What cart for AMG Viella?

[heihei]

Having recently been blown away by a Monaco 3.0 deck equipped with an Air Tight Opus 1 cart, it has got me thinking about upgrading the AMG Teatro on my Viella (arm is the original AMG 12" and phonostage is RCM RIAA Mk2).

I found that the Monaco + Opus gave a level of detail whilst maintaining full musicality that gave a phenomenal insight into the performance, which I'm somewhat missing in my set-up. The obvious place to start considering an upgrade is the cart but as I'm pretty much a novice in this area and it seems one of, if not the hardest area to demo in any controlled way, I'm keen to hear recommendations, both for carts and possible ways of demoing.

Thanks in advance!

 

[puroagave]

The RCM looks to have plenty of gain for the Opus 1, that would be my primary concern. I have a Viella here with the turbo 12" arm and it handles my MSL Eminent cart perfectly. I don't see it being different with the Air Tight vers.

 

[Lxgreen]

I put a Koetsu Wajima on my Viella and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recently traded the Viella in for a GPA Monaco 3.0 with the optional battery. I have a Koetsu Blue Lace on the Triplaner arm. Not sure what I will get when I need cartridge since Koetsu shut down. Although I have not heard the Benz-Micro, I spoke to the AMG distributer who highly recommended it paired with the Viella

 

[heihei]

Interesting. How do you find the Monaco vs Viella?

 

[Lxgreen]

I really liked the Viella and would have kept it if I hadn’t heard the Monaco at the dealer. It mainly outperformed in the upper midrange and deep bass.

 

[sujay]

I have used 4 cartridges with my AMG Viella. The Stein music aventurin (currently on my 12 inch viella arm), etsuro Bordeaux ( on the Kuzma 4 pt 9 inch), zyx ultimate and the VDH Colibri 1 mv version. The stein music is the best overall……it’s essentially a Benz lps modified by Holger Stein with his wooden body and lacquer. I enjoy the etsuro urushi Bordeaux as well but it serves jazz and classical better than rock. I use the Burmester 088 built in MC module

Cheers

Sujay

 

[Bartolo1]

Resurrecting a not so old thread . . . I'm strongly considering getting the Viella with the 12" "turbo" arm. I honestly have no idea about cartridges other than what I read online and hear from friends . . . and that all leads me to conclude that there are many fine options.

Lyra Etna SL @~$10k would be the very top of my price point (SL as I have the Naim SuperLine/SuperCap for a phono stage) but I strongly suspect that others would make me just/almost as happy? AMG seems to like Benz fwiw.

My vinyl collection consists of quite a few very early presses in very good condition of Beatles and 70's rock classics, plus modern-day pretty good quality releases of classic jazz and classical.

As for what I like to hear, I did find my prior Rega P10 / Aphelion2 (same SuperLine/SuperCap) to be TOO detailed and just not all that pleasant to listen to vs. the ND555 in my all-Naim system.. Accuracy is great but to me the Rega went too far to that end of the spectrum.

Any thoughts?

 

[gestalt]

Resurrecting a not so old thread . . . I'm strongly considering getting the Viella with the 12" "turbo" arm. I honestly have no idea about cartridges other than what I read online and hear from friends . . . and that all leads me to conclude that there are many fine options.

Lyra Etna SL @~$10k would be the very top of my price point (SL as I have the Naim SuperLine/SuperCap for a phono stage) but I strongly suspect that others would make me just/almost as happy? AMG seems to like Benz fwiw.

My vinyl collection consists of quite a few very early presses in very good condition of Beatles and 70's rock classics, plus modern-day pretty good quality releases of classic jazz and classical.

As for what I like to hear, I did find my prior Rega P10 / Aphelion2 (same SuperLine/SuperCap) to be TOO detailed and just not all that pleasant to listen to vs. the ND555 in my all-Naim system.. Accuracy is great but to me the Rega went too far to that end of the spectrum.

Any thoughts?

You might like the Fuuga at that price point.

 

[Bartolo1]

You might like the Fuuga at that price point.

There are just so many to pick from -- I think that my best bet is to go with a brand that my dealer (Goodwins) sells as I'll be using them to set it up anyway. Which is a lot of brands: Benz, DV, Lyra, Hana, Koetsu, to name just some.

 

[craigr]

I have the AMG Viella with the Turbo arm and upgraded power supply.
I have found that the Soundsmith Strain Gauge cart (which comes with its own "phonostage") is truly outstanding in terms of its clarity, cleanliness of the bass and lack of harshness in the treble. The "speed" of the cart. helps especially with orchestral (classical) music.

When I was deciding on a cart, I auditioned at SoundSmith's headquarters both the Hyperion and the Strain Gauge (on their VPI machine into their preamp/amp). Both were outstanding carts, but the Strain Gauge was much quieter, responsive. Even organ music reproduces well.

Since the strain gauge comes with its own "phono stage" (and the lowest model, 410, suffices quite well) you can save money by avoiding the purchase of a phono stage or selling your existing one.

One important note: I did opt for the top of the line stylus and recommend this option.

 

[Bartolo1]

I have the AMG Viella with the Turbo arm and upgraded power supply.
I have found that the Soundsmith Strain Gauge cart (which comes with its own "phonostage") is truly outstanding in terms of its clarity, cleanliness of the bass and lack of harshness in the treble. The "speed" of the cart. helps especially with orchestral (classical) music.

When I was deciding on a cart, I auditioned at SoundSmith's headquarters both the Hyperion and the Strain Gauge (on their VPI machine into their preamp/amp). Both were outstanding carts, but the Strain Gauge was much quieter, responsive. Even organ music reproduces well.

Since the strain gauge comes with its own "phono stage" (and the lowest model, 410, suffices quite well) you can save money by avoiding the purchase of a phono stage or selling your existing one.

One important note: I did opt for the top of the line stylus and recommend this option.

Did you get to A/B the power supplies or otherwise get an idea what the more expensive supply is doing for the system?

 

[craigr]

YES, I was able to A/B the original power supply for the AMG Viella against the AMG power supply for the Forte. The latter was quieter (lower noise floor) which provided a little more clarity to the sound. I would, however, say that it is only about 10% difference. Fortunately, my system is very resolving, so this tweek was worthwhile.