Cartridge for Turntable

[JMiP]

I have an Onkyo CP-1030F fully automatic direct drive turntable that is actually pretty durn nice. I really don't know much about cartridges and stylusses (stylii?) so if I want to get a nicer cartridge for the turntable, I don't know what to look for.

Right now, the turntable has a Grado cartridge on it. It's light brown/tan in color and the only identifiers on it that I can find is the letter G on the front of the cartridge and a A83 on the back of it. So, I guess it's a Grado G A83? I do a web search on that information and I can't find anything helpful. I'll try to attach some photos that I took while playing a record. Hopefully that helps y'all.

Is this an MM or MC setup? What should I look for when shopping for cartridges.

Oh yeah, some history: a buddy of mind bought this turntable a few years ago for less than $200and the shop owner told him that the stylus on that thing was worth at least as much as the turntable itself. Did he mean the cartridge or just the needle?

 

[spark1]

That is an early Grado cartridge, but I cannot be any more specific on it ID. If they are like the later versions, there are dots on the stylus assembly by which one could identify the particular stylus. I think all Grados use a variation of the moving iron design, which is different from moving magnet designs, but generally these two designs are lumped into the single category of moving magnet. I assume this is because they both provide similar levels of output, vs the lower levels of most moving coil cartridges.

With that kind of tonearm, you don't have to worry a lot about compliance mismatches. But the manual does say that cartridge weight must be in a relatively narrow range of 5-8.5 grams.

Cartridges are much like speakers, both literally and from the standpoint of offering a wide range of characteristics in how they sound. So, it is difficult to make recommendations about what you might like. I would bet that if you post more about what kind of music you listen to, what kind of amp or receiver and speakers you use, and your budget, you will get some suggestions on cartridges that you might consider, from the AT95e (quite nice given its very low $45 price point) to those in the $100 range (Ortofon 2M Red, Shure M97xe, Nagaoka MP110 are the class leaders here) and then as far up as you want to go.

 

[JMiP]

Thanks spark1.

My amp is a JVC JA-S77 (link to online manual at HiFi Engine; and some AK love) and the speakers are The Smaller Advent Loudspeaker (which I am looking to replace to something else. But for now those are my speakers.) The amp has a selector for three types of cartridge load, but I keep that in the middle (47k) because A) I can't hear a difference between the three selections and 2) 47k seems to the most common load (from what I've read online).

My listening habits are kinda all over the place: '70s classic rock, '80s alternative, some metal, some jazz, some country, but I guess mostly rock.

When shopping for a new cartridge, what kinds of specs should I look for? I guess you answered the biggest one with your answer about the Grado being a moving iron. So, I should look for MM cartridges? Am I understanding that correctly? Also, is there a point of diminishing returns with regard to cartridge quality? Will I ever get to the point that I just won't be able to tell the difference?

Thanks again.

 

[tw1st]

Moving iron is rather similar to MM, and one isn't across-the-board inferior to the other.

Many Grados have the same cartridge bodies, however they are testing for tolerance within the specs and the better-performing bodies are paired with better styli and sold as higher models.

We will need a photo of the cartridge from the front clearly showing the stylus assembly (with the two dots on either side) to attempt to identify the model. It is very likely that your body is compatible with the styli still being produced by Grado today.

Does the Grado hum on your table? Do you dislike how it sounds? Do you have sibiliance or inner groove distortion? Do you have money burning a hole in your pocket? If there is a reason you are looking to upgrade, knowing why could help.

If the stylus is simply worn and needs to be replaced, and you answered no to the above questions, you should be looking for a new Grado stylus instead of a cartridge.

 

[spark1]

Certainly a new stylus might be an option, but I think there is a good chance that this cartridge is of the older style, for which new stylii are no longer available from Grado.

