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Looking for a cartridge to suit a low mass tonearm

Audiowhat?

Audiowhat?

Active Member
Just purchased a fairly mint Harman Kardon T60. It has the the low mass microrace tonearm by ito, and was curious as to what cartridge this arm will suit. High output MC or MM only, I have a short list. Please feel free to comment on any of these or add your own ideas! HK owners, speak up..

goldring 1012
shure MX97E
Rega Bias (needs a retip)
 
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Hmmm, how low is low?

I am running a Stanton 681EEE on a Black Widow knock off mounted on my Pacific Stereo 2QD and it gives a really lush performance. (Note: it doesn't play well with very warped records.) Those HKs were kinda rare but very nice decks; I've read the reports from a number of people who have reported extraordinary performance from them when they'd tuned and tweaked them to factory specs. Here's a picture of my 2QD with the lightweight arm. It gets along well with the 681EEE and, I think, the cartridge was the one it shipped with from the factory.

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Peter

Audiowhat? said:
Just purchased a fairly mint Harman Kardon T60. It has the the low mass microrace tonearm by ito, and was curious as to what cartridge this arm will suit. High output MC or MM only, I have a short list. Please feel free to comment on any of these or add your own ideas! HK owners, speak up..

goldring 1012
shure MX97E
Rega Bias (needs a retip)
Click to expand...
 

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Audiowhat? said:
Just purchased a fairly mint Harman Kardon T60. It has the the low mass microrace tonearm by ito, and was curious as to what cartridge this arm will suit. High output MC or MM only, I have a short list. Please feel free to comment on any of these or add your own ideas! HK owners, speak up..

goldring 1012
shure MX97E
Rega Bias (needs a retip)
Click to expand...

AT440MLa
 
also the cheaper at110e should mate well compliance wise...cheaper than a bias but better sounding to my ears..but it does need several hours run in to tame the treble a bit...once 10-20 hours notched up..hard to beat the sound at the price...
 
Have you seen the prices on the AT440MLa lately? Wow!

They've advanced from being an AK Kult Klassic Kartridge to Legendary status apparently. I just saw a retail price of $199 for this piece.

I take it as a good sign that the groundswell of interest in vinyl is beginning to create bottlenecks in LP record equipment. Perhaps these humble legions of vinyl celebrants, Curators of the Ancient Audio, are succeeding in making this noble pastime a more mainstream pursuit.

A year ago or so, the fellows at Audio Lab in Cambridge told me 15 out of the 20 repairs (they repair everything and refuse no make or model of audio equipment) they'd received before I walked in with my 2QD were all turntables.

hakaplan said:
AT440MLa
Click to expand...
 
I'm running an Ortofon OM40 (the old version, not "super") in a Mayware Formula 4 MkIII (approx. 4.5gr. effective mass) right now.
It sounds really good :yes:
 
melofelo said:
also the cheaper at110e should mate well compliance wise...cheaper than a bias but better sounding to my ears..but it does need several hours run in to tame the treble a bit...once 10-20 hours notched up..hard to beat the sound at the price...
Click to expand...

Agree, or the AT120E.
 
Nice. just put a bid on a technics SL7 with original box and manual! Luckily I have a RXT6 (pmount) should I win that one...
I have never tried an audio technica cart. Will investigate pricing, the ortofon range seems to be a winner at the mo...
 
Audiowhat? said:
Nice. just put a bid on a technics SL7 with original box and manual! Luckily I have a RXT6 (pmount) should I win that one...
I have never tried an audio technica cart. Will investigate pricing, the ortofon range seems to be a winner at the mo...
Click to expand...
The RXT6 is an excellent cartridge and being high compliance, could also be used on the HK, but you'd need a p-mount to standard mount adapter.
 
Yes Howard, I do, (have the adpator) but I don't think the ito arm has VTA adjustment on the T60, and the extra 4mm of height in the cart can cause upsloping arms on 1/2 inch tonearms/headshells.

Nevertheless, I pick the T60 up tonight, the Rxt6 needs a new stylus (thumb met cantilever many years ago.) so I will try it and see if it 'looks' right.
 
I too suggest the OM-series Ortofons, especially the OM-10 or higher models. The differences are in the styli with the higher numbered models having a more sophisticated cut. The models numbered less than OM-10 are budget models but are very good for their very modest prices.
 
The AT-440MLa is A-T's micro-line cartridge and sounds superb! The micro-line stylus plays at the bottom of the groove away from most light surface scratches, but, be aware the the dirt that settles at the bottom of the groove is much harder to remove using a "wipe and clean" method. A good vacuum type record cleaning machine is highly recommended!
 
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