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After an overdue maintenance of motor and bearing lubrication and a new belt, (and it DOES make an audible difference in stability, crazy) I decided to take a left turn and try a cart that doesn’t get discussed much around here, and seems to get decidedly mixed reviews elsewhere - the Sumiko Moonstone.
Another Cliffwood owner swears there is a synergy with this cart, so it’s been in the back of my mind for years, actually. After having some install frustration with the SAE, I poked around on eBay and scored myself a brand new one for a really nice discount, with some negotiation
As you can see, I also decided to install it with the Soundsmith EZ-Mounts, and while it does in fact make cartridge mounting easy, it’s not really THAT much easier than your regular hex screws, although for someone who finds the process challenging, it may be just what you need.
Of course, there’s always a break in period with new cartridges, and I was able to put about 4 hours and change on it today. First impressions and evaluations don’t always hold up once you’re over the ~30 hour mark.
Coming from a low output Grado Opus 3 prior to this, I left the preamp set at 46dB of gain. Right out of the gate - impact, slam, and excitement! The low end was round, lovely, and up front without being tubby. As the first side of the Classic Vinyl/Kevin Gray cut of Art Blakey’s Moanin’ moved to louder dynamics, I’m definitely teetering on some preamp distortion that edges past musical. I kick it down to 40dB, and don’t lose any energy, just enough of a dip in volume to get things under control. Wonderful.
The Moonstone is proving quite susceptible to static. We are having an exceptionally dry fall, drought level in fact, in the Southeast, so that’s to be somewhat expected, but as the side played on, I’m noticing some loud static pops that I haven’t heard on this system before. Hmm. Ok.
Next up, as pictured, is the first disc of this wonderful Grundman Ornette Coleman Craft box. Some more big static pops, and now it’s skipped a couple of grooves. Ok, something’s up. I’m tracking at 2 grams, let’s lighten the force a bit closer to 1.9. Sonically, things are bouncing a bit more, touch more air up top. I’m liking what that did. But still, an occasional tracking error. I’ve got the aluminum EZ-Mount screws on. Let’s try going lighter to the nylons. They’re simple enough where if you do them one at a time, you don’t even need to re-align the cart, just the VTF.
Up next, Khruangbin’s Mordechai - a Dead Oceans press, many of you know what that means, but I really wanna see what’s going on here and also move away from jazz, and unfortunately we’re headed in the wrong direction. I’m thinking damn, the Moonstone’s a letdown, the folks who pan it are right. Was an eBay purchase, no returns, what a bummer. It’s voiced really nicely, but it’s not playing ball with my system here.
Out of sheer curiosity now, I remove the Soundsmith screws and go with the stock hex screws that came with the cartridge. Re-balance, let’s go with 1.95 this time and see where that takes us. I pull out a record I know that pushes the right buttons for me - the original Chris Bellman cut of Tom Petty’s Mojo. I use my anti-static brush, drop the needle, HOLY!!! This thing is SINGING! Channel balance is the best it’s ever been one this system, dynamics are absolutely tremendous, top end is loud and clear without being harsh, and everything I liked about the low end end when I first mounted the cartridge is there, and then some.
Unfortunately that’s all the time I had to listen today, and still have plenty more hours of observation til we reach actual break-in, but what I’m absolutely certain of is that these EZ-Mounts are going back. The night and day difference of removing them in this particular system was astronomical. It’s a head scratcher, but so goes the adventure of the format.
And thanks for following along on this adventure, if you made it this far!
