I recently wrapped up a review of the Goldring Ethos Se Moving Coil Cartridge where I compared it with my Ortofon MC Quintet Black S cartridge. In speaking with Eric of Fidelity Imports (which distributes Goldring in the US), he confirmed that my observations were in sync with theirs: “With the Ethos SE, there’s a warmer and softer, more natural-sounding presentation; instruments are detailed but not as hard-edged or forward-sounding from the midrange on up through the highs.” Their cartridge “lacks the HD quality of the Ortofon but instead serves up a slightly more traditional and realistic, laid-back analog sound.” (You can find the review by Googling my name, Juan C. Ayllon, and Ethos SE). As we chatted, he suggested that the differences weren’t right or wrong, but a matter of preference. Their Ethos SE delivered a more stade and organic, traditional English sound. In contrast, the Ortofon’s delivery, with its more forward, treble-rich, and extended highs presentation, was more suitable to the conventional Japanese audiophile palate, he suggested.
It got me thinking. Several years back, I had the pleasure of reviewing the EVO 432 music server that used Digital Signal Processing to tune playback at 432 Hz – versus the universally accepted 441 Hz standard. For some of its advocates, 432 Hz is suggested to resonate with the Earth’s Schumann Resonance, which is in the range of 7.83-8 Hz. Accordingly, when an instrument is tuned to 432 Hz, it produces a C note at 256 Hz, which, due to sympathetic resonance, produces another C at 8 Hz (Sensoryland.com). Regardless of theory, it created a pleasant, more vinyl-like sound when engaged in the 432 Hz mode than when it played at 441. When I hosted a handful of guests to listen to it, initially, there was lots of praise. That is until they noticed in A/B comparisons of several reference tracks that some detail was lost in the 432 mode versus 440.
“There’s a loss of information,” someone noted. Others concurred, and within minutes, the collective marveling turned to “meh.”
During my get-togethers, I often play sea or other nature-related videos silently on my flat screen TV. Sharks or dolphins often star in these background shows and, periodically, one sees large schools of fish swimming and reacting to stimuli in unison – be it newfound food sources or attacking predators. And so often when I have audio enthusiasts over, they remind me of their scaly counterparts, interacting, analyzing, and reaching a group consensus. And like those fish, they are zipping off on another tangent! However, regardless of the group think, I still think about the 432 EVO from time to time and wonder how it would sound in my current iteration of my sound system with the ATC SCM40 loudspeakers in for review.
That’s the beauty of this hobby! You can explore various facets of audio playback – be it analog emulations via digital manipulation, trying out different phono cartridges and turntables, rolling tubes in vacuum tube DACs (Digital to Analog Converters), preamplifiers, amps, or buffers, comparing various box, horn, planar and electrostatic loudspeakers. Then there’s headphones.
Or how about vibration control solutions? I am currently reviewing IsoAcoustic Gaia Isolation Feet for loudspeakers and, so far, they’re pretty impressive. I will have a friend over to assist with A/B testing loudspeakers with and without them very soon.
Sometimes, I’m in the mood to listen to a vinyl record and, other times, I’m all for the ease and convenience of good digital source playback (my wife, Belle, generally prefers that).
Earlier this evening, we enjoyed listening to Billie Eilish at the Grammys. Wow! I really enjoyed her song, and although I didn’t appreciate an act that followed so much (a strutting siren performed a primetime strip tease set to song and a beat was off-putting, sending me scrolling through an Instagram article on the best pizza places in the U.S.). Nevertheless, the Eilish tune was a winner.
Bottom line, I don’t feel any compulsion to judge, but for me and others, the pathway to the next audio-induced endorphin fix is a fluid endeavor, full of surprises and joy along the way.