Glanz moving magnet cartridges

Hi Dgob,
Which tonearm were you using with the Glanz G7, was it the Audiocraft ?

I'm afraid gentlemen that we have officially landed in the age of mediocrity with regard to cartridge build quality, no matter what price.
Note the recent experiences of Fremer with the Lyra diamonds being mounted incorrectly. From my experience you can add to that list Zyx Omega/Airy and Benz, all wildly out and sent back for replacement/retipping.
If we cant rely on cartridges costing US$2k-10k to have diamonds accurately placed in the cantilever then there is no hope for us or our precious records.
I suspect that we need both overhang and asymith adjustability for all cartridges and a good microscope to double check the diamond on any cartridge purchased.

Of course you could go a buy a Vestax cartridge, a Glanz in drag produced by Mitachi. Mitachi, one of the largest manufacturers for tonearms and cartridges, . specialized for 30 years in this product area and also developed into a major supplier for Technics, Yamaha, Hitachi, Denon, Pioneer, Sony, JVC and Onkyo.

Excellent

Mechanical damping comes in many forms - in the Naim Aro that I have the location of the counterweight and the lowering of the centre of gravity to below the pivot point provides about 6db of mechanical damping to the stylus. Furthermore the bearing deisign - radiused tip sitting in a slightly larger radius cup provides another 2-3db of mechanical damping. Thus mechanical damping can be achieved without the use of chewing gum, blue tack, rubber bands, ky jelly and other addons if an arm is well designed.

Martin Colloms - Stereophile
Lowering the counterweight to about record level has given the ARO excellent stability. This also lowers the center of gravity to below the pivot point, providing about 6dB of mechanical damping of the stylus. Another 2dB or 3dB seem to come from the bearing cup, which has a sapphire insert. The bearing is the ARO's stroke of genius. In other unipivots, a sharp pin is mounted to the turntable and the arm carries a cup which sits atop the pivot point. The ARO's arm carries the sharp tip, resting this atop a stationary cup: a true mechanical ground, and the only spiked tonearm I know of!

From an engineering point of view a true self centering unipivot provides the most rigid bearing possible in a tonearm - no chattering, no sloppy bearings, no drag on maladjusted gimbal bearings. No jitter or dither !

In my system the Aro is more resolving than the Fidelity Research FR64S.

The Graham has an upside down bearing - cup is in the arm - is not a true mechanical ground in the context of Martin Colloms comments above. This coupled with excessive arm tube dampening was the reason I chose the Aro over the Graham several years ago..

As an aside the Hadcock is not a true unipivot - the spike sits in the crook of nested ball bearings with multiple points of contact. Similarly I believe that the Satin "unipivot" that Raul lauds uses a nested ball bearing system as well and I suspect is not a true unipivot.

Hi all,
Managed to find an early Xmas present a few weeks ago - Glanz MFG61.
Purchased from a German gentleman. Please find attached pictures here -
Glanz MFG61
Initial impressions mounted on FR64S running into Theta B Revised tube preamp were big, big midrange, massive soundstage very detailed but a bit slow.
Then tweaked the azimuth and the sound took off like a rocket - very quick.
So far it is early days, but the overall sound is big, alive, big midrange, slightly warm and fat bottom end ( but still in control ) - top end can be a little edgy.
Soundstage is large, instruments have a lot of body, but not bloated. It sounds more like a MC than any MM.
I generally prefer moving coils - I have in my stable Dynavector Nova 13D, Ikeda Kiwame, Fidelity Research FR1mk3F, Denon 103D and my daily runner - Koetsu Black.
This is easily the best MI/MM cartridge I have had other than the Garrott Bros Decca London ( Gold and Maroon ).
Other MM's owned - Grace F9E F9E Ruby ( both pathetic ), Shure V15V ( Vxmr & Vmr ) ( very musical when mounted in ET2 but not hugely resolving ), Garrott P77 ( very vibrant when matched correctly with suitable arm & preamp, rolled off in top end ) and Sumiko Andante ( ok for budget MM ).
I would highly recommend this cartridge if you can find it.
Thanks to Dgob and Vetterone for highlighting this great find.

Vetterone,
2nd day of listening, the top end has smoothed out considerably and I lightened the tracking force. I suspect the cartridge suspension was a bit stiff initially and is now running in. The capture of the body of instruments and inner detail through the midrange is quite exceptional. One of my many tests for transparency is Jimmy Witherspoon - 1959 Monterey Jazz Festival - recorded live on Everest ( in a noisy bar ) - bags of ambient noise, booming mikes, bar talk etc and great music - passes with flying colours.

@lewm 

I would suggest you talk to. Expert Stylus in the UK or Garrott in Australia.

Both have extensive experience with wide range of cartridges. Expert can rebuild some pretty weird cartridges.

Alternatively if the cantilever/suspension is dodgy have you investigated using a donor cartridge for another stylus assembly and retipping it with the appropriate stylus profile.

@lewm 

It appears the cantilever carriage is universal across most of the Astatic/Glanz range, but each model has a variation in cantilever material and/or tip.. So if you have 2 assemblies that require a new cantilever, and they cannot be repaired, you might be able to find a worn out Astatic/Glanz cartridge with the correct cantilever ( doesn't have to be the same model ) and replace the tip.

So what I am saying is grab a donor Astatic/Glanz ( doesn't have to be a MF2500 ) with an aluminium cantilever in good nick and try it in your MF2500 - retip if necessary.

My feeling is that given the position of the cantilever is more critical than most MI/MM cartridges to achieve the constant flux as per the Glanz patents, rebulding may be difficult to get right. If you can start with a good factory cantilever assembly you would be more assured of keeping the overall integrity of the design..

@lewm 

I think its just old mans saggy ass syndrome.

My MFG61 rides a little low - sounds great, but I don't use it much at all.

This is why vintage cartridges are risky in my view.

Also Expert Stylus/Garrots can give you an appraisal of the condition before you undertake any work. I think Garrotts charge $50 for inspection only.