Analog

SHELTER: We’ve just added the Shelter line of moving coil cartridges to our long list of analog offerings. One of the more talked about cartridges of late, the Shelter 501 has garnered almost universal praise. Widely acclaimed by both audiophiles and reviewers, Shelter phono cartridges are routinely compared to far more expensive offerings.
         Shelter designer Yasuo Ozawa has a strong background in cartridge design. From 1982 through 1986 he worked with Fidelity Research, the esteemed firm known for their quality and performance in analog design. In 1986 Mr. Osawa left to establish Shelter. 
         Four models comprise his current offerings. The newest release, Model 301 is $499, the 501 goes for $799, their 901 is $1499 and the 90x is offered at $2699. Output increases as price goes up and ranges from 0.3mV for the 301 to 0.6mV from the 90x. All use simple elliptical styli that should reduce set-up time and sensitivity.

 “Shelter cartridges…have been generating Internet “buzz” as price to performance leaders for well over a year. Let me come right out and say it: The Shelter 501 MK II is the best sub-$1000 cartridge I’ve yet heard. This cartridge has treble air without brightness, transient speed without overshoot, definition without edginess, focus without sterility, and bass weight without any thick or syrupy coloration. Is this cartridge as close as you can get to top-tier performance for $800? I think it is, which is why this cartridge has me singing along w/ Mick Jagger, “GIMME SHELTER!” – Chris Martins, The Absolute Sound

“But if you value sheer emotion, life, and wide-open images to apparent precision and that hi-fi-ness so in vogue today, then the Shelter is definitely yours”. TNT Audio - http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/shelter_501ii_e.html

“The Shelter does many things right. It brings the music alive in a way that many cartridges don’t. It does not add any noticeable coloration. Its errors are errors of omission, rather than ones of commission. The choice of a cartridge is a highly personal decision. You need to audition several cartridges until you find one that meets your tastes. If it is in your price range, the Shelter 501 II cartridge should also be added to your audition list”. Roger S. Gordon, Positive Feedback. http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue9/shelter501.htm

My time with the Shelter cartridges, though brief, confirm that the 501 is indeed an excellent phono cartridge. I’ve also been very impressed with the 301 and 901, neither of which have received the attention in the press they deserve. Though I hope that will soon change.
            The 301 retains the warm, relaxed tonal characteristics found in the rest of the Shelter family, and offers exceptional dynamics with punchy bass and large sound field. For $500, this is an outstanding phono cartridge. It is, however, a low output design (.3mV), so you’ll need a high gain phono stage to deal with it. I haven’t experimented with resistive loading; the 301 (and all the Shelter cartridges) sound fine at 47k Ohms.
             At the other end of the price spectrum, the 901 at $1199 offers a wonderfully refined and sophisticated flavor, without crossing over into the analytical arena.
             As good as the 501 is, I have to say I’m more impressed with the 301 and 901 at their respective price ranges. The 501 is awesome, but there are so really great cartridges in the $800 price range where the 501 competes so it’s hard to declare a winner. At any rate, you’d do well to include it and all the other Shelter models on your short list of cartridges.

 BASIS: A.J. Conti updated the fabulous Vector tonearm with a new cable employing new design principles. Rather than attempt to muddle through the details on my own, let me quote from the Basis Vector white paper. “In design for two years, the Basis "Perfect Signal Transmission Technology" phono cable follows the normal Basis practice of starting with the basic physics.  In the audio range, capacitance and inductance of a cable changes radically as the frequency changes.  Although many erroneously feel that higher frequency signal transmission poses great problems, the reality of changing electrical properties with frequency in the audio range creates havoc with low amplitude musical signals.  Audio range signals are far more affected by phase distortion than signals at higher frequencies.  The nature of the complex functions of impedance, capacitance, and inductance are asymptotic, stabilizing at extremely high frequencies, but substantially changing at audio frequencies.  Basis solves this problem by employing "Distortionless Transmission Line Theory", balancing cable properties to achieve the single set of conditions which will result in perfect signal transmission.  The result is a phase coherent cable whose sonic traits are those which one would expect from superior phase coherency: great clarity, seamlessness and an impression of sound sources "floating mid-air", with the speakers "disappearing".     
            My experiences with the latest Vector tonearm suggest A.J. is really on to something here. Wired with the DTL wire, the latest Vector offers a lower noise floor, darker inter-transient silence, lowered grain signature and improved positioning and layering of images.
            The DTL wire has not (surprisingly) raised the price of the Vector arm, which remains at $2750. This would be a great time to take advantage of the new technology as I’m sure the increased cost of materials will force a price increase, sooner or later.
 

REGA: Two new turntables have been announced by Rega. Celebrating 30 years of making some of the most popular record players in the World, Rega holds a well deserved reputation for quality, value and most of all, high value. Continuing in that tradition, Rega offers the P5 and P25.

         Both tables employ the all new RB700 tonearm, a one piece silicone/aluminum casting offering exceptional rigidity and reduced mass. High precision stainless steel miniature ball race bearings are employed and have been affixed via interference fit (no adhesives required) for an ultra tight and non resonant union. The arm mounts to the plinth via a three point fixture machined from solid stainless steel.
         The P5 goes for $1295 (displacing the previous P25), the P7 is $2595.