MC-MM-MI CARTRIDGES . DO YOU KNOW WHICH HAS BETTER QUALITY PERFORMANCE? REALLY?


Dear friends:The main subject of this thread is start a dialogue to find out the way we almost all think or be sure about the thread question :  " true " answer.

 

Many years ago I started the long Agon MM thread where several audiophiles/Agoners and from other audio net forums participated to confirm or to discover the MM/MI/IM/MF/HOMC world and many of us, me including, was and still are" surprised for what we found out in that " new " cartridge world that as today is dominated by the LOMC cartridges.

 

Through that long thread I posted several times the superiority of the MM/types of cartridges over the LOMC ones even that I owned top LOMC cartridge samples to compare with and I remember very clearly that I posted that the MM and the like cartridges had lower distortion levels and better frequency range quality performance than the LOMC cartridges.

 

In those times j.carr ( Lyra designer ) was very active in Agon and in that thread  I remember that he was truly emphatic  posting that my MM conclusion was not  true due that things on distortion cartridge levels in reality is the other way around: LOMC has lower distortion levels.

 

Well, he is not only a LOMC cartridge designer but an expert audiophile/MUSIC lover with a long long and diverse first hand experiences listening cartridges in top TT, top tonearms and top phono stages and listening not only LOMC cartridges but almost any kind of cartridges in his and other top room/systems.

 

I never touched again that subject in that thread and years or months latter the MM thread I started again to listening LOMC cartridges where my room/system overall was up-graded/dated to way superior quality performance levels than in the past and I posted somewhere that j.carr was just rigth: LOMC design were and are superior to the other MM type cartridges been vintage or today models.

 

I'm a MUSIC lover and I'm not " married " with any kind of audio items or audio technologies I'm married just with MUSIC and what can gives me the maximum enjoyment of that ( every kind )  MUSIC, even I'm not married with any of my opinions/ideas/specific way of thinking. Yes, I try hard to stay " always " UNBIASED other than MUSIC.

 

So, till today I followed listening to almost every kind of cartridges ( including field coil design. ) with almost every kind of tonearms and TTs and in the last 2 years my room/system quality performance levels were and is improved by several " stages " that permits me better MUSIC audio items judgements and different enjoyment levels in my system and other audio systems. Yes, I still usemy test audio items full comparison proccess using almost the same LP tracks every time and as always my true sound reference is Live MUSIC not other sound system reproduction.

 

I know that the main thread subject is way complicated and complex to achieve an unanimous conclusions due that exist a lot of inherent differences/advantages/unadvantages in cartridges even coming from the same manufacturer.

 

We all know that when we talk of a cartridge we are in reality talking of its cantilever buil material, stylus shape, tonearm used/TT, compliance, phono stage and the like and my " desire " is that we could concentrate in the cartridges  as an " isolated " audio item and that  any of our opinions when be posible  stay in the premise: " everything the same ".

 

My take here is to learn from all of you and that all of us try to learn in between each to other and not who is the winner but at the " end " every one of us will be a winner.

 

So, your posts are all truly appreciated and is a thread where any one can participates even if today is not any more his analog alternative or is a newcomer or heavily experienced gentleman. Be my guest and thank's in advance.

 

Regards and ENJOY THE MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,

R.

Ag insider logo xs@2xrauliruegas

@mijostyn : You are only bla, bla, bla, with out any white paper foundation or any " number ". Your bla, bla, bla, is not enough in this specific regards where this time you are still Wrong no matters what. My posts proved and have the foundation wth vintage and today top cartridges when you have NOTHING to show and you will not.

Your last sentence is totally wrong due that in reality is the other way around. Do you think J.Carr is wrong?. You are wrong, period. Please don’t insist, is useless and you can contaminate other in good shape gentlemans.

Sorry, this time.

R.

@mijostyn : I know for sure that you have not a single hair of stupidity however in an very un-usual way you are posting several stupid things and I don’t know why but in this post I will try to help you again because you know that I appreciated you:

 

" The cantilever of any good modern cartridge is 1/2 the size and the stylus of the MR is so small you would have a hard time seeing it in a picture like that. Sorry Raul, you can not beat physics. ............................................................................................ it seems you do not understand the relationship between compliance, VTF, contact patch and effective moving mass. "

 

All of those is totally wrong:

Dynavector 13D came with the world smallest cantilever ever in cantilevered cartridge designs:1.3mm and was not the only one but in those times were the 23R and 17D too or one of the jcarr prefered vintage LOMC that is the Highphonic D15 with a minuscle cantilever and very wide FR range from 10hz to over 85khz where my MC A6 goes from 10hz to 75khz miniature cantilever and both cartridges with 24cu obviously great trackers

Guess what? that  even today Dr. VDH reference cartridge is the vintage MM Technics EPC100C MK4 ( stand alone version. ) that came with tube tapered boron cantilever that is less weigthy than the today boron rod cantilevers but that’s not all because this very old MM cartridge comes with a stylus with the lowest effective world moving mass of only 0.098mg: yes you are reading well and yes very high compliance but all these examples are not the only ones there are a lot more and these are only examples for you can learn overall and don’t try to diminished again what I posted in that specific regards in this thread.

Yes,I can’t beat physics and certainly your misunderstood no sense bla, bla, bla, neither can.

 

R.

 

Btw, I owned or own all those top vintage cartridges that I named.

That Technics MM cartridge can’t be overall beated for any MI design including the AKG P100 LE however the MM AT ML180OCC or the AT25 are a true challenge for it.

As a reality exist several great MM/MI/HOMC/LOMC that came from those old times. Lyra and VDH designers know it.

 

R.

Raul, you’re misreading the data table. And what would be the meaning of “stereo separation” applied to any mono cartridge? Try again.