I hugely enjoyed listening to the Reson Reca phono cartridge I recently reviewed here at Stereo Times. So much so that my interest was whetted for what other products in the line might sound like. If a company has the nous to produce one eminently musical product, I’m willing to hazard that their other products might also have the same facility. My intuition proved overwhelmingly correct. Whatever small quibbles I found in the $455 Reca’s performance, were completely eliminated by the $750 Reson Etile.

The Etile is the second to the top of Reson’s five-cartridge line. Only the Lexe, at $2250, is more expensive. Like all the Reson cartridges, they are built by Goldring to Reson spec and share the familiar Goldring Pocan bodies. The Etile uses Goldring’s moving-coil electrical loading and output characteristics, as well as their stylus guard. The Etile shares the Gyger S line-contact stylus profile with the Reca, but operates on the moving coil principle, thus the stylus is not user-replaceable. Output is medium-low at 0.5 mV and should not present any problems with noise with any decent moving coil phono stage or transformer. As with the Goldring cartridges, the recommended 100-ohm loading should be followed for optimum results.

The $750 price point in phono cartridges seems to be a threshold. Not only is it probably the maximum amount most LP lovers would find rationally defensible, but it also seems to be the price where the trade-offs and compromises of less expensive cartridges seem to ease. While less expensive cartridges can produce wonderful music, they often invoke the old Goldilocks quandaries. I want it all just right in a phono cartridge: rhythmic propulsion, articulate phrasing, wide bandwidth with tight bass and transparent highs, vivid 3-dimensional stereo hallucinations, grace, power, and subtlety. I want to play air guitar, violin and krumhorn; I want the cartridge to dance, to sing, to cry, to moan, to soar with all the exaltation that music provides. I want to boogie and I want to contemplate. While there are excellent phono cartridges in the $500 and less range that I could happily live with (and have) – the Reson Reca, Rega Exact, Shure V-15 V xMR, Audio Technica AT OC9ML, Garrott Bros. Optim S and some of the non-wooden bodied Grados come immediately to mind – there does seem to be a higher plateau reached at the $750 price. That much more transparency and clarity, that much more power and dynamics, that much more grace, nuance and finesse, that much more vivid and convincing a stereo illusion. Fewer flaws. Far less Goldilockian vacillation. And most importantly, that much more musical communication.

Like its moving magnet brother the Reca, the Elite sounded pleasant out-of-the-box, making its 20 hour or so break-in period far from onerous. The Gyger S stylus requires careful set-up to optimize its performance. Again, I used the Ringmat LP Support System’s spacers to tune the stylus angle. The Etile didn’t seem particularly neurotic: once set up according to standard Ringmat procedure, it didn’t need any further tweaking after the cartridge broke in. I’m either getting very good at all this, or I just happened to hit the sweet spot the first try.

I ran the Etile in 4 different turntables, with 4 different arms: Origin Live Aurora Gold/Illustrious arm, Linn Sondek LP12/Origin Live RB250, Origin Live Standard Kit/OL Silver, and the Merrill/AR with OL RB300. The Origin Live Kit/Silver served as my basic test mule, offering a reasonably priced means to experience all of the Etile’s considerable strengths. All four combinations revealed the Etile’s wonderful rhythmic drive, dynamic propulsion and coherent and articulate musical phrasing. These characteristics are essential music basics, and have been the sine qua non of my criteria for hi-fi gear for 32 years. It still depresses me how much audio gear is utterly incompetent at these essentials of music; the high-priced High End being the most criminal. Thin kihaRpo ntHistOo m mMmuc H? (Reads: Think I harp on this too much?)


The Etile’s frequency response is wide, balanced and extended: no attempts to soften or roll-off the bandwidth, nor to exaggerate it. Bass instruments were clear and tight in intonation, pitch and decay. As Linn used to proclaim, the Etile plays tunes in the bass. The high frequencies were well extended, producing harmonic overtones in synch with lower frequency fundamentals, thus making instrumental timbre believable and easily identifiable. The higher frequencies of percussion instruments were clear and controlled; no harsh ringing or smearing, a characteristic of the Gyger S in all the incarnations I’ve so far heard. High-resolution high frequency reproduction also guarantees coherent portrayal of the acoustic ambience of the recording venue. Midrange response was neutral and controlled: vocalist’s F’s, T’s and S’s were natural, well differentiated and without overshoot. Upper midrange was neither flattering recessed nor boosted and artificial. I had no quibbles with the Elite’s frequency portrayal: it was neither bright and etched, nor lush and smeared. Cue Goldilocks.

Flat and extended frequency response alone does not guarantee musical satisfaction. Fast, accurate transient response and the ability to accurately track changing volume levels and to do it equally well with all the instruments playing is the key. The Etile was superb in these essentials of creating the musical illusion. The Elite had no problems with any of my acid-test records, getting both the sound and the music right. Indeed it was difficult to listen analytical and critically to the sound of the Elite, its performance being so compelling.

The stereo illusion was well portrayed; stage width and depth both so convincingly portrayed that I never felt disoriented or confused. Near-field mini-monitor listening with the Dynaudio Audience 52SE and Celestion 3 speakers was near hallucinogenic; the dipole radiation pattern of the electrostatic Sound Lab Dynastats more akin to the ambience of a classical concert hall.

I can think of nothing to complain or quibble about. The Reson Etile is a jewel of a cartridge. Yeah, go home, Goldilocks. Time to do some tunes! This cartridge is a must listen.


Specifications:
Frequency response: 20Hz-30kHz ±2dB
Channel balance: 1dB max. @ 1kHz
Channel separation: 25dB min. @ 1kHz
Output: 0.5mV ±1dB@ 1kHz, 5cm/sec
Tip mass: 0.35mg
Tracking angle: 20 degrees
Stylus profile: Gyger S
Stylus type: Not user replaceable
Load resistance: 100
Cartridge weight: 5.7g
Tracking weight: 1.5 - 2g
(1.65g suggested)

Price: $750

Address:
U. S. Distributor:
Concert Sounds
PO Box 90957
San Antonio TX 78209
Email:concert@texas.net
Phone: 210-229-1111
Website: http://cfunkjr.home.texas.net/
DNM/Reson Website: http://www.dnm.co.uk