Help with cartridge output


Hi all,

So I recently sent my Pro-Ject 5.1SE off off the Sumiko American headquarters in Cali to have the tone-arm rewired after I botched installing a new cartridge and snapped one of the tone-arm wires. They said they'd also install the AudioTechnica 150mlx MM cartridge before they shipped it back. I had previously run a Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge

So, got it back the other day and spun the first disc this evening and discovered that I can get almost no sound or dynamics from the AT150mlx. I'm running the tt through an LSA Statement integrated which handled the Blue Point no problem at all - -full sound, lush dynamics, etc.

And now for all practical purposes there's little sound being generated; no bass, little volume. Every other parameter is the same; just the cartridge is different. I've made sure the tracking force is set correctly, the stylus is perpendicular, the arm is parallel to the platter, etc.

The LSA has a MM phono stage, yet it handled the 2.5mV Sumiko MC just fine. The AT150 is a 4 mV MM, so what gives?

Any help would be appreciated. I could switch back to the Sumiko, of course. Or sell everything, turntable and both cartridges, and go for something different. Or get out of vinyl altogether - which I don't want to do, of course.
simao

Showing 2 responses by almarg

Sounds like the two channels may be wired out of phase relative to each other. Try reversing the connections to the cartridge for one channel (i.e., interchange EITHER blue and white OR green and red) and see what happens. Of course, have everything turned off while you are changing the connections.

Regards,
-- Al