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Medium compliance cart on low mass tonearm?

MreowCat

MreowCat

New Member
The JVC l-a31 turntable I bought came installed with an at95e cartridge. I've been having a lot of fun getting it cleaned and fully working, but sometimes I feel like there's something missing in the sound.

From what I've read, the JVC l-a31 has a low-mass tonearm, while the at95e cartridge is better suited to medium mass ones. I'm wondering how much of a difference it would make switching to a cartridge that's a better match, such as an ortofon om10 or a Nagaoka mp110?

Or if it's not worth changing cartridges until I upgrade the rest of my system, which currently is:

Turntable: JVC l-a31 with at95e
Preamp: Art pre dj II
Speakers: Edifier 1280ts
Sub: Energy s8.2
 
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MreowCat said:
The JVC l-a31 turntable I bought came installed with an at95e cartridge. I've been having a lot of fun getting it cleaned and fully working, but sometimes I feel like there's something missing in the sound.

From what I've read, the JVC l-a31 has a low-mass tonearm, while the at95e cartridge is better suited to medium mass ones. I'm wondering how much of a difference it would make switching to a cartridge that's a better match, such as an ortofon om10 or a Nagaoka mp110?

Or if it's not worth changing cartridges until I upgrade the rest of my system, which currently is:

Turntable: JVC l-a31 with at95e
Preamp: Art pre dj II
Speakers: Edifier 1280ts
Sub: Energy s8.2
Click to expand...

It's a starter table but competent enough and should sound better with higher compliance cartridges. What exactly do you feel is missing?

https://www.vinylengine.com/library/jvc/l-a31.shtml
 
You could always up the mass of your tonearm by adding sticker weights to your headshell and counterweight. I believe it's 1 gram at the headshell needs 7 grams at the CW.

ETA: I should add that if you do that you should set your vertical tracking force with a scale and not depend on the markings/settings that your tonearm may have.
 
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You are fine running with your AT 95e on your JVC. Way to much digital text is spilled on compliance in audio forums. If you aren’t experiencing woofer pumping on a good flat record you’re fine *** Use some blutack and a nickel pasted on the headshell and rebalance the arm due to the added mass. See if you can reliably notice a difference.

If you were to switch cartridges you will hear a difference but not because of a compliance mismatch. The change will be in the flavor of cartridge. If you want a change go for it for the sound experience.

*** Edit: correction woofer pumping would more likely be a result of a high compliance cart on a higher mass arm. As long as you aren’t getting noticeable mistracking with your AT95e you should be fine.
 
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First, welcome to Ak. Second, welcome to the rabbit hole, or are they one in the same? "I feel like there is something missing from the sound" is something is something we contemplate regardless of the cost of the system. As always the members here have given some good advice, have you in your cleaning and getting working also made sure the setup is correct (cartridge alignment, etc)?
 
Yes, just noticed that this is your first post so, welcome! :)
ESP's post above should be emphasized - cartridge alignment / setup is key to good sound. And MW makes a very good point about compliance.
Now if you had a low compliance cartridge and a low mass arm (and vice verse) that's where you can run into a major problem. Your cartridge on the JVC table, not so much.
 
MreowCat said:
The JVC l-a31 turntable I bought came installed with an at95e cartridge. I've been having a lot of fun getting it cleaned and fully working, but sometimes I feel like there's something missing in the sound.

From what I've read, the JVC l-a31 has a low-mass tonearm, while the at95e cartridge is better suited to medium mass ones. I'm wondering how much of a difference it would make switching to a cartridge that's a better match, such as an ortofon om10 or a Nagaoka mp110?

Or if it's not worth changing cartridges until I upgrade the rest of my system, which currently is:

Turntable: JVC l-a31 with at95e
Preamp: Art pre dj II
Speakers: Edifier 1280ts
Sub: Energy s8.2
Click to expand...
trust your ear not the gear and agree with @SB12345.
AG.
 
I've been slowly getting more and more into this hobby for the past ten years or so. To be honest I still don't really understand the whole tonearm mass/cart compliance thing. I mean I know what the pairing should be, but the why I'm pretty fuzzy on and also finding good specs of mass/compliance for any given piece of gear seems way more difficult than it should be given how often the topic comes up.

In all likelyhood I'm leaving something on the (turntable? haha) table, but I can tell you without doubt that in my experience the two largest factors in the performance of my system are the speakers I choose and the quality of the source (both the recording itself and the vinyl). Anymore the big bucks I'm spending are going toward quality pressings as I already own too many speakers!

Basically in the chase for ever better sound I'd spend time making sure you're table is set up properly and has the functions you want, then focus on the bigger fish first.
 
How do you feel about the health of your stylus? You got the turntable used, was the stylus fresh on it? Was it damaged during transit?

I ask because, in my experience, a busted (depressed?) cantilever can have an uncanny lifeless sound. The cartridge will be riding very close to the record in such a case. Just a thought!
 
Muddywaters said:
You are fine running with your AT 95e on your JVC. Way to much digital text is spilled on compliance in audio forums.
Click to expand...

Agree here. That cartridge is a nice match for the arm on that table. Make you clean the stylus with a non "lubricating" method. Something like the Onzow. Make sure it's aligned properly and that you are using the proper VTF and have the AS set properly before you jump the gun on the cartridge. Good luck.
 
MreowCat said:
From what I've read, the JVC l-a31 has a low-mass tonearm (...)
Click to expand...

Yes, it does. But I'd assume that arm to be closer to the upper end of the light side (I'd guesstimate ca. 9 g) - so that the AT95E should still be a reasonably good match, and there shouldn't yet be a noticable deficiency in the bass range. That being said, you could of course nevertheless see, whether you can still dig up the discontinued AT120Eb for a reasonable price, which would be a bit heavier, more highly compliant and also provide you with a bit of an upgrade in terms of needle/tip quality.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
Your suggestion to go to an OM10 will make your situation worse as this is a very high compliance cart, the MP10 does not have a stated compliance on V/R. Just add a brass headshell spacer to your arm, say around 4 grams. Plenty of these on F/Bay for a few $'s

Cheers
 
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