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Thinking about MC cartridges

I agree with the majority consensus, Going MC can be a costly endeavor, at least to do right.

Usually things begin to go north of $1000, and in fact such is a drop in the bucket. I'm surely not coming in to brag, there's people here I'm sure that makes my stuff look "intro".

Let's say you dropped $4,000 or so on a Cartridge and Phono Stage? Is your table and rest of your system worthy of climbing this far up the ladder?

As for High Output (HO) MC's. In all cases, and if there is a LO version of the same Cartridge, the LO usually will perform better. Comes down to coil windings and more mass.

Another downside with MC, damage or wear out the Stylus, you aren't going to simply buy a Stylus replacement and pop it in.

Even HO MC's can fall short as far as Gain, going into a run of the mill MM Phono Stage, whether built in, or a separate. They say loading at 47K Ohms is usually fine with a HO MC with an output higher than 1mv.
But-1-2mv ain't gonna cut it running into lets say a vintage receiver.

There's lots of very nice MMs out there, where lesser money can still provide very pleasing sound.

Audio Technica, Ortofon, Denon. and others.
 
Cartridges are like women , no matter what you have, there’s always a better one walking around the corner .
I know I’m right, the evidence is those people who have many cartridges; that’s their “ harem”.
I love my SAE 1000LT, great cart , nice sound.
Yet, I rediscovered my Empire 1000 mm cart with a barely used oem elliptical stylus,so she is my current lady
 
katana1100 said:
Cartridges are like women , no matter what you have, there’s always a better one walking around the corner .
I know I’m right, the evidence is those people who have many cartridges; that’s their “ harem”.
I love my SAE 1000LT, great cart , nice sound.
Yet, I rediscovered my Empire 1000 mm cart with a barely used oem elliptical stylus,so she is my current lady
Click to expand...

Like my Grace which I still prefer over the SAE, but that's not all that surprising really.
 
My very first “foot” into the MC waters was a VAS basic 103 elliptical, with a Denon AU 320 SUT, all together just over $400 :thumbsup: one could even do it for less…

I’ve spent considerably more since then;) but that original combo still sounds fantastic:trebon:


VR
Andy
 
adnick said:
My very first “foot” into the MC waters was a VAS basic 103 elliptical, with a Denon AU 320 SUT, all together just over $400 :thumbsup: one could even do it for less…

I’ve spent considerably more since then;) but that original combo still sounds fantastic:trebon:


VR
Andy
Click to expand...

Is that the one where he adds a weight to the cart to make it work on lower mass arms?
 
I've been using MC cartridges exclusively for almost forty years as they tend to offer better transparency. The two I still own are both mid output models (1 mv) and have enjoyed using comparatively high gain conventional two stage preamps with them. Your Thalia should be able to accommodate a high output model.

My current one is a discontinued VPI flavor of the Dynavector DV-20.

vpi_dyna.jpg
 
kbwhaaland said:
Which MMs would you suggest instead of the Rega Exact and why?
Click to expand...
I can answer this, the Rega is total junk, if you open one up ( I have) the coil former looks like a bent coat hanger and probably is. Thr coil looks like it has been wound by a chimp. Then thr stylus has no tieback, it is thick and heavy and they are not glued into the suspension so they creep out, move back and forth and rotate.
The cart us far from flat response no matter how you load it. It is utter junk.
Re alternatives?
Literally anything is better.
Chris
 
Another example, bought a used DL 103R with the cantilever broken off for $65 and sent it to Joseph Long for a Nude Black elliptical, that was another $250 with shipping….it would take more than $1000 to better it:thumbsup:

There’s lots of options,

Andy
 
adnick said:
My very first “foot” into the MC waters was a VAS basic 103 elliptical, with a Denon AU 320 SUT, all together just over $400 :thumbsup: one could even do it for less…

I’ve spent considerably more since then;) but that original combo still sounds fantastic:trebon:


VR
Andy
Click to expand...
Boron and Micro ridge sounds fab with the 103.
Not a fan of Vas though...
Chris
 
adnick said:
Another example, bought a used DL 103R with the cantilever broken off for $65 and sent it to Joseph Long for a Nude Black elliptical, that was another $250 with shipping….it would take more than $1000 to better it:thumbsup:

There’s lots of options,

Andy
Click to expand...
That is really expensive, but at least the job will be done correctly I suppose..
Chris
 
cafe latte said:
That is really expensive, but at least the job will be done correctly I suppose..
Chris
Click to expand...

Shouldn’t have to be extremely specific if someone is satisfied, but that amount included inspections of a couple of other cartridges, hardened tapered aluminum cantilever ( which I specified) and nude Ogura Vital PE elliptical for $250

I’m very pleased with the results…

VR
Andy
 
adnick said:
Shouldn’t have to be extremely specific if someone is satisfied, but that amount included inspections of a couple of other cartridges, hardened tapered aluminum cantilever ( which I specified) and nude Ogura Vital PE elliptical for $250

I’m very pleased with the results…

VR
Andy
Click to expand...
That is rather expensive, but like I said the work is good, others out there are not good at all, at least Joseph is doing is right, but for aluminium elliptical it is on the high side.
Most dont charge for checking if you do any work at all.
Chris
 
cafe latte said:
That is rather expensive, but like I said the work is good, others out there are not good at all, at least Joseph is doing is right, but for aluminium elliptical it is on the high side.
Most dont charge for checking if you do any work at all.
Chris
Click to expand...

Out of the 4 well known service providers offering the same package deal Joseph was almost $50 lower than the next closest, the other 2 were even higher…
 
adnick said:
Out of the 4 well known service providers offering the same package deal Joseph was almost $50 lower than the next closest, the other 2 were even higher…
Click to expand...
There are retippers a lot cheaper doing it right. Like I said though Joseph is doing it right which is half the battle. There is some truely terrible work out there at least Joseph you got a good retip, just saying he is on the expensive side.
Chris
 
I’m not going to mention names or estimates but those 4 are the ones most mentioned here and on other sites I patronize ….so you’ll have to be very specific about who is cheaper, because as I said, his was the lowest estimate.

VR
Andy
 
adnick said:
I’m not going to mention names or estimates but those 4 are the ones most mentioned here and on other sites I patronize ….so you’ll have to be very specific about who is cheaper, because as I said, his was the lowest estimate.

VR
Andy
Click to expand...
You have a PM..
Expert is very cheap as I said in the PM slow though, Dmitry was very cheap too but the war stuffed that option and there others too.
Chris
 
Blewpernt said:
So in your first mention, you said it was a Swiss Black elliptical. In the second one you said it was the Vital PE. Which one was it?

That is all.
Click to expand...
Have several, that one is specifically the Ogura Vital PE elliptical….that’s the reason I corrected the post.
 
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