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Moving Iron Carts or stick with LOMC

I've been thinking off adding as second arm to my table ( Garrard 301 as seen in my system pictures) the second arm will be for my High compliance VDH Cart so I'll have an open spot on my Jelco 750L 12" tone arm. SO I'm thinking of trying out a moving iron (MI) cart. 

Phono stage is Gold Note PH 10 so all the settings I will ever need for just about any cart. 

 I'm looking for recommendations for carts in the $500-$2000 range as I know little about MI carts as far as owning one or hearing one. I suppose the big question is, is it worth trying, i'm sure there will be people on both sides, but what got me interested was a write up about the Grado reference v2 MI cart and I like how they described the sound as midrange centric, I have all the detail I need on my VDH I'm looking for a little more romance so to speak with my second cart. 

What stylus types work best on MI carts? I've always like a VDH stylus and found the conical a little dead sounding (Denon 103 for example). 

As for Vintage I have no issues with going older lets keep this in the easily obtainable realm though. 

Grado reference v2 at $1500 and the Soundsmith Carmen Mk2 $1000 ( on sale right now for $700) are two that caught my eye so far both have interesting price and reviews. 

Well of course I could be going totally down the wrong path so feel free to knock me back on track if that's what I need. 

Glen (one N) 

128x128glennewdick
soundwatts
221 posts
 
I have gone from using MC  for 40 years to a Soundsmith.  I am a convert for life. especially with the rebuild prices Peter Ledermann is offering
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Last week i have finally mounted my (MI) Joe Grado Signature XTZ again after a long break. Maybe it's because of the room treatment i've done this year, but i love the Grado as never before against the best LOMC. The combination is actually Grado XTZ + Denon DA-401 tonearm on Luxman PD-444 turntable. The phono stage is modified WLM Phonata with 100k Ohm vishay naked foil resistors on MM input. Absolutely stunning combination. I know it's always important to try both types of cartridges, but no doubt than an MI can be a mind blowing in the right system. 

Regarding your question about the styli:
just try to avoid an oldschool profiles like conical/spherical (they are the worst on the planet), get yourself a decent profile like Line Contact type and related, there are so many, they are better for the records and for the sound for sure (some of them can be used for up to 2000 hrs).  
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,475 posts
 
Glen, I mentioned this to you before. 
Replace your 750L with the 850L. Way better. Can you move the 750 to position 2 or do you have to use a 9"?
You are missing an opportunity to make a large improvement to your table by not replacing the idler with the $110 Audiosilente wheel.



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