"Don Pearce" wrote


OK, I've used a V15 in the past on my SME 3009II arm, and I know it is
a good cart, so I can only think that it is simply a really bad match
to your arm.


Possibly - although it sounds in no way *bad*! (Let's keep a grip on
*reality* here...!! :-)

Is/was your V15 a version III? I've seen remarks to the effect that the Mk V
isn't much like the earlier versions although it does track at the customary
'V15' 1gm....



I can't think of any reason why two testers - admittedly
I was the only unsighted one - put them in essentially the same order,
with the V15 at the bottom.



You can add SWMBO to that - she says she's never been over-impressed with
the V15 and thinks it is a little 'vague' in the bottom end. And that's on a
number of different deck/arm combinations....?


What is the arm?


Just the bog-standard S-shaped arm on a Pioneer PL518. I haven't got time
atm to look up mass/compliance information and I suspect the word 'medium'
will figure throughout if I did. Disregarding the V15, which is relatively
new, the other carts come from the same era as the deck and the 'SN
preferred' M95 actually came with the deck and, I suspect, was the original
which has never been changed.

The V15 is a good-sounding cart, especially when it's in a 'choice of one'!!
What interests me (and part of the purpose of these comparisons) is that I
have always suspected it being the beneficiary of 'magazine hype', much like
the Goldring G1042 and the AT110E which, worthy as they may well be, are
routinely recommended at the expense of other models. (One thing that is
nearly *impossible* to do is 'audition' a new cartridge....)

I can effect a hot/dirty headshell swap in 16 seconds (timed last night), so
it is no problem to me to take a minute or so to swap carts/headshells
properly and carefully. This allows me to match the cartridge carefully to
the type of music I want to play and reduces this 'one size fits all'
approach that I have never been comfortable with (carts and all manner of
other bits of equipment - speakers in particular).

My own 'general purpose' cart is actually one that was not featured in this
comparison and I may well/probably run a similar test to investigate the
differences between 3 different variants of the *same* model of this cart!!
Is there a specific type of music (or track, even) that would be preferred
for this?

FWIW, I don't believe in any form of A/B testing and think the only way to
make choices with audio gear is to run all the 'candidates' for as long as
it takes, with as much chopping and changing as it takes to pick 'long term
favourites'. Enlisting the assistance of a few impartial opinions certainly
helps - we very often can't hear what we don't *want* to when it comes to
our own stuff....!! ;-)