Cartridge Reccomendations for the MoFi Ultradeck

Oh man, sorry I did that with my new cartridge and virgin half speed master. I have a tonearm lifter and did not cue up so the Tonearm skipped across it. Bummer I was so mad I ordered a new record. Thankfully the Hana SL survived. That’s what I would get for $750. Before that I had a AT 540ML also very nice for the money but the Hana is way superior in dynamics, soundstage and Imaging. You might want to look at the stylus under a magnifying glass to check if it’s bent or broken.

the Ortofon Bronze works VERY well on that table.

Do you know the effective mass of MoFi tonearm ?
As i can see their own MM cartridges are low compliance 8 or 10cu (if the figure stated at 10Hz, we don’t know). If those carts are made in Japan the compliance is measured at 100Hz and it will be higher when we will convert it to 10Hz.

Anyway, i think you should look for a mid compliance MM cartridges.
Any MoFi cartridge will be easily outperformed by killer vintage MM at moderate cost like the AT-ML150 OCC or Victor X-1IIe (both are mid compliance). I recommend them because i know the whole series of AT-ML (from AT-ML150 to AT-ML180) and Victor X1II (from X1IIe to X1IID) and those cartridges are oustanding in slam, details and resolution. Highly recommended! There are many more vintage MM but most of them are high compliance and probably not ideal for your tonearm. But AT-ML150 and Victor X1IIe are mid compliance and it must be perfect match for your arm.

And if you want only new models them SoundSmith MI maybe ?

The Mobil Fidelity Ultradec is a very nice straight forward little table that hits all the right notes. One problem is that the specs list the effective mass of the arm at 35 grams. It would have to be made out of lead.
The effective mass of a 4 Point 14 is 19 grams. It looks like an intermediate mass arm of around 12 grams which will work well with most modern cartridges excepting the really stiff ones like the Koetsu and Air Tight cartridges. I think the Lyra Delos would be wonderful. Others include the Audio-Technica AT-ART7 and the Clearaudio Talismann V2 Gold. I would avoid Grados because of the AC synchronous motor. I have never played with a SoundSmith so I can't make a comment but there are a lot of people who like them. I personally am not fond of vintage cartridges. Cartridge technology has improved with better magnets, materials and geometry. I prefer not to go backwards.  

I personally am not fond of vintage cartridges. Cartridge technology has improved with better magnets, materials and geometry.

@mijostin
Not at all, actually we lose Beryllium cantilevers forever, we lose Boron Pipe cantilevers forever, manufacturers does not use precise laser drilling to mount the tip (they use glue instead just like this and rod cantilevers which cause higher moving mass) and vinyl is no longer a main media format. Add new marketing strategy and as a result the prices for modern LOMC (or even MM) became insane compared to vintage cartridges with superior technology and amazing sound quality (much better materials in fact and superior specs).

As for the magnets each designer has his own preferences (Alnico or Samarium Cobalt etc). I’m not sure why do you think modern designers are necessary better or more knowledgeable than retired designers of some outstanding vintage cartridges (Japan school for example)? We’re all know that J.Carr admired Ikeda-San on this forum.

I just don’t understand why a product from modern cartridge designer must be better than another product from the golden age of analog?

There is nothing new is recording process in analog studios today and nearly all mics, disc cutting, reel to reel tapes are still vintage even at the best studios in the world.

The Mobil Fidelity Ultradec is a very nice straight forward little table that hits all the right notes. One problem is that the specs list the effective mass of the arm at 35 grams. It would have to be made out of lead.

If so then any MoFi cartridge is a perfect match for their arm because the compliance of them all stated at 8cu or 10cu (this is very low compliance for MM cartridges). If the arm effective mass is 35g then compliance is likely 8cu @10Hz (and 10cu @Hz, depends on MoFi model). This is pretty oldschool, don’t you think so ? So why a modern manufacturer design oldschool heavy arm and low compliance MM cartridges today ? Maybe they are inspired by the oldschool? I want just to remind you how many people adore Denon DL-103R today, there is nothing special in this cart design, strange indeed.

A friend in Florida is using his MoFi cartridge on SL1200GR everyday, on special occasion he’s mouting rare AT-ML180 OCC (my favorite) instead. Even his friends are shocked how much better this mid 80’s Audio-Technica MM sound compared to the new MoFi.

Do you think people were listening music with bad cartridges in the 70’s or 80’s ? Those special cartridges were very expensive back in the day, but still not as expensive as new high-end cartridges today.

