MC & MM cartridge difference

Dear Dave: Other than with other people posted an important difference is IMHO an unjustified very high price of the MC cartridges against the " low " one in MM cartridges.

Along with all those subjects is the kind of tonearm that usually needs MC and MM cartridges: low to medium mass the MM and medium to high mass the MC cartridges.

Other critical subject is that normally ( 90-95% ) the MC phono stages out there use step-up transformers to achieve the gain for the MC cartridges, this step-up transformers always make a heavy degradation to the cartridge signal: stay away from it.
The MM cartridges does not need any step up transformer, this is an advantage.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

Does the higher preamp gain result in a noiser background for the MC compared to the MM?

Unless the MC stage is a very good one, that is a possibility. The trade off is the greater responsiveness and subtlety of the lower output MC's vs. the higher output MM's and MC's.

Raul's point that MM's can be very satisfying is a good one, which he can make with authority since he owns more fine MC's than most of us own socks. Which type you'd enjoy more would depend on the kind of music you like and your sonic priorities. Since you're asking fairly basic questions, it's a fair bet you haven't fully expolored your sonic priorities, yet. Hearing different equipment types, if you can, is educational for both your audio brain and your ears. Educating them should be one of your higher priorities. Chasing different equipment without understanding your sonic goals can be fun, but it can also get very expensive.

Thanks for all the reply's and great info. This hobby has become quite a obsession for me and I look forward to experimenting. The info in this forum has helped me cut many corners in researching the audio gear needed. I thank you but my wife does not appear to like you guys too much! ;-)

At least until she hears what happens when the needle hits the groove. :-)

dave