Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

@chakster,

'And I assume we know how to align and adjust a cartridge/tonearm.'


I'm sure we all do but some are easier than others. The times I used to wish my decks had a detachable headshell like my first Rega 3 did. Of course they didn't because we were told detachable was very bad. 

But was it really?

With the Rega there wasn't much need to manoeuvre. The square bodied Nagoaka cart was fairly straightforward to align and the mirror check revealed no issues either. 

I remember having a couple of protractors for alignment and some were easier to use than others. I knew that with a 2 point protractor that the inner alignment point was critical to get right because of potential end of side tracking  issues.

The Ittok on the Linn was fairly easy to adjust for height but it was not so easy to try out other arms on the LP12 because of the need for a specifically cut armboard. Besides we were regularly told that the Ittok was the best arm in the world (until the Ekos) so there was little incentive to bother.

I never found arm height to make difference so I kept to the recommended advice of keeping the arm parallel to the top-plate/platter.

It's important to get setup right but don't get too obsessive. There will always be the odd opera torture track that will give most arm/cart combos hiccups.  

Perhaps it's time some brave soul out there tried out a multi cartridge tracking group test. Unsurprisingly the hi-fi press never bothered as the findings may have not been to their or their readers liking.

I do remember certain Shure cartridges being renowned for their tracking abilities. Perhaps it might be worth finding out what carts classical stations such as BBC Radio 3 used to employ in the days before they switched to digital.

Tracking and record care would have been vital to them as they then had one of the most impressive vinyl libraries in the world. 

Isn’t any cartridge just a small slave motor entirely dependent upon a much bigger one, ie the turntable motor?

Origin Live for one still seem to ascribe to old established notion of turntable hierarchy.

Namely, turntable first, arm second and cartridge last.

From their website.


’Tonearms Overview

It is supremely important that your cartridge is held rigidly whilst at the same time isolating it from unwanted vibration.

No matter how good your cartridge is, it’s been proved that it can never perform at anything like it’s true capability without a good tonearm.

In the same way, a relatively inexpensive cartridge worth £50 can outperform one that costs £1250 simply by being installed on a better arm.’

See also : Our Opinion on Component Significance

https://www.originlive.com/hi-fi/tonearm/

@chakster,

Good points. Yes, overhang simply has to be right. It hurts to think of that diamond not finding the best way through that spiral groove.

One thing that still puzzles me is the notion that the perceived sonic difference between moving magnet and moving coil designs was largely down to the better structural integrity of the latter with its non-removable stylus?

Is there any truth in this?

Since a lot of people use the Ortofon (blue and red) mm cartridges I wondered whether anyone had used that old trick of applying the tiniest drop of superglue to help further secure the plastic stylus assembly to the cartridge body?  

Since you could still easily break off the assembly when it was eventually time to replace the stylus, it might be something worth considering. Perhaps even moreso with a used cartridge.

I think it was something first suggested by UK reviewer, the king of tweaks himself, Jimmy Hughes.

The notion seemed to gain further credibility when Linn brought out their K9 cartridge which featured a tiny Allen bolt on the front of the cartridge to secure the removable assembly (Linn had a thing for the the letter 'k' and its profile looked like Doctor Who's electronic dog). 

Linn claimed that it helped with tracking and also resulted in a reduction in surface noise - and I tended to agree with them.

But that was over 15 years ago and perhaps today's moving magnet designs are better built.

@rauliruegas,

Yes, you’re right the  Linn K9, like the Linn Basik was made by Audio Technica, rebadged with a subsequent price hike.
I think Rega did something similarly naughty with one of their MM cartridges.

The K9 was the one with the superglue trick. Sorry for any confusion. I later replaced it with the one that featured the Allen screw, the Linn K18.

There’s an image of it here where you can see how the Allen screw is supposed to hold it together better.

https://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=18115.0

Amazingly the Linn K18 also appears to be based upon the Audio Technica AT 95E!



@atmasphere,

It’s important to get setup right but don’t get too obsessive. There will always be the odd opera torture track that will give most arm/cart combos hiccups.

’There had better not be! I’ve yet to run into such a track- my system breezes through everything effortlessly.’


Impressive stuff!

I remember experienced reviewers writing that Carmina Burana was one such ’torture track’.

Me, I used to get slight jitters playing the sole Maria Callas LP in my collection at decent volumes on my LP12.

Would it still track ok? Was the volume too high, or too low? Would the speakers cope, etc? Fabulous for testing dynamics and system headroom though.

Thanks again for sharing your considerable knowledge with us.