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MM Cartridge to MC Cartridge

Hi All. First post. I’m thinking about moving from a MM cartridge to an MC cartridge. I hesitate a bit, because about a year ago I moved from an inexpensive MM cartridge to an expensive MM cartridge and noticed little difference. My vinyl system consists of:

Rega Planar P3 with Rega Exact Mk 2 cartridge 

McIntosh MP100 phono preamp

McIntosh MA252 integrated amp

Budget is less than $1k. Thinking Rega Ania MC cartridge because reviews are positive and install easy.

Do you think this change will be worthwhile? Suggestions?

-Doug

prufrock28

Showing 4 responses by williewonka

williewonka
3,072 posts
 

Another thing to consider is the arm.

I have an Audiomods series three. It improved the performance of my Denon  103 greatly. It has a one piece silver harness with low mass KLE Innovations RCA plugs.

 

So its not ALL about the cartridge.

 

Regards Steve

 

williewonka
3,072 posts
 

When I moved from MM I opted for the Denon DL103 - even though it has a sperical stylus it was noticebly better and very affordable

Then after reading about the ZU version (and similar approaches) I applied my DIY mind to the problem and epoxied a brass plate to the cardridge, which again improved things, because

  1. it added some mss, which suited my Rega arm better
  2. it tightened up the sound - much crisper with a tighter bass

The final upgrade was to replace the stylus with a Soundsmith mod to ruby cantilever with an optimized Countor contact line stylus, which improved the details amazingly

Now I am not suggesting you go thruogh the same steps, but the things that make a difference are

  1. stylus profile and cantilever material
  2. Matching the tonearm

BTW - I had a Rega cartridge and by comparison it was muddy and lifeless

@jasonbourne71 recommendation is pretty good by all accounts, but also look at the Denon range (not necessarily the 103).

Audio Tecnichnica also have some MM carts that may improve things also

Hope that helps - Steve

 

williewonka
3,072 posts
 

To do better with an MC cartridge you would have to spend $3000 plus

My $600 Denon 103 modified by soundsmith will give most $3000 carts a run for their money. It equaled a Van Den Hul cart in every way.

I stopped looking once I  bought it

Regards, Steve

williewonka
3,072 posts
 

@prufrock28, @mijostyn - re...

Grado can make a great cartridge

I agree, however, way back when I tried a Grado on my Rega, it had a hum, which got louder as the cartridge got cloaser to the Motor

  • you can ground the motor to eliminate this, but it is a little tricky

FWIW - after I replaced the Rega arm with the Audiomods arm (which is very easy) I heard so much more....

  • There was little sign of unwanted sibiliance
  • Bass imporved greatly
  • imaging and clarity improvements were very noticeable

This was by far the the most worthwhile upgrade to my turntable, the second being the Soundsmih upgrade to my Denon 103. {Note: I am promoting the Denon approach. There are lots more worthy alternatives in today’s world}

 

Regards - Steve

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