soma89
Well-Known Member
Lately I have been reading around about hifi again, mostly about certain phono cartridges and styli. What has caught my attention is that a lot of "mid-level" mm phono cartridges are being praised as audiophile quality with many saying that they compare favourably to a lot of the 70s and 80s classic mm's.
The only thing is that today they are produced and sold for what seems to be a lot cheaper than what they were going for during the 70s, 80s.
Has the line between midlevel and totl mm cartridges been blurred that much during the last 10 or so years?
Also, I commonly run into the comment about Cartridges not being THAT different from eachother internally, putting a lot of emphasis on the quality of their styli.
Does this mean that by putting a higher end elliptical stylus (..if it existed) on a entry/midlevel phono cartridge (ie. Audio Technica 3600l, NOT talking about those ceramic carts you could get for $3..something decent and reputable), I'd be getting performance that equals that of an mm cart w elliptical stylus that retails for around $150-$250 ?
The only thing is that today they are produced and sold for what seems to be a lot cheaper than what they were going for during the 70s, 80s.
Has the line between midlevel and totl mm cartridges been blurred that much during the last 10 or so years?
Also, I commonly run into the comment about Cartridges not being THAT different from eachother internally, putting a lot of emphasis on the quality of their styli.
Does this mean that by putting a higher end elliptical stylus (..if it existed) on a entry/midlevel phono cartridge (ie. Audio Technica 3600l, NOT talking about those ceramic carts you could get for $3..something decent and reputable), I'd be getting performance that equals that of an mm cart w elliptical stylus that retails for around $150-$250 ?
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