Dear @joenies : My mistake. Your vintage Grado is not similar to the AEON but to the top of the line EPOCH 3 that's the one with a price tag over 10K: go figure .
R.
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
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@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... |
@rauliruegas Thanks for the info on the Grado. I’ll give it another try in the next couple of weeks. I’m going to enjoy the F9E awhile longer. Joe |
Hello @mofimadness In my OP, I used the term “hard cartridge to drive, has low output “. Should’ve stated “has low output for the MI or MM I have used. I relocated a Grado Model 8 cartridge I had stored away, its output is 3.5mV. The F9E is 3.5mV also. To me 1.5mV seems low compared to. Sorry for the confusion. My phono amp has gain of 46db for MM . I guess I’ll have to push my preamp harder for the 1.5mV. Joe |
@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. |
- 34 posts total