Mather
Unknown Member
Yeah that's a possibility for sure. Although I think I might want to get outside the Ort ecosystem for this one.
Phono Cartridges - Your favorites and least favorites?
- Thread starter imajindat
- Start date
Angsty
Well-Known Member
Shout out to VAS on stylus retips. They’re right next door to VPI in NJ. Would have to pay in US dollars, though. Steve can quote whatever you want.
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
The AT33Sa is pretty damn good for high end sound but still reasonable on the price scale. I did buy it used with very few hours, which was a very fortunate find under $300 but a major upgrade over the lower AT33PGII.
LOMC once you hear it on the table, doubt you will go back to MM. It's really good technology.
LOMC once you hear it on the table, doubt you will go back to MM. It's really good technology.
Angsty
Well-Known Member
I'm less convinced of that than I used to be. When I upgraded my table, the performance gap between my best MM/MI and my best LOMC got considerably more narrow. It was to the point that there were differences, but I could be happy with either.
And we know how @HiFi Guy feels about his MI woody Grados ...
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Yeah that could be. I like the detail and fidelity coming through with LOMC.
Of course no one has heard every cart/TT/phono combo in the world so it's a bit of personal experience like any thing else.
MI makes a lot of sense-it’s got the lowest moving mass of any cartridge type save optical.
Joe Grado invented the stereo moving coil cartridge and held the patent. So why didn’t Grado make MC cartridges too? I saw his nephew say that Joe Grado knew the limitations of MC cartridges better than anyone. Unfortunately he didn’t say what those limitations were.
There’s lots of good information on MI cartridges over at Soundsmith. Soundsmith calls them “fixed coil”- but it’s the same as MI. Another possibility would be the Nagaoka MP-500. You can get a great deal at CDJapan. The Nagaoka also has a user replaceable stylus.
I tried a SS here- the Otello ES. Amazing bass, but the top end was rolled off.
Edit: The woodys are huge- but you get used to it. The reason is that the body allows the center of gravity to be placed over the stylus for better tracking. The Reference3 tracks like it’s on rails.
The big difference between a Grado and the others is that the Grado is a very low inductance design- cable capacitance doesn’t matter. The SS is much much higher inductance (like MM) so cable capacitance matters. I believe the Nagaoka is a low inductance design- the generator is a copy of a vintage ADC design but with a modern cantilever/stylus assembly. I’d have to research a bit to verify if anyone has interest.
Angsty
Well-Known Member
Agree regarding the Nagaoka designs. I have the MP-300, which is a great performer and tracks really well. The removable stylus does obliviate the need to do retips while sounding very competitive with LOMCs under US$1000.
Mather
Unknown Member
The MP 500 has been on my list for a while now, replaceable stylus being a big reason although I thought it was an MM. Didn't realize MP was even a thing. So that's new to me. The Grado Reference is $2000 up here before tax, so even with 66% rebuy cost that's still pretty dang high but it's still on the list. The Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC Star is one I very much want and rebuild cost is great but obviously very small operation and rebuild times long and they could probably just close up shop due to health or retirement at like any time and that would be that so yeah... ART9 is way more expensive than it used to be and AT seems to be really cagey about rebuild costs, can't find any info online about it at all except for the ART100 being 2Gs to rebuild.
Still deciding.
Still deciding.
Last edited:
Angsty
Well-Known Member
moving permalloy (MP) = moving iron (MI). Close to moving magnet (MM), but not exactly the same since MP/MI have lower moving mass.
The MP-500 stylus will replace my MP-300 when it wears out (which will be soon if I start using it again). I have the Hanas loaded on both tables now and will likely switch out to Nagaoka and SAE once the Hanas are ready for retips.
With VAS, retipping both Hanas will cost US$500 - $600 combined, so I'll burn through my other inventory before shipping carts back to New Jersey.
I’ve got another idea.
You could actually get a Koetsu Black Goldline. They are $3k here in the States but if you get one from a Japanese seller off eBay, you’d be $1425 US shipped.
I hadn’t really thought about it until I saw a few guys over at SHF buying them. Then I figured out they were going straight to Japan.
Food for thought and if I didn’t love my Grado so much, I’d likely go this route.
A retipper can keep your ongoing costs very low.
Mather
Unknown Member
That's an interesting idea, I can't say that I haven't drooled over pretty much all of their carts for a while now. I'd probably get just murdered on duty fees unfortunately unless I could somehow convince the seller not to claim the proper costs. But I'll look into that. The place I got my turntable from actually carries them and I MAY be able to get it at cost which would probably be about that same price. I'll look into that thanks!
Koetsu Black Goldline Moving Coil Cartridge - Positive Feedback
Auditioning cartridges is a lot like wine tasting and shopping for televisions. You never know how good a glass of wine from a $100 bottle tastes compared to a $10 bottle until you've experience it for yourself. And you never truly appreciate the delta between TVs until you've seen them side by...
positive-feedback.com
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
New addition.
Was able to find one new and avoid the last two price increases.
Some AT33 LOMC carts will be hitting the market soon, if this XI is as good as reviews are saying.
Oldwhitelincoln11
Well-Known Member
Hit me up on those LOMC.
New addition.
Was able to find one new and avoid the last two price increases.
Some AT33 LOMC carts will be hitting the market soon, if this XI is as good as reviews are saying.
Oldwhitelincoln11
Well-Known Member
I threw an AT-VML540 micro line on my technics SL-1200 at work. Really impressed with this cart. It’s not broken in yet but I feel like it performs above its price range. Not as good as my rega ania MC at home, but def better than the ortofon blue.
Angsty
Well-Known Member
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
This little thing is as good as advertised.
Definitely spoiled with the threaded holes in the cart.
see ya nuts later!
Vocals and strings are separated with some natural goodness.
Plus the 0.5mV just punches really nice on anything you throw at it.
No regrets picking up this cart.
Pics setting up on the Vinyl Source protractor (BAERWALD)
Definitely spoiled with the threaded holes in the cart.
see ya nuts later!
Vocals and strings are separated with some natural goodness.
Plus the 0.5mV just punches really nice on anything you throw at it.
No regrets picking up this cart.
Pics setting up on the Vinyl Source protractor (BAERWALD)
Angsty
Well-Known Member
How long did it take to align? Thinking of upgrading from the GeoDisc to a custom alignment jig.This little thing is as good as advertised.
Definitely spoiled with the threaded holes in the cart.
see ya nuts later!
Vocals and strings are separated with some natural goodness.
Plus the 0.5mV just punches really nice on anything you throw at it.
No regrets picking up this cart.
Pics setting up on the Vinyl Source protractor (BAERWALD)
Jbraswell
Well-Known Member
Less then 10 minutes. The Technics jig gets you 80-90% there and then you just finely tune it with the protractor.