This was equally true for Rock, Pop, and Jazz – musics that Audio Technica has long been known to shine on – but also true for Classical music and acoustic music in general. In general, classical and acoustic music revealed some (surprising) depiction of hall ambience and a nice clean top-end but turned into sonic mush when massed orchestral forces got loud. Audio Technica’s elliptical EN stylus is more rounded in the stem section than the other two options here. File 2 however has a mellow (warm) sound which I could easily live with especially if I had lots of recordings that could benefit from a softer presentation. The AT-VM95SH, features a Nude Shibata stylus, one of the most acclaimed stylus format by high end audiophiles.

I used a wide variety of turntables, arms, and phono stages in reviewing the VM95ML in an attempt to understand its inherent sonic signature.

The E/H managed better than I expected with more punch and life than the C, but some coarseness and muddle in treble when the going got tough. But not everyone was able to sit perfectly positioned with the beams of the Maggies, so that unknown variable could have affected the outcome in some small part.

The Facebook tracking pixel allows us to share anonymous tracking data with Facebook for the purpose of statistics and targeted marketing. I first tried the VM95ML in a used Technics SL1500 Direct-Drive turntable that I had acquired for use as a wet record-cleaning platform.After raising the level of File 2 even by the minor +3 db it becomes a bit more nuanced in comparison. One engineer I read said that there is no reason to go above -5db, but I think that leaving 3db of loudness disregarded as not a good practice and it lowers the rest of the music as well. The Super Analogue Stylus has a curvature with a smaller radius that was impossible with the Micro Ridge Stylus. Of course you will have to listen "blind" and please state your preferences in the comments section.

While this might read as strident to some, it sounds more articulate to me, translating to better stereo image and more detailed reverb tails. I guess I will have to wait for the big reveal next week - but if I had to guess - I'd say File 1 is the Audio Technica with its more advanced styli. Only reviews that feature the label "Verified Review" have been checked to ensure that the author actually used or purchased the product. Note that typical tracking force when using XP Series styli is three grams as opposed to two grams for VM95 Series styli. The problem is that most inadequate arms have those same sonic signatures, making it hard to separate SRA misalignment from tonearm aberrations.So what we're hearing is how it sounds through whatever you're listening through, on THIS particular tonearm. Then it was on to an Origin Live Aurora MKII with the OL Onyx arm, and then finally an Origin Live Aurora Gold (now Calypso in OL’s line-up) with OL’s Conqueror tonearm. Perceivable dynamics were also at a premium, with punch and a sense that music “could jump out at you”. Those differences could be exponential on your system, or they could reduced, depending on the setup. However, with our top quality 180gm re-masters – especially those spinning at 45rpm – in absolute terms quality was extraordinary – more fluid and dynamic than CD.