Hello everyone,
I decided to upgrade my turntable in part because a persistent hum associated with the white cartridge wire kept defeating my best efforts, & that ProJect Carbon Debut tonearm wasn't readily re-wireable. Anyway, I got a very good deal on a new Denon as above. I attached my Ortofon 2M Black with some difficulty because it doesn't fit easily into the Denon shell. But I got it in, calibrated. All good. Until I noticed one channel played very faintly. I checked the anti-skate, vertical tracking & stylus force ... nothing had any impact. I swapped the Ortofon for a Grado Gold. That played both channels, but with a terrible hum, which I could not eradicate. Finally I put in an old Ortofon OM which I'd got with my first turntable. That played fine.
Incidentally, (or not), I use a small Parasound phono stage as well, which connects to the aux 1 on my Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II. Connecting directly to the Cronus phono jacks made no difference in how the Ortofon 2M played, but with the Grado Gold the hum disappeared, but it also failed to play both channels. With the Ortofon OM there was a slight hum when connected directly to the Cronus, but which disappeared entirely played through the Parasound.
So I guess my question is, before I go & buy an expensive cartridge that doesn't work right, are there cartridges that simply aren't compatible with a unit such as the Denon? My Ortofon 2Ms (I have the black & the red) were getting due to be replaced at this point anyway, so I don't mind investing in a new one. I just want to be certain it will work correctly.
Many thanks....