Has anyone tried the Hana ML on the Ultradeck yet? I'm curious if that comb would be fitting and a decent upgrade when the time comes. I've honestly been very happy with the MasterTracker, so I have considered staying with that one potentially.

To answer your question someone should CALL to MoFi tech support to make sure about tonearm effective mass. If you don't know the exact mass then you can't choose any cartridge for this arm. Two question for MoFi below: 

1) What is MoFi tonearm effective mass ?

2) Did you measure dynamic compliance of MoFi carts at 10Hz or at 100Hz ?

There are 3 models on website, a compliance stated from 8cu to 10cu. If a compliance measured at 10Hz then these cartridges have fairly low compliance, they have stiff suspension and those cartridges will work fine ONLY with very high mass tonearm. Normally all American cartridge manufacturers measure compliance at 10Hz.

When someone will get an answers for these 2 question we can continue. If we don't know the answers we can't do even the basics. Tonearm effective mass and cartridge compliance is starting point. 

Thank you for the specific questions @chakster ! 

I emailed both questions to MoFi last night, and had some specific answers in my inbox this morning. Hopefully this helps some people and clears up some details. 

Directly from MoFi:

The UltraDeck Tonearm Effective Mass is  25.14g. We have mounted many cartridges from Ortofon, Grado, Hana, Audio Technica, Denon, and others that work great with both of our turntables. You want to avoid any cartridges that are specified as high compliance but the majority of today’s cartridges are either medium or low compliance and will work great with your turntable.

 

The compliance of our cartridges at 100Hz is available;

Studio Tracker

 Static compliance : 35 x 10e-6/dyne

 Dynamic compliance : 8 x 10e-6/dyne

Ultra Tracker

  Static compliance : 35 x 10e-6/dyne

  Dynamic compliance : 10 x 10e-6/dyne

Master Tracker

  Static compliance : 40 x 10e-6/dyne

  Dynamic compliance : 10 x 10e-6/dyne

@displayname

The UltraDeck Tonearm Effective Mass is 25.14g.

So this is a high mass for such a short arm, for example even my modern Reed 3P "12 Cocobolo is only 18g mass.

The compliance of our cartridges at 100Hz is available;

Then dynamic compliance for MoFi cartridges measured at 100Hz, in this case i’m pretty sure those cartridges are made in Japan (not in the USA), probably by Audio-Technica (or some other big company).

To make it short we have to add 100Hz to the data on their website:

Studio Tracker / Dynamic compliance: 8cu @ 100 Hz

Ultra Tracker / Dynamic compliance: 10cu @ 100 Hz

Master Tracker / Dynamic compliance: 10cu @ 100 Hz

What is the most important for us (users) is to know dynamic compliance at 10Hz (not at 100Hz), so we have to convert it to 10Hz. How can we do that ? Pretty simple ...

HERE WE GO WITH "x 1.7" FORMULA:

the results as follows:

Studio Tracker / Dynamic compliance: 13.6cu @10Hz

Ultra Tracker / Dynamic compliance: 17cu @10Hz

Master Tracker / Dynamic compliance: 17cu @ 100 Hz

Now, since we know cartridge weight and dynamic compliance at 10Hz (for MoFi cartridges it is 13.6cu and 17cu depends on the model) we can calculate tonearm/cartridge resonance frequency.

So based on that info, is it fair to say that most medium and low compliance carts would be a decent fit? I know several people who are very happy with Grado carts on their UDs, and I've seen some with Nagaoka carts that are also quite happy. 

I previously enjoyed the Nagaoka MP-150, so their line would be of interest to me, but the Hana ML also seems interesting. 
This is all assuming I want to venture out. Honestly I still really like the UltraTracker on this table, so I might not even feel a need to change brands, but I don't want to write off others. 

So based on that info, is it fair to say that most medium and low compliance carts would be a decent fit?

This is a great article about tonearm/cartridge resonance frequency and how to calculate it for any arm and any cartridge. As you can see there is a desired range of resonance frequency, if you’re out of this range then in theory your combination of arm and cartridge is not optimal. This is a theory for those who’re looking for ideal solution (aka perfect match).

With a given tonearm mass (by the manufacturer) it is obvious that low compliance cartridges are much better than high compliance cartridges on this heavy tonearm (about 25g effective mass).

I wouldn’t use any Grado cartridge on such arm, i like my Grado XTZ on Denon DA-401 lightweight tonearm so much, grado is high compliance cartridge. Also most of my favorite MM/MI cartridges are all mid or high compliance and the exact dynamic compliance at 10Hz is higher than any MoFi MM cartridges.