Bargains on ebay?

[Rare Bird]

Hi Joe
I don't wanna be negative against yourself & Marco but i totally don't like these cartridges..

[southall-1998]

Sorry, Geoff, I completely disagree! Maybe you were using it on the wrong arm and with a phono stage that didn't sufficiently optimise its strengths? Do you think I'd entertain using one in a system like mine if it weren't any good?

Get Dom, from NWA, to re-tip a G800 and/or fit a high-quality cantilever, and you've got a high-end audiophile bargain, which is much better than ANY Shure, save perhaps an M3D, unless you prefer the rather soulless and 'toppy' sound of most modern MM cartridges!

Marco.

Nice cartridge!!

[The Black Adder]

Hi Joe
I don't wanna be negative against yourself & Marco but i totally don't like these cartridges..

That's ok mate... each to their own n all that. But with a new stylus they really do sound great... A bargain.

[Marco]

Hi Joe
I don't wanna be negative against yourself & Marco but i totally don't like these cartridges..

But, dude, you haven't heard one with a re-tip and/or a better cantilever. Or do you mean instead: "I totally don't like these cartridges in stock form"?

If so, I have no problem with that. Suitably modified, however, they are a different animal..............

Marco.

[walpurgis]

Sorry, Geoff, I completely disagree! Maybe you were using it on the wrong arm and with a phono stage that didn't sufficiently optimise its strengths? Do you think I'd entertain using one in a system like mine if it weren't any good? Marco.

Well Marco, I used one recently and still wasn't impressed, my impression is that the sound is lacking detail and is a bit weak in character, lacking weight. I've tried them in various setups and it makes little difference. They were standard fare back in the days of the dreaded Garrard SP25 Mk.III and were regarded as little better than the G850, mind you, if you were really skint you bought the M3D, which was about a fiver in the seventies. If you had a better TT you generally aimed for a Shure M75E.

The G800 Super E was much better than the base G800 though, the elliptical tip certainly helped.

Back in those days I found ADC to easily outclass any non MC cartridge apart from Deccas. I still have my ADCs, they're getting harder to come across and sound amazing (ask Andr'e).

[Marco]

Well Marco, I used one recently and still wasn't impressed, my impression is that the sound is lacking detail and is a bit weak in character, lacking weight.

Lol... Well it sounds NOTHING like that in my system (almost the complete opposite), so what does that tell you...?

If I'd heard it sound as you've described, it'd have put it in the bin, rather than on the end of my £2100 Ortofon tonearm!!

The G800 Super E was much better than the base G800 though, the elliptical tip certainly helped.

Indeed, so what do you think happens when you re-tip a stock G800 with something better than an elliptical stylus, as someone like Dom can do very easily, and/or fit it with a superior cantilever? Answer: you end up with a cartridge that outperforms almost ANY moving-magnet design made today, and most probably at less cost. Honestly, Geoff, I know what I'm talking about here!

The G800 is rather like the venerable DL-103: a brilliant cartridge hampered by a mediocre stylus (and in the case of the 103, also a crap body-shell).

Marco.

[walpurgis]

Makes you wonder what an ADC 10E Mk.IV would sound like with a Boron cantilever and fine line tip.

[Marco]

PRECISELY... It's called combining the BEST of old and new technologies, in order to get the BEST of both worlds! My entire system has been (very successfully) built around that concept!!

Marco.

[BTH K10A]

Hmm, it describes it as stunning, yet states that 'due the age of this type of equipment it's being. "Sold as seen with no refunds or returns"'.

£1500 for what could be DOA? Are the bits worth that much?

The transformers and choke alone probably are as they are very high quality and are built like battleships, unlike those found in quads and leaks

[The Black Adder]

Well Marco, I used one recently and still wasn't impressed, my impression is that the sound is lacking detail and is a bit weak in character, lacking weight. I've tried them in various setups and it makes little difference. They were standard fare back in the days of the dreaded Garrard SP25 Mk.III and were regarded as little better than the G850, mind you, if you were really skint you bought the M3D, which was about a fiver in the seventies. If you had a better TT you generally aimed for a Shure M75E.

The G800 Super E was much better than the base G800 though, the elliptical tip certainly helped.

Back in those days I found ADC to easily outclass any non MC cartridge apart from Deccas. I still have my ADCs, they're getting harder to come across and sound amazing (ask Andr'e).

Hm... Well we have different systems but I have to say that I don't like anything that lacks weight and detail as it's those characteristics that gives presence and clout so maybe you didn't set it up correctly maybe?