Allaerts alert - cartridge strategy

[bonzo]

I have bought an Jan Allaerts mc1 boron mk2. The claimed 5k hours and cheap retip makes it a cart for life. Understand the risks of slow response from the one man shop. The feedback on another forum from BruceD, who set up his first TT in 1957 when most of the people on forums were not born, helps. As does that of an Yamamura horn owner I visited twice whose system happens to be one of the top systems I have heard.

I visited Audio Arts in NY recently on 5th avenue and there he has a 300k Zellaton with all FM acoustics system, and is running the above Allaerts on a Brinkmann balance. Gideon of Audio Arts has been with Jan Allaerts since the 90s, and with the JA into FM into apogee grands and scintillas. I was able to swap to digital as well as change speakers during that demo. I stared at sufficient certainty that a cartridge strategy fell in place in my mind over the next week.

It can do violin highs of Lyra without any etch or glare. It can do piano flow with attack on top and body on bottom. Vocals are outstanding, male and female. Other users I called, first thing that they said was tonal fluidity. It will work with horns and with apogee

It works on FR 64s – Bruce, Gideon, another user confirmed that. Excellent news, given that this is a great arm for the price, till one gets money longer term to upgrade to Schroeder LT (which I haven’t heard, but by reputation). Plus, Schroeder himself is known to like this cart, as per forums.

My other cart will be Miyajima mono, which on the right records produces better sonics than all other stereo carts to my ears.

Optional carts will be SPU for piano and brass (not for violin, vocals, or orchestra), and a restored Decca or some MM for an alternate sound (it works on the FR 64s very well).

All carts together fit into the price of an Airtight Opus, Zyx top models, GFS. Plus, I like this sound better with the right phono.

So – is it easy to shift carts via changing headshells on the FR 64s, or should I get a flexible wand arm like Moerch DP8, with a Schick for the SPU.

I haven't narrowed the TTs yet - Schopper 124, OMA Anatase, a good DD, and Brinkmann Balance - will have to narrow down over time, might end up with a couple.

MY Zellaton/FM/ report is here http://zero-distortion.org/fm-acoustics-zellaton-stenheim-audio-arts/

[User211]

My Moerch DP6 is easy. Plus variable arm wands allows great flexibility. Excellent sounding arm too that definitely 'flows' musically.

Thing about DP carts is with a few carts on separate wands that have previously been aligned, you can switch carts in seconds. Literally. You won't beat it for speed and convenience.

There are people with much more experience with analogue on here than me who will chime in. Tom springs to mind.

[bonzo]

How do you always end up with components I am looking at

[User211]

How do you always end up with components I am looking atIt's the other way round I think you'll find:)

[farflungstar]

I can't agree more about the Allaerts, I have it and love it. It just makes beautiful music and is only limited by the partnering equipment. Each time I add a sonically more transparent component I realise what the Allaerts has been giving me all along. I'll never part with it.

[montesquieu]

When chopping and changing headshells on the same arm there are a few variables, obviously if you have an SPU the spindle to pivot setup will need to be fine tuned around that as the stylus position is fixed.

I minimise the hassle of changing cartridges by ensuring as much as I can the following, in large part by carefully selecting from a collection of suitable heavy headshells, weights and spacers, and asking speedysteve to do me custom ones where necessary :) :



As near as possible keep the VTA constant by adjusting the height of the cartridge in the headshell using the spacers (again using SPU as benchmark as that's fixed)
Adjusting weight of the headshell assembly with the various weights so that, again as near as possible, the correct VTF comes up when the cartridge/headshell assembly is changed - if the VTF is calibrated on the arm it's not a biggie to remember to move things a click or two but on some arms this can be a pain to re-set
Aligning as much as possible the choice of cartridges to avoid mismatches in compliance (an SPU or Miyajima needs a heavy arm and a headshell assembly of over 30g, so you can't suddenly decide just to bold on a medium-high compliance cartridge (say a Lyra) and expect it to work well.


The one thing this doesn't address is the anti-skate setting which you might need to remember for each cartridge but that's a small issue and for many 12in arms it can just be left on an average setting - less so for 9in arms where you probably do want to adjust it for each.

What's the compliance on the Allerts? I had it down as medium compliance and therefore not on my radar to check out, but I can't find it online so that could have been a conclusion I've unfairly jumped to.

[farflungstar]

When chopping and changing headshells on the same arm there are a few variables, obviously if you have an SPU the spindle to pivot setup will need to be fine tuned around that as the stylus position is fixed.

I minimise the hassle of changing cartridges by ensuring as much as I can the following, in large part by carefully selecting from a collection of suitable heavy headshells, weights and spacers, and asking speedysteve to do me custom ones where necessary :) :



As near as possible keep the VTA constant by adjusting the height of the cartridge in the headshell using the spacers (again using SPU as benchmark as that's fixed)
Adjusting weight of the headshell assembly with the various weights so that, again as near as possible, the correct VTF comes up when the cartridge/headshell assembly is changed - if the VTF is calibrated on the arm it's not a biggie to remember to move things a click or two but on some arms this can be a pain to re-set
Aligning as much as possible the choice of cartridges to avoid mismatches in compliance (an SPU or Miyajima needs a heavy arm and a headshell assembly of over 30g, so you can't suddenly decide just to bold on a medium-high compliance cartridge (say a Lyra) and expect it to work well.


The one thing this doesn't address is the anti-skate setting which you might need to remember for each cartridge but that's a small issue and for many 12in arms it can just be left on an average setting - less so for 9in arms where you probably do want to adjust it for each.

What's the compliance on the Allerts? I had it down as medium compliance and therefore not on my radar to check out, but I can't find it online so that could have been a conclusion I've unfairly jumped to.There's no details on the compliance anywhere. But, it sounded sublime on my AT1010 light mass arm and on the medium mass sigwaan and now on the Reed which is also medium. I did once try it on the sigwaan when it was weighted to provide a heavier mass for the Shilabe and it didn't shine. It's not for a heavy arm Tom.

[Barry]

According to vinylengine the dynamic compliance (at 10Hz?) is 12. 10-6 cm/dyne.

[farflungstar]

According to vinylengine the dynamic compliance (at 10Hz?) is 12. 10-6 cm/dyne.I stand corrected.

[Barry]

They are very expensive - one, the MC2 costs $12,000! Well out of my league. :(

[montesquieu]

According to vinylengine the dynamic compliance (at 10Hz?) is 12. 10-6 cm/dyne.

It's never clear whether the Vinylengine numbers are at 10hz or 100hz but I'd be prepared to take this as a 10hz number. So kind of medium-lowish compliance rather than a true low compliance - as Adey says, probably not ideal with with heavy arm like an FR64 (at least with a normal FR heavy headshell).

[bonzo]

They are very expensive - one, the MC2 costs $12,000! Well out of my league. :(

Get boron mk2 or the Finish

[montesquieu]

Get boron mk2 or the Finish

I wonder who would ever pay that retail anyway.

[farflungstar]

Actually pricing isn't so bad. The formula finish comes in at 12k (€) - ECO is around 2k(€) - the rest in between. I know a dealer where I can get the Boron MK2 for 3,500€ - which considering their musical abilities, CD like specifications for channel separation etc, tracking abilities, 5000 hour tip guarantee isn't so bad. They have no nasties, just clarity, Resolution, and a musicality to beat Miyajima. They are also very very easy to set up. Worth every penny in my book and still the best purchase I've ever made.