As regards moving magnet vs moving iron vs moving coil; generally, moving coil cartridges are significantly more expensive, but can offer somewhat better performance. While an MC cart will certainly work on your turntable, normally this level of investment is reserved for tables with higher performance capabilities. Also, your amp does not include a moving coil preamp section...so if you want to use a moving coil cartridge, you would need to either a) choose one in the "high-output" category, or b) acquire a separate phono preamp capable of providing the additional gain needed for low output MC cartridges.

Moving iron cartridges usually have similar output levels as moving magnet (somewhere around 3-6 millivolts), and therefore can be used with MM phono amp sections. Moving coils are usually lower than 1mV or so. High output MC carts are mostly between there and 2.5-3mV.

Regarding your diminishing returns question...that's a tough one. Certainly the return from each additional dollar spent goes down as price goes up, and you may well like the particular sound of a cartridge that costs $150 better than one which costs $500. But as with just about all products, improved technical performance costs more. As I mentioned above, cartridges are much like speakers, in that "good" has a large element of subjectivity to it. It is difficult to know beforehand how a particular cartridge will sound to your ears, in your system. Just about all you can do is read about the experiences of others with a particular cartridge. Even if you have a good audio shop nearby, at best they will only have a few cartridges mounted for listening.

In addition to compliance, weight and output voltage, another variable to keep in mind is stylus type - that is, the cut and the mounting method of the diamond itself. Cuts move from spherical/conical (least expensive) to elliptical (with variations, such as hyperelliptical) to line contact/microline/Shibata. Better cuts provide more detail, but may have tradeoffs with noise extraction on worn records. Nude mounts are used with higher-end carts, but modern adhesives and related improvements have blurred the distinctions between nude and bonded (glued) to some degree.

My personal opinion, based on a decent amount of experience but certainly not the level of knowledge held by many AK members, is that in your case you should focus on a MM cartridge with a decent elliptical or hyperelliptical cut, weighing between 5 and 8 gram. Compliance, as I mentioned earlier, will not be an issue with your tonearm and just about any mainstream modern cartridge. You can spend anywhere from $50 to $250-300 for such a cartridge

 

[tw1st]

Certainly a new stylus might be an option, but I think there is a good chance that this cartridge is of the older style, for which new stylii are no longer available from Grado.

Ah, I am not that familiar with Grados, however I recently acquired two NOS MTE+1 which are made of the same tan plastic and look very similar, except they lack the large G. These MT bodies accept the contemporary styli.

 

[JMiP]

...
Does the Grado hum on your table? Do you dislike how it sounds? Do you have sibiliance or inner groove distortion? Do you have money burning a hole in your pocket? If there is a reason you are looking to upgrade, knowing why could help.
...

The only hum I hear is when the amp is set to Phono, nothing is playing, and I turn the volume up almost all the way, then I hear a low hum. I figure that's just natural since I have the volume cranked up about 75%. There is no similar hum when I do the same thing in the other selctions: Tuner and Aux. And yes, I do have the turntable ground wire attached to the appropriate ground terminal on the back of the amp. Otherwise, no hum, not even when I'm playing a record.

What I have now sounds fine and there is a low amount of sibilance. The funny thing is, I always thought that the sibilance that I heard on my previous turntables was just a fact of life. That is, until I got this present turntable and there is no hardly any sibilance to hear. This makes me happy.

I do not have money burning a hole in my pocket, but I'm not really looking for anything new right now. I just thought that I would pose this question just in case something were to happen to what I have right now. It would be good to know how to shop for a new one once the time comes. Plus, we have audio jezebels amongst us, tempting us in the Barter Town section with nice cartridges for decent prices. The palms of my hands get sweaty.

 

[Bob T]

Ah, I am not that familiar with Grados, however I recently acquired two NOS MTE+1 which are made of the same tan plastic and look very similar, except they lack the large G. These MT bodies accept the contemporary styli.

Ditto...I have an old Grado MC+ cartridge, and I just added a new Grado Blue Dot stylus. While not my favorite, it does sound pretty darn good.