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Shilabe

After Ralph set up the Shilabe on the Schroder Ref SQ arm, the music flowing out from the Cessaro horn has never been so free and fluid. This is the first time I can truly enjoy the Schroder arm since I bought it 2 years ago. It is damn good with the Shilabe!

There is an interesting case on the Shilabe. Charles bought a new Shilabe. He mounted it on his arm and played it a few days. Then, DSo visited him on Monday but found out the mid-range is gone! They changed it back to the EMT and the mid-range is back.

This is truly a rare case. Next day, I brought Charles another Shilabe that has been running for quite some time. He took it back and everything normalized. But our LP specialist found it hard to believe a new cartridge will be broken in such a manner.

The mystery is yet to be solved. If the cartrige has problem, then the solution is nice and clean. Just ship it back to Japan for an exchange. If not, the mystery runs deeper.

Comments

  • Brother Charles,

    Where have you been? You should try the Shilabe with the Bergmann from day 1! It's a great match.
  • This site finally works! Your description of Charles' problem with the Shilabe is impossible to happen. I bet it will work just as fine in another system. I don't know his system well enough to make a judgement on what really went wrong.

    The Shilabe delivers speed, punch, weight with very clean basslines. The mid range is not as colorful as the Da Vinci but it is not thin either. But it is not particularly warm. Don't be mistaken that a wood body means warm mid-range because the wood employed in this case is "ebony". Ebony carries a characteristic of a "dry" mid range due to faster dissipation of mid range harmonic. In return, you get speed.

    Let us know what happened to Charles' cartridge.
  • The group is back in action! Let's rock! The Shilabe is one of the best cartridges I have ever had. What phono stages are you guys using for it? Impedance changes affect this cartridge dramatically. PT is using 10ohm with 26db gain from his DV phono. I recommend to set it to 16ohm with another jumper. You will get more. But when it goes above 20ohm, the treble becomes sounding bright - that's my own experience.

    Anyone has any clue how to control all those buttons on the JPA 66? Marvel asked me but my technical experiences on this are too thin. If any one can drop a few words, please share.
  • Oh, I forget to say, the Mono cartridge by Miyajima could well be even better than the stereo. If you are true lover of mono cartridge, this is the best available on earth now. And it is cheap.
  • Indeed it is very strange. The returned cartridge from Charles operates normally in the shop of our LP specialist. Three people were there auditioning for half an hour. It sounds exactly as the same as the one (our specialist also uses the Shilabe) that he has been using.

    Anyway, we will still send it back to Japan to exchange for another one. Other than this action, this case is still a mystery as I fully trust the listening skills of DSo and Charles. On the other hand, very experienced analog veterans find it impossible to happen that the cartridge is broken in a way that only the mid range is missing.
  • I asked Wai to make a jumper exactly at 16 0hm for the Shilabe. Previously, I was using a jumper of 10ohm. Upon gaining more experience on cartridge loading (impedance) especially via Marvel's JPA66, I somehow develop a feel and a sense of touch of finding the "equilibrium".
  • Brother Voy

    I want to concentrate on the Vinyl setting.

    Charles
  • Brother Charles,

    I think VR is damn right!! Shilabbe and Bergmann should be good Buddy.

    Talking a bout setting, I have to say thanks for J. Lam and his pro team! Because I have made some stupid mistakes inside my system, the great AE team save my ass once again.

    Deeply appreciate that free of charge, 100% top end services. I am going to buy them a big fat dinner.
  • Brother Charles,

    It's nice to see you returning to the scene. If you are serious about vinyl setup, you should really get the Troy to clean up ground noises. They are damn noisy surrounding your phono stage, motor supply, transformers and tubes. I was somewhat surprised that you don't have one after I asked PT.

    Don't be mistaken that we can solve the problem by grounding everything in a big hole. Research shows even the ground is "100 meter below the sea" or in cases even the ground wires can touch the "sea floor", the Troy beats this ground 100 times. It is 100 times more quiet.

    The troy is truly serious device for analog crazy fanatics. We use the same speakers, the same phono stage, the same interconnects, and the same acoustics tools, and the same cartridge!

    Hope you find my words credible, pal.

    VR
  • 查兄, 令我最驚呀的是PT駁了一條ground wire去個Da Vinci的motor底了, Shilabe頭一落隻黑膠上面, 嘩! 一開聲, 有冇搞錯, 乜都再靚. 然後佢折去條ground wire, 好似跌了watt, 雜訊突然好多. 總之, 凡係有commotion的儀器就有ground noise. 我聽完此demo令我五體投地.
  • The biggest improvement from the Troy in my own experience (in ascending order) is the connection to (1) the power supply of the turntable (2) phono stage (3) Preamp, (4) Power amp (5) DAC

    By the way, has the mystery on Charles' Shilabe soleved? I meant the one you guys mentioned about without the "midrange"?
  • The PremiumBE mono cartridge by Miyajima san is probably the most high end mono cartridge ever made in the world now.
  • The next one below, Ketsu, could be the best buy in the category of mono cartridge.
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