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Editor's Note: This is the second appearance of "Auricle," a review column concentrating on the sonic aspects of "high-end" components. While we are not abandoning our tradition of listening backed by careful measurements, we feel that "Auricle" will help us discuss more gear-and more quickly than full-scale "Equipment Profile" re views allow. -E.P. Many cartridges can be exciting for a few hours or even weeks; few stand up to months of concentrated listening. Far too often, what initially seem to be exciting new insights into the music are revealed as anomalies in frequency response, dynamics, tracking, the ability to resolve detail, resonance, or the host of other problems to which cartridges are prone. Worse, the better the system, the more the choice of cartridge has to be made on the basis of both outstanding performance and sonic characteristics that suit the particular components in that system. The choice of a cartridge is like the choice of a speaker: It ultimately boils down to personal taste. I make this caveat because my own favorite reference cartridges are currently the van den Hul Type I, reviewed by Barney Pisha elsewhere in this is sue, and the Argent Diamond. These cartridges have stood the test of hundreds of hours of listening. In spite of any weaknesses that Barney de scribes in the van den Hul Type I, I believe it provides an overall mix of linearity, musical detail, imaging, depth, and dynamics that I have never heard surpassed by any cartridge, and that I enjoy in listening to every kind of music I can find. At the same time, the van den Hul Type I has sufficiently low output so that it requires a step-up device for best performance, even though it has the highest output of any regular moving coil I know of. Ideally, I would prefer a cartridge I could use with the best tube preamplifiers, without any step-up device. No matter how many step-up devices I test, every transformer and active gain stage I know of at least slightly degrades the sound as the price of the gain necessary to play low-output moving coils. I cannot stand listening to low-output moving coils directly into a convention al gain stage. The noise dries out the sound, and the lack of gain compresses the dynamics to an unacceptable degree. The frequency balance of the cartridge is usually changed, and the entire system tends to appear some what lifeless. At the same time, there is a false impression of soundstage expansion with tube preamps, which is largely a function of tube noise. This keeps me searching for a high-output cartridge that can offer the same benefits as low-output moving coils. Some of these cartridges, such as Joe Grado's Signature Eight, are already strong rivals. A new generation is emerging, however, which includes high-output cartridges like the Decca van den Hul, several new Adcoms, a high-output version of the Sumiko Talisman, and the van den Hul Type III, the subject of this review. I must confess that I approached the Type III with mixed feelings. It is a direct modification, as is the van den Hul Type I. but costs $395 versus some $1,095 for the Type I. Its output is easily high enough to eliminate any need for a high-gain stage or step-up device. On the other hand, the van den Hul Type III is a modification of the Goldring Type II moving-coil cartridge, and my tests of the initial version of the Goldring indicated that it was distinctly mediocre, audibly slower and less de tailed than many far cheaper moving magnets. Regardless of measurements or technical explanations, the better low-output moving coils have been more dynamic and detailed, and musically sweeter, than their high-output moving-coil or moving-magnet competitors. Such deficiencies, in fact, have been the curse of every high-output moving coil I have tested to date. Fortunately, the van den Hul Type III definitely proved to be a significant step in the right direction, and particularly if it was loaded at 100 ohms and tracked at 2 grams. At the normal 47-kilohm loading used with most high-output cartridges, it is only moderately faster than the Goldring Type II, which is to say, not fast enough. There is also a slight apparent rise in the treble that does not work well with its lack of speed. The Type III does have some of the benefits of the van den Hul stylus, even with 47-kilohm loading. It is even superior to the current generation of its high-out put competition. But, with that loading, it does not come close enough to the better low-output moving coils. My sample was also only a good tracker at its recommended 1.75 grams. It did reasonably well with most test records, but it did not offer the firm imaging and low-level musical detail in complex passages that is the real-world test of tracking with most music. This situation changes significantly when the van den Hul Type III is loaded at 100 ohms. It still has over 1.0 mV of output versus around 2.0 at any loading over 250 ohms. This is a high enough output for any good preamp I know of, and it makes a moderate but extremely important shift in the cartridge's apparent speed while eliminating most of the high-frequency rise. It also produces better center fill and a tighter and better controlled bass. At 2.0-grams tracking, this improvement is reinforced by more solid imaging and more realistic harmonic detail with less artificial "air" or expansion of the sound stage. It will never be a tracker on the level of a Shure V15 Type V, but it will do an excellent job of tracking all musical instruments, except the can non, on any rationally cut record. In fact, if you are willing to take the time to alter your preamp's loading resistor--or shunt it--you will get a very good bargain indeed. You will not get a Type I van den Hul or a true rival for the speed, delicacy, and resolution of the best low-output moving coils, but you will get a very good compromise. If you listen to a wide variety of well-recorded jazz and chamber music, you will find that the van den Hul Type III has excellent ability to provide natural musical detail while preserving excellent sound-stage depth and width. It will provide musical life and transient response without the exaggerated high-frequency output common to many moving coils. Low-level piano and guitar sound natural, even when the musical information is near the noise floor-a very demanding test of a cartridge. The upper midrange is not as quick and detailed as the best low-outputs, but it is comparatively linear, both in terms of measurement and sound. The middle and low midrange are very good; the bass has good detail and is well controlled, if slightly lean in the deep bass and lacking in the ability to resolve dynamics and low-level bass transients compared to the Type I and other top-performing cartridges. Sound-stage width, depth, and de tail also are not directly competitive to the best comparatively priced low-out put moving coils, but they are very natural and well balanced. This often means the Type III will have superior overall realism. Most low-output moving coils in the Type III's price range tend to accentuate some feature of the sound stage over others. Such accentuation may be more dramatic, but it is also less natural. Given the proper loading and tracking weight, the van den Hul Type III emerges as the best high-output moving coil I have tested over the last four years. It is not equal to the van den Hul Type I, but it is certainly superior to many low-output moving coils I have surveyed in the past. I could easily live with it using ne plus ultra components and speakers, and it definitely merits auditing with the kind of components likely to be used with cartridges at a price of $395. Some cautions, however: Audition this cartridge at a dealer who will load it properly. The step-up instructions are good, and a small bubble level is provided. A van den Hul cartridge does, however, require very careful installation, and the vertical tracking angle must be set very carefully by ear. You also ought not run down to Radio Shack and buy a cheap resistor for loading. High-quality, 100-ohm loading resistors, or shunt resistors, are a necessity. Try Resistas, Vishay, or any other top-quality brand. Unless you are handy with phono cartridges and a soldering iron, get your dealer to set up the Type III. I also should note that preliminary listening to the new Decca van den Hul indicates that it also deserves keen attention if you are searching for a way to avoid step-up devices. The new Adcoms and Talismans are coming, and others may surface at the Chicago CES. The van den Hul Type III may be the first of a new trend, and one that may well bring moving coils to a far wider range of audiophiles. -Anthony H. Cordesman
(Audio magazine, Jul. 1984) Also see: Van Den Hul Type I Phono Cartridge (Equip. Profile, July 1984) = = = = |
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