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Run in time for moving coil cartridge

I just got my first MC cart, an old Ortofon SL-15. It is in flawless, new like condition and has under 100 hours usage on it before it got recalibrated. That was 30 years ago. It has not been played since. It already produces very nice music but it is not the best tracker yet. I do not know too much about MC carts as this is my first. How many hours do they typically need to fully run in. I guess it is more than MM carts? I read on the Van de Hul site that it can take up to 200 hours. Do vintage carts need more time because the materials were different? Any comments on this are very much appreciated.
Thank You
vincevice
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,475 posts
 
My new Benz Micro Ebony took many hundreds of hours to break in, and I suspect it isnt there yet. Youre saying that your Ortofon is quite old. If it has been set up properly, and doesnt track very well, I would suspect a hardening of the suspension. The diamond and cantilever may be perfect, but the rubber block, etc. in the cartridge itself most probably is aged beyond its time. Personally, I dont let a cartridge age more than a year or 2 before replacing it.
vincevice OP
1 posts
 
Thanks for the answer. It actually tracks quite well just not as good as my AT 440 MLa. The Ortofon seems to be quite picky about the quality of the vinyl. Its not very good on extremly loud cuts and cuts that go to the limit of what you can put on a record in playing time, meaning when the cut is extremly narrow. I am trying to get an idea if MC generally need more time to run in than MM. I thought about the dried rubber of the suspension already. Would a hardend suspension also effect the sound, or has it mostly an effect on the tracking ability?
thanks.
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