Musical Fidelity XLPS What cartridge would work?

Which version of the X-LPS are you working with?

Ron:
I haved owned both LP2 and LPS phonostages in the past.
The phonostages themselves are very flexible in that they can drive a wide array of cartridges. I owned several decks and arm combinations utilizing Rega and Roksan Arms mounted on Roksan and Sota decks with good results. (the cartridges that were mounted ranged from an Audioquest 4004i to an Audiotechnica OC09). I would suggest getting the best cartridge that matches well with your tonearm.

Did you pick up a cartridge? If so, what did you get?

Hi Mark
Yes that helped a lot.
Thank you
Ron

The X-LPS does the basic stuff really well. It doesn't buzz. It doesn't hiss. As a matter of fact, it's dead quiet. And it looks pretty sweet. But when you get the itch to bring your vinyl to the next level (to make things come alive), the first thing I suggest replacing is the X-LPS. As cool as that little canister looks, it didn't place instruments in space and it didn't create a three dimensional sound stage in my system. I lived with it for more than a year and could never get that out of it.

If you plan to keep your Clear Audio Emotion for a while, focus on finding a cartridge that matches the Satisfy tonearm. This will be your best upgrade right now. The Satisfy has an effective mass of 9g. Use the formulas at The Analog Depot to determine the best cartridge match.

resonant frequency = 159 / sqrt [(eff. mass + cart weight + fastener weight) * (compliance)]

If you do the math, you'll find that a Grado Reference Sonata would be an excellent choice resulting in a resonant freq of 9 Hz. The ideal range is 8 to 12 hz. You can find this cart used for about $250.

I hope this helps. -Mark

Hi Mingles
Thanks for the info. I didn`t think the XLPS sounded to bad realy. I know theres a way better out there but a little short on cash these days. Thank you
Ron

Ron, I owned an X-LPS not too long ago. I may be wrong, but I don't think there's a "best" cartridge for it. I was using a Denon DL-160 for a while which sounded fine. When I moved to a Denon DL-103, I lost a huge portion of the low end. I don't know what the input impedance is for the MC setting (it's not adjustable), but it wasn't a good match for the 103.

A Benz Glider should work fine with this phone stage. All three of these cartridges are nice, but the weak link is the X-LPS itself. If you're just getting started with it, I don't want to rain on your enthusiasm, but I found it to be flat compared to a slightly more expensive Musical Surroundings Phonomena. When I compared it to a Wright WPP100c and a WPP200c, the X-LPS sounded painfully two dimensional and thin. Others may have had better luck with it.