Ortofon X3 X5 MC Cartridges

RIGHT--that's why it's not going to be 'audiophile grade'...
They're demo tapes from my high shool days...

be careful psychic - talking of burning cd's & mailing 'em gets a-gon & their lawyers real bent outta shape. i am serious here... of course, if yure only sending me cuts ya bootlegged from the radio, & from yer friend's garage bands, etc., which is what i'm *sure* yure doin', then it's ok... ;~)

Send me your mailing address and I'll burn a couple of bad ass, real salsa CDs for you. Sorry, it's not going to be audiophile grade sound...

hi psychic,

i am partial to melos preamps. but, if ya like buying brand-gnu, yure outta luck as they're no longer in biz. and, if yure not scared off yet, how about the fact that, after ~20 years of quality product, they finally went under cuz of poor service & quality-control at the end? still w/me? ;~)

all that said, i *still* tink ya can't beat the sound for the price, & if ya wanna splurge on their top-model, it will be competitive w/*any* linestage at *any* price. also, there's a company founded by a former melos engineer, (melos audio restorations) to service & upgrade the product, so these *can* still be fixed, if needed.

their best, most recent pre's, the ma333r & the music director, can be had for ~$1-$2k, depending on whether or not they're balanced/single-ended, and if they've been upgraded. these massive beasts have a separate power-supply as big as the main preamp, & are as good as it gets, imo. also, most have remote-control for wolume/balance. for ~$700-$1100, ewe can get the sha-gold reference, & maestro, similar to the top-line units, but no separate power-supply. these also have a world-class headfone amp, if yure into that. for <$500, ewe can find the sha-1, which is basically a simpler no-remote, only-3-input wersion of the sha-gold. older, but still excellent melos preamps, such as the ma-110 & ma-220 can be found, i believe for ~$500, or less.

good luck, doug s.

ps - i *love* salsa! ;~)

Sedond, you're the man...That's the cartridge Kenny from Needledoctor told me to get for my Technics 1200/Biotronics low output MC preamp combo I have. Glad to know. Kenny says that for our TTs (he owns a 1200 also) the X3 and MC 25 MK II are the cartridges to own if you listen to all types of music. I'm getting there...just need a line livel preamp to match my dynamic, jumpy and high current Proton 50W dual mono amp. Any suggestions?

hi psychic, i have good sound w/my ortofon mc25-fl - a great tracking low-output mc. retailing for $450, the needle dr. has 'em perpetually on sale for $225. i have a symphonic-line re-tipped lyra clavis that i still haven't tried yet, cuz i enjoy the ortofon...

regards, doug s.

No matter what I have said it is HARD to go wrong with the latest Shure, although the previous version is said to be more accurate in the bass region. The Shure will track just about anything. What arm are you using?

Thanks for the feedback. I recently bought a Technics SL-1200MK2 and am modifying it for high end use. Pretty much my choices w/in the midclass range come down to the Shure V15 V, the Ortofon X3/5 and the Audio Technica OC 9 low output MC. I have an excellent but old low output MC preamp which has a very narrow range (0.03-0.05 mV input voltage). I want to make a good choice. Thanks again.

I had an X3 for several years in a Linn Ittok. I found it a good tracker - never heard mistracking on any record I played - and was overall a good midclass cartridge. Just follow directions, no special setup necessary. I do use the HFN/RR test record to set up. At the time the other hioutput'coil choices were limited to the Dynavector 10X which was so bright it gave me a migraine - unlike recent production.