Audio Technica AT150MLX finally gets some respect


I've been at this audiophile stuff for over 40 years. At this point I'm pretty confident of being able to ignore preconceived notions and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a component in my system. Still, once in awhile it's nice to get some validation--a sanity check.

I've been using an Audio Technica AT150MLX MM cartridge for over 3 years. Since getting it I have improved the downstream components and cabling a few times, and each improvement, rather than revealing limitations of the cartridge, has shown it to have a great tonal balance, high resolution at its price point, excellent trackability, low level detail retrieval and excellent dynamics.

Still, when I opened my January 2012 issue of The Abso!ute Sound, I was pleasantly shocked to see that the $449 list AT150MLX had been named Cartridge of the Year! Given that the $5000 Benz LP-MSR and $13,000 Clearaudio Goldfinger were also mentioned on that page, it wasn't that the AT150MLX won in absolute terms, but for performance value.

It's as I suspected from my first listen. If you want to know where the threshold into a high end cartridge is, it's the AT150MLX. I got mine in 2008 when the dollar was strong and these things were going for $250. But even at the currently available $325 they are pretty unbeatable.

Back in the Spring of 2008 I asked the A-goners about what cartridge to move up to from the DL-160. I was considering the AT OC-9 or the Denon 301 II, but a number of A-goners made a compelling case for the AT150MLX. I took them at their word and have never regretted it.

If you want the best out of this cart, you *must* give it a capacitive load between 100 and 200 pF. In fact, my highly adjustable Jolida JD-9A phono stage indicates that the real sweet spot is right around 150 pF.

Anyway, thanks A-goners, and it's also nice to know that when the stylus wears down, I can just send for a replacement plug-in stylus $225.
johnnyb53

Showing 2 responses by dsper

I have a Jolida phone amp as well and understand that one can adjust the gain and the capacitive loadings.

While I think that I understand gain, I do not understand capacitive loadings.

Can someone please explain this in simple laymen's terms?

Thanks!
Almarg, I appreciate your explanation. It helps.

I am running a KABUSA Pro S40 which is an Ortofon cartridge that fits into the arm without a headshell. I like it alot especially since I played with the capacitive load switch on the Jolida.

Getting that right added detail and helped to separate the instruments on good recordings.

However, I am getting the itch especially after reading this thread, which is very complimentary to the AT150MLX.

Trouble is it is a $450 cartridge to replace the $360 Ortofon (which replaced a Denon 103R).

Not sure what exactly what I would hear above and beyond the Ortofon with the AT150. Anyone have an opinion on that?

For what it is worth, I think that the KAB modified Ortofon is more alive and organic in my system compared to the Denon which seemed more detailed but not necessarily in a good way.