doctor fuse
Super Member
Has anyone tried putting a decent MC cartridge on a cheap turntable? If so, with what equipment, and what kind of results?
Badass MC cartridge on cheapass turntable - anyone done it?
- Thread starter doctor fuse
- Start date
Depends what you mean by cheap, if you mean a low cost used one, I have with my Sony BioTracer and it works a treat, but I doubt I would with something that's cheaply made, the result might be that you are not getting anywhere near the performance from the cart because of the constraints imposed by the turntable. Back in the day I tried higher end MM carts on cheap turntables and they did not perform well at all.
Satch
Audiotinkerer
Maybe this doesn't fit the bill, but I've used an Benz-Micro MC-20E2 'High Output' (golden body) on several cheap(er) turntables. To my ears it always sounded at least decent if not better. But now it's been fitted on a midrange TT (A|kai AP-006) for years and I like it that way.
Legrace
Super Member
How about vintage vs cheap. Table is a 70’s vintage Dual DD, cartridge is a Rega Apheta 2 LOMC. Replaced a V15III. With the LOMC background is totally silent. Immediately noticed the improvement. Add in greater detail retrieval combo sounds amazing. Newfound appreciation how well engineered the arms were on those old Duals!
DustyOldPile
Vinyl Goddess
My first Denon DL-300 came on a piece of crap Denon close n play.
Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
I guess it depends on what you mean by Bassass moving coil. The problem is that these kind of cartridges usually have line contact stylus, and that means vertical tracking angle adjustment is an important set up parameter. Cheap turntables often do not have this adjustment capability. Secondly badass moving coil cartridges require quality tone arms to minimize resonance so the final sound is not compromised by these distortions. I tend to agree with the old Linn philosophy of turntable first, then tone arm, finally cartridge. The table and arm are foundational pieces that allow the cartridge to realize its full potential. Its better to have a cheaper cartridge at 100% then a more expensive one at 60%.
Although I have put a cartridge that retails for $4K on a table and arm I paid $900 for.
Regards
Mister Pig
Although I have put a cartridge that retails for $4K on a table and arm I paid $900 for.
Regards
Mister Pig
Freddymac2
Super Member
I know that most of you will throw stones at me and say, "oh my God how can you do that!!" i have had Dual's, AR's and a Sony S3000 with a Grace 707 on it. I really did not know how good the Koetsu Rosewood Long Body was because it was a gift to me for some work I did for someone. Two and a half years ago I found a Luxman PD 289 at a thrift shop with a working Denon 103 in it for $40. It is a full automatic with a medium lite strait arm on it. I am not impressed by the SN and wow and flutter numbers that are published on it. I figured if it was good enough for the Denon, why not try the Koetsu on it.
I think this unit was made by Micro Seiki for Luxman. The unit is cheaply made and is not good at sound isolation, so i have had to address those problems in my own ways. It is a lot quieter than the Sony, and twice as good in speed accuracy, due to the fact that the Sony is belt drive. I know I should tape the K to a lead bar to get the most out of it, but for some reason this combination sounds just wonderful, with any kind of music I put through it.
EDIT:
I am not stupid enough to think I could not do better with another TT and arm, but my current output is so much better than ANY of the cartridges and TT that I have heard, is good enough for me. In my area most of the audio shops don't even know what TT is, and if they do they don't set them up properly. The other fact is I am operating on a beer budget.
I think this unit was made by Micro Seiki for Luxman. The unit is cheaply made and is not good at sound isolation, so i have had to address those problems in my own ways. It is a lot quieter than the Sony, and twice as good in speed accuracy, due to the fact that the Sony is belt drive. I know I should tape the K to a lead bar to get the most out of it, but for some reason this combination sounds just wonderful, with any kind of music I put through it.
EDIT:
I am not stupid enough to think I could not do better with another TT and arm, but my current output is so much better than ANY of the cartridges and TT that I have heard, is good enough for me. In my area most of the audio shops don't even know what TT is, and if they do they don't set them up properly. The other fact is I am operating on a beer budget.
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MurrayLives
Born to lose, live to win
I've done it, sounded cheap. Doing the reverse also sounds cheap.
Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
Have you seen the prices of good craft beer today? That can be quite a budget!
Regards
Mister Pig
P.G.Mayfair
New Member
My cheap & cheerful Sanyo TP-220 wears an Ortofon VMS 20 Mk II. Not MC of course but given it's price tag and refinement is not really intended for such tables. It works very well though, as the low mass carbon fibre type tonearm on the Sanyo is IMO really far too good for that deck!
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
TJLitt upgraded to an AT MC on his PL-41 and when he thought that cartridge was getting tired he upgraded to a Dynavector 20X2. Only old thing in his rig is the tt. Phenomena phono pre, was a Yamaha new amp upgraded to a Naim integrated, was Klipsch 5.2 upgraded to Golden Ear Triton 2 speakers. He isn't tempted to upgrade his table but I'm working on that. He has been very happy with the results even after checking the alignment with the Dr. Feikert (after he did it by ear) and there was no movement of the stylus needed. He apparently did a fine job of that alignment. Done right you can be happy with a very nice cartridge on a pedestrian turntable. We'll know more when Tom tries a nice table/arm combo.
If it was possible to put a very good cartridge on a cheap turntable and get excellent results quite a few of us would of saved a lot of money but sorry to say it doesn't work that way. To make it work all the components have to be on the same general level of quality and performance.
Balifly
Listening
I do it but not with a really cheap crappy table, why even own that in the first place. But often I try to recommend to people that the cartridge is most of you SQ. They want to jump to the $1500-$2000 table from a good vintage table thinking they are going to have better SQ all the while staying with $100 cartridges.
I would rather see them buy a $800 cart and put it on a $250 quality vintage table, at that point they would think they stepped into a $2000 deck.
Most people spending that much want to see a big physical thing in there system and are reluctant spending so much for a cartridge. But IMHO untill you do so you'll be making sideway moves.
So yeah I put carts valued at three times the tables cost at around $1000 total and can get the sound of a $3000 deck with the same cartridge.
I would rather see them buy a $800 cart and put it on a $250 quality vintage table, at that point they would think they stepped into a $2000 deck.
Most people spending that much want to see a big physical thing in there system and are reluctant spending so much for a cartridge. But IMHO untill you do so you'll be making sideway moves.
So yeah I put carts valued at three times the tables cost at around $1000 total and can get the sound of a $3000 deck with the same cartridge.
Apparently MC cartridges have gotten so expensive, that a badass cartridge in a cheap turntable can mean something that costs as much as a car in a SL1200. Certainly price wise, the SL 1200 looks cheap, but it's a fine (and not actually cheap in the normal meaning of the word) turntable.
I suspect that most bazillion dollar cartridges would sound just fine in an SL 1200, but I doubt very much that they'd sound good in a low end Garrard or BSR. They very well might sound fine in an AR XA with some weight in the headshell, or a better Dual/Miracord/PE/BIC, again with some weight added to the arm.
I suspect that most bazillion dollar cartridges would sound just fine in an SL 1200, but I doubt very much that they'd sound good in a low end Garrard or BSR. They very well might sound fine in an AR XA with some weight in the headshell, or a better Dual/Miracord/PE/BIC, again with some weight added to the arm.
