Do particular cartridges match particular types of music?

[jazzpiano]

Hello All,

Bob's thread about "How many cartridges..." made me wonder if particular cartridges go with particular kinds of music? Many years ago an acquaintance told me that speakers were like musical instruments, a Stratocaster and Stradivarius were both great but, could not play the same music equally well. (He also said amps were like halls, good ones would play any kind of music well.) Are there cartridges that reproduce acoustic timbres well? How 'bout rock guitar, bass? Opera? Jazz?

Best,
Barry :band:

[sq225917]

You are bound to get differing opinions on this subject but I am of the opinion that a good bit of hifi, source, amplifier, speaker or whatever should be faithful and neutral to the source. If it doesn't stamp it's shape on the music you play back then it can play all types of music equally well. While this might be true for more expensive gear, cheaper stuff has to be made cheaper somehow and cuts are inevitably made via design choices which may affect the ability of a component to play all things equally well. So in this instance you may need to make a choice that favours your taste.

There's no point buying a cheap moving magnet and phonostage if you want to replay the 1812 overture at full tilt and simply 'have to have more cannon'. In reality, every piece of hifi is compromised in some slight way and choices abound.

If all you want to listen to is lush jazz with an upfront midrange then you can of course tailor your gear accordingly, but my approach is to go for neutrality wherever possible.

[DSJR]

I agree, but whereas modern digital sources don't differ hugely - IMO of course - and mainly only in subtle aspects, the differences in vinyl systems can be huge and in the best examples, they're all valid IMO as the vinyl itself becomes the limiting factor - IMO :)..

A quick example - and I'm typing this with respect, some people like their vinyl to sound sweet and romantic - I think we can agree? that upper-caste Koetsu's can do this with aplomb. Others like something a bit more "correct" in their presentation, if not a little the other way, such as lovers of AT pickups for example, reportedly as lean as they are to suit Japanese vinyl pressings, which have a different vinyl composition apparently (according to a review I read on either HFN or HFW).

Me? I'm still a Decca, ADC and Shure fan, and the very best sorted of these are as well behaved, great tracking and as truthful to what's there on the vinyl as I'll ever need :D

[morris_minor]

I think that as all hi-fi is compromised in one form or another in that as it can never approach a live performance we all choose a presentation that suits both our "audio memory" (probably very unreliable) and our general mood.

I like to aim for a kind of neutrality, but going to my first live orchestral concert in a while last year was a real ear-opener. I wanted to reach for the treble tone control during one passage of top register flute :lol: (and this was the LSO in a modern concert hall). Had I heard that sound off my turntable I'd have reached for a darker, warm sounding cartridge to tame the treble :rolleyes: (maybe!).

And who know knows what studio-assembled pop productions should really sound like. Tracks will have been mixed, compressed and EQ'd all over the place. We might assume we know what the artist/producer wanted it to sound like, but in reality we just get a kind of sound that pleases us (hopefully) - accurate or not.

To get back to Barry's question - well, personally I don't have a favourite. Cartridges just get swapped out when I fancy a change. At some point I may do some detailed analytical comparisons, but really I just prefer listening to the music rather than the sound (once I've got the sound as good as I can of course! - for my ears, anyway).

[vouk]

IMO, I've always found that digital sources are more "partial" to certain types or genres of music as opposed to others; very few seem to be truly "neutral" or great sounding across the board and they are usually the stratospherically priced ones.
I've never had any such issue with the cartridges I have owned (or listened to) over the years, regardless of price. While they might ostensibly offer different sound characteristics or focus more (or excel) on one frequency board over the other, they have all been capable of playing any type of music with equal aplomb.

[f1eng]

The same cartridge can/will sound different in a different arm, on a different turntable and on a different support, depending on the amplitude and frequency response of internal modes excited, amongst other things.
I think once one gets a combination of arm/cartidge/turntable/support which suits your taste it will sound to your liking with all types of music.