Three years later and … Goldring has released the Ethos SE which uses silver wire for the coils and some other improvements. I hope you can get a sample to review and (if possible) compare.
Just found your channel. We have the Goldring Ethos on our turntable and have been really enjoying it for about 6-8 months. Your assessment is spot on. Musical, not in your face. Great separation of instruments and vocals. Detailed, but not fatiguing. We have had several MC cartridges and this one is staying!
I Have the "Avid Volvere MK4" Turntable (built in PSU not external one) with "SME Series 4" Tonearm and "Ortofon Kontrapunkt C" MC Cartridge. All bought in mid 2006, so considering replacing or 'RE Tipping' the Stylus, so review was of interest. For Information... I have the very First Retail sold "Avid Volvere MK4" Turntable and dealt with "Avid" on my unit as i was the very first person to buy one! in 2006, so spoke to the company owner/designer on a few phone calls to make sure all was OK with it and what i thought of the design etc, plus luckilly i had a few hundred £ Discount !! (not that expensive back then, around £2,700.00 or less!) Great Turntable in all ways, Speed stability is excellent, small footprint, and very heavy weight design. Negative, Cork Mat is Bonded to platter (which is good as part of the Platter so doesnt slip etc) But attracts a lot of Static the more records played i find.
Wonderful review and extremely helpful. I recently have been mulling over entering the realm of moving coil (I don’t count my Blue Point Special in the mid-90s as a proper foray,) even though my V14-IV with Jico stylus is quite nice. I’ve always been fascinated by Goldring cartridges, which seem to be very high value for money, and the Ethos can fit within my budget. So thank you for this review.
Had the Ethos a few weeks now - overall I find it a good value cart - it doesn't quite make it over the line into the big boy league on sound (cadenza black for me) - but to fair it doesn't cost big boy money (half price). The biggest issue is that its low slung and the diamond is really small (Im no expert here just I thought it wasn't on the cart when I first saw it in the box - it was - just need to use a loupe) This means it picks up dirt and clogs quickly (and Im talking clean records) and hence sound production suffers if the record isnt mint. The tracking force is officially 15-20mH and I have found I need to be at 20mH to get good reproduction. Due to the slow slung cart it does need a bit of careful set up. When clean tracking, it is really is a revealing, detailed and pulls out the instrument - maybe a little reserved but its deep too. I just did a swap with my back up cart - Denon DL-110 and the Denon was back in the box after 3 songs. Ethos is so much better (and the Denon isnt too bad) Overall - I really like it - but Im not in love - I was told a retip would be over £500 and Im not sure Id do it but lets see - got a few years.
Problem with Goldring cart's is quality not what it used to be. Mfg'ing outsourced to a Chinese mass producer Armourhome who also mfg's other brands too. Their website shows .uk, but mfg'ing facility is in China. Try submitting a simple product inquiry on Goldring's site and see what kind of a response you receive,
Hi I bought the Ethos it sounds pretty decent out of the box and open more by hours of playing. The separation depth width is excellent but it does not seems 0.5 mc output as state I would say 0.25 mv compare the loudness from the same volume as when using oc9sxh 0.35 mv the different is 6 decibel lower than AT oc9. Is this right?
Hi - my Cadenza Black is worn out and the refurb-swap bill is high - The Ethos appeals (price and a refurb later should be cheaper) but Im a little concerned it will be a bit too laid back compared to the Cadenza Black (which wasn't exactly an extrovert but it had lots of detail) - any thoughts/views appreciated - Thanks
I say try the Lyra Delos if you decide to stay in the high end cartridge area. It's a fairly forward sounding cartridge, but the detail retrieval is insanely addictive and gives you everything in the grooves!
@@bkkersey93 I got a deal on an Ethos - not quite ready to comment (certainly worth the money) Re Lyra delos - thank you not heard of that and may well give one a go.
I have a GOLDRING ELITE cartridge on my Pro ject RPM6.1SB turntable and I would like to know how THE ECHOS will compare. I have a large collection of records, mainly of 1950s and 60s Rhythm and blues but not all are pressings of that period. Most of them are from the 1980s . Would this cartridge be suitable for me. I look forward to hearing back from you soon. Many thanks.
Hmm, gotta say that I’ve had minimal experience with the Elite so my advice may be next to useless. That said, what I have heard of the Elite (brief, mostly at shows, etc) I get the feeling that the Ethos takes the Elite up a rung right across the board in terms of clarity, detail and insight. I wouldn’t rely on my comments for any sort of buying decision, I would encourage you to ask a dealer to arrange a home demo so you can do an A-B or, failing that, take your Elite to a dealer and do the comparison there.
Hello Paul, thank you for review and I would like to ask you about difference between Hana ML and Goldring Ethos. Is it possible to say which one of them is better tracker and compare characters a bit? Which one is more fun and full bodied? Thanks.
That's a terrible question to ask me because I love both of them :) I would encourage you to watch both videos again to see how the character element pans out and both track well. If push comes to shove...maybe the Hana? It's tough. Either will be a success in any hifi system.
@@TheAudiophileMan Thank you Paul. Its hard to choose but believe me that its harder to choose if you cant hear any of them 😅 Thank you very much for your answer and both reviews (I did watch both two times), I appreciate it.
