+1...Grace F9E cartridges are great! I have a few, the F9E/Ruby is even better. One of my favorite carts...
Fun with MM cartridge
Greetings,
I haven’t listened to a MM cartridge in over 35 years. Since I bought my first MC cartridge there was no need for me to listen to MM cartridges any longer. They just extract more music from records.
I have 3 turntables in my system, all with different MC cartridges. A few weeks ago I thought it would be fun to pull out one of my MM cartridges from my toy box and give it a listen. I installed a Grado XTZ on the TT. Gave it a listen, it sounded dull and lifeless. It’s a hard cartridge to drive, has a low output. I even move it to my MC input on my phono drive to get more gain. Same outcome. I was disappointed with the sound, since it has very few hours on it. Went to my toy box and installed a Grace F9E cartridge. Put on an album and gave it a listen. It put a big smile on my face. What a nice sounding cartridge. It had a good sound stage, bass was good, had good width, depth and height. Played a few more records, it is a fun cartridge to listen too.
I still prefer my MC cartridges but the F9E will stay on my TT for right now. Every once in a while I’ll listen to it, just to have fun.
Joe Nies
Showing 4 responses by mofimadness
@joenies...if your F9E has a Green stylus, it’s not a Ruby. The Ruby stylus is Red and should say Ruby on the front. I agree to run that Grado XTZ in for awhile. It's a pretty decent cart, if working correctly. |
@rauliruegas...you stated, "Yes, 1.5mv " low " output." Since when is 1.5mv considered "low" output? "Low" output is .1mv to .5mv. 1.5mv would be "medium" output, correct? That's what all my cartridge charts say anyway. Just wondering... |
@joenies...thanks for the clarification. 1.5mv "is" on the lower end for a MI or MM, but is still considered a medium output. Your 46db phono stage should be enough to drive it, (depending on how much gain your preamp has). I have several high output MC’s that are 1.0mv to 1.5mv and run very well at 48db. |