Moving Magnet Vs. Moving Coil

Inside every phono cartridge you have a working pair of parts: a coil and a magnet. The law of physics says that if you move one in relation to another, an electrical current is produced. This is how moving-coil loudspeakers work. You send a current to a coil and it moves in relation to a fixed magnet, producing movement and therefore, sound. A phono cartridge has a stylus (needle) that is connected to a cantilever. When the stylus traces out a record groove, it moves the cantilever. Connected to the other end of the cantilever is either a magnet, which them moves in relation to a fixed coil (moving magnet), or a moving coil in relation to a fixed magnet (moving coil). Both methods then produce a current. The advantage to a moving magnet cartridge is that you can build a relatively large fixed coil, which allows a larger voltage output to be produced. The disadvantage is a heavy magnet which slows down the response to record groove modulations. With a moving coil you have much less moving mass due to a less massive coil, but the problem is usually less voltage output. So a MC cartridge is a lot more responsive but requires more amplification to produce realistic sound levels. If you have a preamp that only has enough amplification to support MM signals, you will either have to replace it with another phono preamp with enough voltage gain to support a MC cartridge, or buy a transformer or circuit unit that provides additional gain to feed a higher voltage signal to your existing MM phono stage. I think if you took a survey of high-end phono users you would find most prefer the added resolution of MC, but there are some who prefer the robust signal produced by MM cartridges.

I've been reading the Forum for a number of years and Rlawry -- the best explanation to a quetion regarding MM/MC that I've read. You should be commended for being concise and answer the poster's question as direct as possible. Great job.

your mac phono stage is as good as many expensive separates. better mm cartridges from at, music man, garrott bros, and a few others will compete nicely with more expensive mc's. the audio technica 150 sounds better then my lyra dorian, or my sumiko blackbird....on a thorens 147 jubilee.