[bob]

On Nov 3, 6:58=A0pm, Audio Empire wrote:
On Wed, 2 Nov 2011 19:49:26 -0700, bob wrote
(in article ):

On Nov 2, 7:22=3DA0pm, Audio Empire wrote:

All of them. Project. Music Hall, and Rega all make fine performing
"high-end" turntables. There's no market for any other kind.

I wouldn't call them "fine performing." But certain know-nothing
reviewers have anointed them "high-end," and that's been enough.

They have low wow/flutter,

Do they? Last I checked, none of them quoted a meaningful W&F spec.
(Meaningful here means not just a number, but which standard they are
using.) I tend to assume that the absence of a spec is an admission of
weakness, because it almost always is. Atkinson really ought to be
measuring turntables.

snip

The indictment of the p-mount concept was that arguably, the highest
quality P-mount cartridge ever sold (to my knowledge - who knows what
was sold in Japan and never made available in the rest of the world)
was the original Sumiko Bluepoint. There was no P-mount Koetsu, or
Dynavector or even a P-mount Shure V-15 available. =A0I'm not saying
that this kind of standardization wasn't a good idea, it certainly
was. But unfortunately, it looks as if it were too little, too late
and only mass-market manufacturers embraced it. I don't remember one
high-quality arm maker who had a P-mount arm. If I'm wrong here and
disremember, please enlighten me.

No, I think you're right, and I wouldn't expect a high-end maker (of
either tables or carts) to embrace it. But the entry level matters for
the future of the medium, and even the mass marketers didn't embrace
it wholeheartedly. A p-mount arm should have been everyone's entry-
level turntable. You'll get decent sound without a learning curve, and
when you're ready to learn how to match and mount you're own
cartridge, you're ready to upgrade.

Your "too little too late" comment is spot-on. It would have helped a
lot if p-mount carts had been available in the mid 70s.

bob