Do cartridges need warm-up?

I have a lamp next to the table illuminating the turntable while listening in the dark. I am glad to hear that it also has practical benefits too!

FrankC

As silly as it may sound to some, my experiences are very similar to Albert's. My current MC cartridge (shelter 501) benefits from about a side and half a flip side before settling in to serious listening. I don't recall facing this issue with several of the MM carts I had, but memories for some things are short! :-) I know that a side or two is worth the wait with the Shelter....

Albert makes a very good point. The ambient temperature is critically important and should ideally not be lower than 25 degrees centrigrade (Spectral, Helikon, Koetsu, Insider). Another parameter not to be neglected is humidity, which in my experience should not fall below about 65%. (My Quad speakers like even more than that!) Cheers

It is a electro mechanical device just as speakers are. A little warm up period generally helps. I have owned at least a dozen moving coil cartridges and the time required to reach maximum performance varied from brand to brand.

For instance, my Benz Ruby required more play time than my (current) Koetsu. The Dynavector took less time than either of these.

Years ago when I was bringing phono cartridges in from Switzerland, Mr. Breuer informed me the performance of his cartridges were effected not only by playing a few sides of LP's, but by ambient temperature as well.

He suggested I place a small lamp nearby, especially during the winter months. It absolutely made a difference, better sound and less time to arrive at maximum performance. Perhaps it has something to do with the small coils and elastic suspension parts.