Question on Air Tight PC-1 Supreme for Mr. Valin
Suteetat -- Fri, 07/16/2010 - 00:39
I happen to have a chance to get Air Tight PC-1 Supreme that is hard to pass up
eventhough my turntable right now is only a VPI Classic. However,
there is always a good possiblity of upgrading turntable later to something else,
perhaps. So I don't see reason why not to get
Air Tight when the opportunity arise.
However, I noticed in the review that Air Tight may be better suited to linear tracker!
I tried to look for information on Air Tight compliance but there seems to be none available.
No information came with the cartrige that I could find. I emailed Axiss and a Canadian distributor
but no answer so far. I like the sound so far but have quite a bit of trouble with subsonic rumble which
I assumed to be 2nd to cartridge/tone arm mismatch since my Dyna XV-1s did not exhibit the problem
with 10.5 JWM SE arm with steel wand. Does anyone know the actual compliance of Air Tight PC-1 Supreme?
Beside linear tracker, are there any other arms that would be suitable?
Thanks for your help.
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Air Tight PC-1 Technical specifications
type low impedance mc cartridge
fr 10-50,000 hz
output 0.6 mV @ 1k/hz
int. imp 2.5 ohms
core materials SH-uX magnet neodyium #50
Tracking 2.0 to 2.2 grams
cantilever boron
stylus tip semi line contact 3 um X 30um
compliance 10 cu
channel balance 0.5 db 21kz
crosstalk 30db @1kz
pins rhodium plated polished
weight 12 grams
Hope this helps mate.
Thanks for the information. I am not sure if PC-1 and PC-1 supreme have the same compliance or not. If PC-1 Supreme compliance is 10 cu then the resonance should be around 10 Hz which is the same as my Dyna XV-1S (12.6g/10 CU Dyna vs 12g/10 CU for Air Tight). Then I should not have any subsonic rumble unless something else is causing it.
Sulteetat,
I kinda doubt your rumble problem is being caused by the PC1 Supreme. Robert Graham himself told me that it goes quite well in his pivoted Phantom II arm and Robert Harley has been using it quite successfully in his pivoted Vector arm. I don't know what the problem could be, unless you've got a faulty sample, which happens from time to time.
Jon
Jon, thanks for your reply. It was quite strange as I never had this problem with Dyna XV-1s. All I did was replaced the XV-1s with Air Tight, nothing else changes. Anyhow, I am traveling this week so my turntable is back to the dealer as SDS and upgrade VTA tower just arrived a couple of days ago so theywill retrofit my turntable and see if they can find any problem.
My understanding is that subsonic rumble generally is caused by cartridge/arm mismatch, warp LP or problem with turntable isolation.
In this case, I assume that it is not number 2 or 3 as isolation remains the same. Perhaps Dyna somehow handle warp LPs better than Air Tight? I am just guessing that cartridge/arm mismatch causing resonance problem is more likely the cause. I wish I know PC-1 Supreme actual compliance data so I can have some idea if the lighter aluminium wand or heavier wand might fix the problem.
The PC-1 Supreme is a stunningly great cartridge that works well in the Basis Vector arm. I doubt that you'll have a problem.
Hi Jon!!
In the latest TAS, HP in his review of four or five top moving coils,still gave the nod to the V2 version of the Clearaudio Goldfinger. Second would be the Benz Micro new version of the LP. I noticed however, that the MySonic cartridge he reviewed was just the Eminent and not the Ultra. Now, I figure that the Airtight Supreme would be the "AirTight" version of the Mysonic Ultra. In your opinion, how does the Goldie V2 stack up against the Airtight PC-1 Supreme?
Tom,
The Airtight PC-1 Supreme is one of the five best mc cartridges I've auditioned. It has gorgeous tone color top to bottom, tremendous dynamic authority, and very fine resolution. The Goldfinger is the better soundstaging cartridge and holds a slight edge in low-level detail, but it is also somewhat lighter in overall tonal balance (though not skeletal like earlier Clearaudios). Transient response is close to a wash, though the Goldie may have a bit of an advantage. I guess which one you prefer will come down to which is more important to you: timbre and authority or resolution and soundstaging. They're both superb (as are the Benz LP S-MR, the Da Vinci Grandezza, and the Ortofon A90).
Jon