
Tang wrote that he feels the Master Signature has many A+ and some A-, while his AirTight Opus has mostly As. It is perhaps a more all around cartridge, but the MS has some strengths unmatched by others and it seems to be his go-to cartridge for classical music.
I have only heard the Opus in a friend’s system and compared it to his Altas SL over time. Extrapolating from Tang’s insightful comments, I would say that this new Grand Cru improves those A- attributes and makes it a more all around, balanced cartridge superlative in every way. I now have my MS set up on the SME 3012R and the CGC set up on the SME V-12. The former is adjusted for 180+g LPs, mostly jazz reissues and 45s, and the latter is adjusted for standard weight LPs, mostly classical, chamber, choral, opera, classic rock.
I alter my listening about 55/45 between the two combinations, mostly because I am in a classical, choral period now, but this in no way reflects my preference for one combination over the other. I enjoy them equally and could not be happier. I am just lucky that I can now play two arms and two cartridges on my SME Model 30/12 turntable.
Someday I will get around to switching the cartridges on the arms, setting them up to play the same LPs, and do a more rigorous direct comparison, but right now I am just enjoying the music like never before. Both of these cartridges present the “gestalt” of the music. The CGC is just a bit more of a whole. It is more complete. This is music presented in a natural way, like I have not heard it before in my system.