Sounds very good just wondering if it’s to large to fit on a non adjustable arm such a Rega decks and if not would it be a better alternative than going higher up the Rega food chain ie from a 3 to a 6 . I know you put a lot of faith in how much the cartridge contributes to the sound . Regards and best wishes
@@Audiofreak71 hi sir I definitely did go to the end of the video . But I would never have spotted a rega arm . You must have very sharp eyes . So you would say yes it could be used on a rega deck . Kind regards and best wishes
@@amarcy5369 I am pretty familiar with many tables am arms but in this case one of my tables has a Rega arm so I recognized it on the video. Glad to have helped a bit , take care 👍
I am looking to replace my Grodo Gold 2. I was wondering can this body of the cartridge not this one, but the Folding GL2100 very similar body type can fit on a Fluonce RT82. I fell the VTA is going to be a little bit hight and the Fluonce do not have a VTA adjustment setting. I have value your opinion in the past.
Looks like that ships with the AT95E. You could try a AT120E (nude elliptical) as I think this is the next direct step up as it were, alternatively the Ortofon 2M series of carts might also fit the bill (red or blue), or the Grado Prestige blue or gold for something more refined.
I'm stuck between this and the Vessel R3SM which is a mm, ruby cantilever, super micro line. Some say mm's below 1000 give a better bang for the buck.. How would you choose?
Your videos often make me wonder, if I were to spend X amount of £££s, would I actually notice a major improvement in the sound quality of my record collection? I'm in no way saying this to be argumentative or contentious, and I enjoy your videos immensely (even though much of the detail flies way above my head)...however, since shelling out for a load of lovely NAD kit, I can't say that I've noticed a huge improvement in sound quality, although I do enjoy HAVING the beautiful lumps of utilitarian hardware much more than my previous system. I just think my ear (metaphorical) isn't sufficiently sophisticated to discern small improvements - my sonic palate is akin to my culinary one, and I'm an egg and chip man.
In short, yes you would (should). The challenge is to build a balanced system. The issue many have is when they buy a great amp or turntable or whatever, something that's reviewed well and even demos well but then they hear no sonic improvement in their own system or it sounds worse. In this case, the new item may be revealing a bottleneck elsewhere. A component is failing to keep up or it's preventing new information coming through because it's now not of the same quality as the new purchase. This happens a lot when people buy random, haphazard systems without doing any research or taking advice. It looks good, so it must sound good, right? Then the sound is iffy at best, they get disillusioned and declare all hifi a rip off, etc. So, yes, it's possible but build with care :)
@@TheAudiophileMan I just thought (probably naively) that a NAD amp would complement a NAD turntable/CD player/tuner. And, I'm definitely not saying that my listening experience has worsened, just that I haven't noticed humongous improvements. In the warm, fuzzy feeling inside department, I definitely have more of one with this system, because it's just so lovely. Maybe I'm just not consciously noticing the aural upswing in quality, and the warm, fuzzy feeling is actually a manifestation of it?
@@Akstergrind Hello Aki if I can add to what has already been said judging by your perceived turntable if new,it would either be a c558(£400ish) or a c588(£700ish). This review is for a £895 cartridge - if a owner would mate this cartridge with a NAD turntable(I use to use & still own a nad 533/old rega planar 2)using the internal phono section of a NAD integrated amplifier (I`ll assume the amp & turntable are in the same price bracket) - you may well hear a slight sq improvement but nowhere near to justify the £895 outlay. If you`re after sound quality improvement for your particular system even if you`re using a outboard phono stage,you`d be better off watching Paul`s video tilted "BEGINNER'S GUIDE - PHONO AMPLIFIERS FOR ALL. WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR & WHAT TO AVOID" - there`s some excellent advise to be had there. Of course if you`re happy with your lot for now & you`re just curious - then this "could" lead to you changing things further on down if or when funds allow.
@@evowhite777 Hi mate, and thanks a lot for your very comprehensive reply! Yes, you're right, I have the C558 and I'm now really enjoying it (2 months later than my original post). That said, it hasn't been just a question of being content with my original setup, as I've also upgraded my phono stage from the Pro-Ject Phono Box to the NAD PP4 AND gone totally mental and shelled out a whole £400 quid on the lovely little Cambridge Audio Minx X201 sub, the latter of which has had a massive effect on the sound quality of my Q Acoustics 3030i speakers! Next on the list is a needle (okay, stylus) upgrade, but that's for another month, I reckon! Thanks again, pal!
@@Akstergrind Hahahah - so you`ve succumb already & "only" after two months - it`s addictive isn`t ? Love the way you corrected the "needle" statement lol,I`m fairly sure Paul has done reviews on both your turntable & speakers(or items from those brands),it`s also pleasing for a "old git" like myself who grew up with record players(as we called them back then)to hear/speak to people that are enjoying the resurgence of them. Googled your phono stage & it rates quite high with owners so it seems you made a good choice there Aki,you have`nt stated what cartridge you`re using if it`s Ortofon’s OM10 a nice "easy upgrade" would be the OM20(£139) or OM30(£209) stylus. Now that`s a difference of £70 a lot to some & not much to others the thing is back to your original question to Paul is will/can "YOU" hear the difference,only you`ll be able to answer that? I`d advise you to first:check your current turntable set(again)trust me on this,one of the BIGGEST improvements I `ve EVER made was - "getting my turntable exactly level". Not easy with a non leveling Rega P3(I use it on a "Pro-Ject Ground-IT E Hi-Fi Support Platform" which has adjustable feet,but I check it regularly as I`m always changing carts & turntables(solid plinth types)suffer from micro movements so a spirit level is essential. Hope some of my babble steers you in the right direction I`m no expert(I`ll leave to Paul),just go some good(and baaad)experience with turntables,happy listening mate.
@@TheAudiophileMan i will! I like the design of LP-3. But LP120x is similar price and is direct drive which i like more. So I can't decide. Your opinion would help. I'd buy LP5x but it's 100euros beyond my budget in Serbia :)
