2. analog
  3. 157904-1475

Is there an ideal (ish) cartridge output?

I just got done building the Pearl 2 and I went back and forth with gain and impedance. Using a cart that had .15mv and another at .3mv. I also have a Sony TA-5650 V-FET that has a vfet MM phono stage that I have been curious to try out. In that curiosity, I read the specs on the phono stage and its 70db SNR, which is meh. I then thought about SNR, THD, gain, and output of phono cartridges and stages. I looked at a lot of specs of cartridges and stages over the years, and as the gain of the stage goes up, the SNR goes down, which eventually leads me to this question:

Is the ideal cartridge output 1.5-2mv? Do you then get a medium output that is the best middle ground for SNR and THD? If that could be the case (or if not if you disagree) then why isn't there more cartridges with around that output available? 
enobenetto

Showing 1 response by yeti42

yeti42's avatar
yeti42
287 posts
 
The most noticeable noise I get when replaying vinyl is from the record surface, the phonostage noise doesn’t seem to intrude. I looked up the specs for my phonostage and it claims a SNR of 82dB for a 0.5mV output and a gain of 64dB. I’m actually using an SPU Royal N with a 0.2mV output. (I have a VPI 16.5 and a Degritter to clean the records which helps).

If you’re after a medium output the EMT cartridges with around 1 mV seem to have a good reputation for not losing the music in the hifi.
More to discover