Need New MM Cartridge Recommendation
Find a series 1 ebony Virtuoso with a busted cantilever. Send it to Soundsmith . I heard he now has boron/micro. I like the Victor Z1/SAS Try a Shure DJ cart for kick ass dynamics. Some models put out 9mV. For rock, you have it turned up to 11 right at the input. Electrostats need faster transient response. Box speakers need a sound which unboxes. |
How can someone evaluate a MM phono cartridge when they're stuck at 100Kohm load, then add capacitance to roll off the extreme high end? Some 4-ch carts were designed for 100K, but the ignorance level is great regarding specific loading recommendations. The M20FLSuper happens to be a cart with nice potential and with a sweet, natural high end. It must have high inductance (I forget exactly) because the original came with 200pF caps attached to the rear of the cart. This was used to fill in a severe treble dip, which made it sound like it was playing next door. Rather than run it at 100K and add capacitance, wouldn't a better strategy might be to add as little capacitance as possible and find the ideal resistance? For me, 53K and around 150pF total was great. The cart has a natural and seductive high end and is slightly distant with big bass. Listenability is high with lots of records. I wouldn't trade one for the E stylus. The SAS was a great replacement for many carts. Where else can you get a boron/MR for peanuts? It's the cantilever, not the tip which excites the generator. What kind of cantilever does the Technics have? Good luck finding original Technics stylus. Perhaps you should contact Namiki and see what's available, minimum order etc. I sent my Genesis 1000 to Soundsmith and he insisted on using the original boron tube cantilever with a micro type tip. Any extra glue wears off and it looks and sounds like the original. Still my favorite cart. I'll have to put it up against an ART7 or 9. |
Chakster, **For some reason the original technics stylus was much better to my ears than new jico sas.** You're comparing a pipe (tube) cantilever to a solid rod - no comparison. My Genesis 1000 has a boron tube and the cart was retipped by Soundsmith with original cantilever. Replace it with a rod and the magic goes away. BTW, a retipper usually has complete stylus/cantilever assemblies sourced from Ogura or Namiki. I doubt if they sell factory 2nds. Raul, Do you realize there are human beings on the other end of your rationalizations? I have a Russian Blue cat named Comrade BC I'd like you to meet. Regards, and enjoy your 32 bits. |
Jbhiller, Nice to hear you're enjoying the 2M Black. I suspected, surface noise would diminish while the cart settled in. There is a break in period with carts and it seems that the electrical aspect might take longer than the mechanical. I also think the Ortofon is well suited for your Creek phono board. Your input impedance is set at 47K ? Do you know the capacitance of the input? Audio Technica carts are generally less expensive than Ortofon. Look up the price of your replacement stylus if there's any doubt, but AT carts require a bit more user knowledge to find the right fit. We differentiate AT bodies (generators) by their inductance. Generally speaking, the higher inductance models tend to be more "musical" while the lower inductance models tend to be more detailed and "transparent", but loading requirements also become more critical. I'm quite sure I could recommend an AT combo for < $400 that would give your 2M a run, but first it would be nice to know the details of your Creek. BTW an AT MM requires at least 30 hrs. break in. My AT440ML OCC took > 75 hrs. to fully break in. That's a long time and to endure I had it loaded at 22K and it was still hard to take. Having an old auto-changer running silently during this period might be a good idea. Just check on it once in awhile to clean the tip and make sure all is well. Regards, |
Jbhiller, Your Creek phono board is old school regarding shunt capacitance. It might be better suited for the Ortofon in that respect. 225pF was sort of a defacto standard MM capacitance for awhile. More "modern" pieces tend to use 100pF. Regardless, this is the cart I recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT7V-phono-cartridge-Japan/dp/B00008B5EB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&... If you get it from Amazon you also get free shipping and they stand behind the sale. You'll also need an ATN150MLX stylus. Zzounds.com is an authorized dealer and sells it for $200. The stock configuration is made with a heavier arm in mind, but I'm quite sure it will work. The cart takes on the compliance, VTF etc. of the stylus and you'll be amazed at the performance here. Under the circumstance I'm not sure how much of the potential will be realized, but I think you'll enjoy the performance. Regards, |
