Hyperion wrote:Musical to me, means being able to convey a holistic picture of music in a coherent and engaging manner. All cartridges are decidedly colored (oh yes, even the "hifi" ones) but some are more coherent and make more sense than others.
AMEN AGAIN.
Personally it is about the overall balance of attributes. I would rather have a cart or any piece of equipment that is equally good or equally bad throughout the spectrum. Having "Wow" highs, mids or bass only serves to highlight the weaknesses of the system........hindi na coherent. In these instances I end up listening to the sound of the system and not the music itself which, Duh, defeats my purpose.
Are "hi-fi" and "musical" mutually exclusive? I think not. You can have both at any price range provided that BALANCED PERFORMANCE be the primary criteria.