cartridge identification

[Twmangrove]

Hello,

Can anyone identify this cartridge??

 

[wualta]

Looks like a Micro-Acoustics 630.

 

[Twmangrove]

That could be the one, yes! If correct, it is installed on a technics slq-303 turntable; would this be a good match?

 

[wualta]

If the cartridge comes with all its little auxiliary weights (stored in the cartridge body) plus the 1-gram extra auxiliary weight it left the factory with, it can be fine-tuned to the Technics arm. More important, however, is the condition of the diamond, because replacement styli for these cartridges are very hard to come by.

 

[NoTransistors]

The supplied weights are only made for getting the thing to balance.
The cartridge weighs next to nothing and is designed for an arm that weighs next to nothing.
I am wondering if the Panasonic is a good match.
Also, these diamonds are known to not last the 2,000 hours as do some others, and cantilevers are long and thin AND the suspension is as delicate as a raw egg.
Be gentle.
If everything is intact, can be re-tipped.

 

[HamboneF18]

The supplied weights are only made for getting the thing to balance.
The cartridge weighs next to nothing and is designed for an arm that weighs next to nothing.
I am wondering if the Panasonic is a good match.
Also, these diamonds are known to not last the 2,000 hours as do some others, and cantilevers are long and thin AND the suspension is as delicate as a raw egg.
Be gentle.
If everything is intact, can be re-tipped.

I’ve got 4 MA cartridges. A QDC-1, MA309, 2 MA 3002s. I’ve found the cantilevers to be fragile; long and thin. You see many for sale with snapped cantilevers. But the suspensions have all been good and quite robust.

The weights are stackable under the “hood” to add mass to match the tonearm mass. ULM arm to medium mass arm.

 

[NoTransistors]

I do not agree.
Even the instruction book clearly states that the little weights are simply for balancing.
Arm mass and resonance is more than a simple little 1/2 gram add-on weight.

 

[HamboneF18]

View attachment 2785312 I do not agree.
Even the instruction book clearly states that the little weights are simply for balancing.
Arm mass and resonance is more than a simple little 1/2 gram add-on weight.

Exactly where are you getting your information?

 

[NoTransistors]

From my experience with arm mass and cartridge matching AND this cartidge's owner's booklet, as I previously stated.
Unless you feel that the engineers at MA were wrong.

 

[HamboneF18]

View attachment 2785312 I do not agree.
Even the instruction book clearly states that the little weights are simply for balancing.
Arm mass and resonance is more than a simple little 1/2 gram add-on weight.

You don’t have to agree.

But it’s true. The weights are for matching mass of the cartridge to the tonearm.







Here you go:

 

[NoTransistors]

I have the same printed material for my 630.
Perhaps we can consider it vague enough to be subject to individual interpretation.

 

[HamboneF18]

I have the same printed material for my 630.
Perhaps we can consider it vague enough to be subject to individual interpretation.

But yet, you still disagree with my statement? Almost word for word what the booklet says. So exactly how was I wrong?

The weights are stackable under the “hood” to add mass to match the tonearm mass. ULM arm to medium mass arm.

 

[NoTransistors]

The instructions are vague.
Your booklet does differ. Mine simply speaks about adding or removing weights to get the arm to balance. Nothing more audiophile-oriented than that. The illustration, though, duplicates yours.
So my contradicting of your interpretation is based on my not realizing the difference in the booklets.
Apologies.

 

[Fishead]

Nice stuff there......I came by my MA630 in a trade with a friend who needed some flies that I tie, so we agreed to a swap and he had all the original packaging with it! Going through this, and reading the previous highly interesting and informative posts, I realized that I may not have set it up in the most opportune of ways. It's on my Thorens TD-160 turntable with the TP16 arm, which is medium effective mass at 12.5gr, so I decided to attach all supplied weights bringing the 2.5gr. lightweight cartridge up to a more hefty 5gr. (3 X .5gr + 1 X 1gr. with the weights = 5gr.). This still begs the question of compliance, however, and I was unable to find any information about that. Running it through some listening tests revealed that it leans toward the brighter side but nothing that was sibilant. Just for grins and to observe the behavior of the cantilever, with tracking force set to 1.25gr (the top limit of the range), I dropped the stylus on a stationary record and was a bit surprised that it gave very little if any. Can be good or bad I thought. Either the suspension is still nice and firm, or it is dried up and shot but I'm not even sure what the suspension is made of on this cartridge? All that aside, I had fun listening to it and think I'll give my friend a call to thank him again. Here are some shots of the stuff:




So here's my question: in the discussion it was suggested that the supplied weights might be used to do more than get the arm to "balance." Since one of the critical things about arms and cartridges being a good match has to do with the compliance of the cartridge, I'm not sure what the purpose was of making the cartridge heavier aside from being able to use an arm of greater effective mass and still be able to get the tracking force dialed in. Beyond that, wouldn't it be dependent on the compliance/suspension? I am really not clear on this so thought I would ask. What do you all think?

 

[HamboneF18]

Compliance, by itself, is just the spring force of the cantilever suspension. It has no real meaning without the effective mass of the tonearm. So the arm matters a great deal. To more effectively match the tonearm effective mass to the compliance of the cantilever suspension, those little weights can help tune the arm system. Cartridge weight adds to the tonearm effective mass. Of course, using a heavier, or lighter, headshell can work too.

Since the cartridge is so incredibly light, having the available weights is helpful.

I was experimenting with my 309 last night. I have the weights inside the cartridge. But I wanted to see if the bass response would increase if I added mass to the headshell. I have a dime (2.5 g), a penny (3.5 g) and a nickel (5 g). I tried the dime. It did make the bass more pronounced. Penny was no improvement.

 

[Fishead]

Thanks for your comments there @HamboneF18 ......I should very much like to know and understand all the intricacies of "the system," thinking of the cartridge and tonearm interaction. What my involvement with it has taught me suggests that when one part (or more) functions in a way that causes loss of synergy, the result is unpleasant sound quality. So, thinking of it this way, if the tonearm happens to be high effective mass, then to achieve synergy a low compliance cartridge (stiffer suspension) is desirable. Both the weight of the cartridge and the tonearm are taken into account when determining effective mass of the tonearm. As long as increased mass doesn't overload the suspension of the cartridge (compliance the issue), then that synergy would seem to be achieved. Does that make any sense?

 

[HamboneF18]

Yup! About sums it up.