why do you say that...?
the boron cantilevers still exist... for example, the audiotechnica range, a generalist brand, still has it.. just that they made a portion of conical aluminum on their large mm the 33 etc q/p ratio. probably but above the boron is there...
do you have the opportunity to compare by listening a diamond ml cantilevert boron and the same on conical aluminum on the same cartdrige?
ps..the disappearance on the big mm from at is not that old..l at 150mlx very present for export on boron was there still a few years ago..not really a story of the "golden age of the 80s" """.
it was the success of the at-33anv (then ev) on a conical aluminum cantilever which initiated the return to favor of aluminum....
and funny, very serious, technical articles were circulating in the 1980s explaining the difficulty of using these exotic cantilvers...not always the panacea...
we can perhaps trust audio technica for the interest of the conical aluminum cantilevers on their bdg mdg ranges....right?
;-)
Yes the Boron cantilevers still exist - but now they are Boron Rod cantilevers - solid.... wherease in the 80's Boron tube cantilevers (hollow on the inside) were being made - the tube cantilevers had substantially lower effective mass.
The effective mass will determine the resonant frequency of the cantilever/needle system - which is a little difficult to measure as you need to calculate it by measuring the frequency response, and then deducting from it, the impact of the loading circuit (LCR)...
Once you have done that - you get the actual raw performance of the cantilever system, and you can expose the resonant frequency (assuming that your measurements extend far enough up the frequency range to expose it).
With exotic (boron/Beryllium/sapphire etc...) solid rod cantilevers - the resonant frequency will typically end up somewhere between 14kHz and 19Khz.
With exotic tube cantilevers, the resonant frequency will typically be above the audible range - from around 22kHz to 50kHz or higher.
The impact of the resonance, is a standard bell curve shape - so a resonance at 22kHz will result in a rise from as low as 15kHz
Aluminium cantilevers can be very good, and can in many cases match or surpass solid rod exotics... The Stanton top of the line needles of the 80's were a custom treated aluminium tapered tube, and I have measured a resonant frequency of circa 19kHz
However most aluminium tube cantilevers will end up with their resonance somewhere between 8kHz (typically heavy, DJ oriented needles) and 16khz (typical for things like the lovely Audio Technica tapered aluminium ones).
With designs where the resonance is up very high, such as 40KHz or more - there is minimal adjustment needed in the form of loading - the behaviour is inherently flat.
The legendary V15VMR, had its resonance at 32kHz - and that meant the raw performance still had a slight rise at 18kHz + - but that was easily "tamed" with loading, resulting in its famous flat frequency response.
You CAN achieve flat F/R using loading and/or EQ, even with a cartridge (like the vast majority!) where the resonance is well within the audible range (eg 14kHz) - however, the resonance impacts not only the frequency response, but it also affects the tracking ability of the stylus... so there is likely to be reduced tracking ability around the resonance frequency, and when measuring (especially with higher level tracks) an increase in distortion is likely due to mistracking exacerbated by resonance.
The AT cartridges are excellent - some of my favourites... but they do not match the state of the art achieved during the 80's.
The Dynavector Karat - with its resonance at around 50kHz - is on a par with the state of the art of the 80's
I know of no other current production cartridge that achieves that.
So yes - the current crop of cartridges, even the very good and very very expensive ones, cannot match the technical excellence that the best of the 1980's achieved.
The technology still exists. If a manufacturer was willing to invest accordingly, they could manufacture very low mass cantilevers... but clearly they have done their calculations of return on investment, and there are probably not enough customers interested in the premium technical performance that such technology delivers.
And perhaps the dramatic trend away from actual measurements, and towards subjective evaluations (and snake oil!), have meant that the additional expense has no benefit... making the body out of an exotic wood, and waxing lyrical about its sonic benefits, has a far higher profitability, than investing in expensive high tech manufacturing machines.
Dynavector still makes the Karat... but they make more money from, and sell far more of, their other, less technically proficient, cartridges... which are often more expensive than the Karat too!
