Why do MM cartridges amplify more surface noise??


My concern in the thread is mainly moving magnet cartridges, not MC's I recently purchased an Ortofon 2M Blue MM cartridge which sounds very good with minor exceptions. Prior to the Ortofon, I briefy used an Audio Technica AT120E.

Unfortunately, the Ortofon seems to reproduce much more record surface noise than the AT120E which was remarkably quiet, except on very noisy LP's in my small collection. Without a doubt the Ortofon 2M Blue is a much better cartridge than the AT 120E

So what causes one MM cartridge to provide more LP surface noise than another?? Is it stylus design or materials, or the windings inside the cartridge body?? Is it heavier tracking force??

What MM cartridge in your experience reproduces the least amount of record surface noise??
sunnyjim

Showing 1 response by john_tracy

Sounds like maybe too much loading capacitance. Read the Hagerman Cartridge Loading paper. Too much capacitance interacts with the cartridge inductance to make for a resonance peak at the upper bound of the audio band. This would enhance the amount of noise heard.

http://www.hagtech.com/loading.html