You may NEVER find the right cartridge, but you will have a lot of fun along the way.
I am advocating MM over MC, and a new cartridge, i.e. new stylus, and HIGH output, for NOW.
Not only solves LP sound right away, it lets you take more time and do more research before you move to new, more important, mpore expensive equipment. And, more time to carefully asses you desired features.
The point of a basic elliptical, high output, is it will be your base for future comparison to future cartridges (returns accepted!).
Keep the existing MC, High Output 2.5mv, it may sound fantastic on eventual new equipment with no need for MC pre-pre stage.
Ortofom 2M Red produces 5.5mv, $100.
https://www.amazon.com/Ortofon-Red-Moving-Magnet-Cartridge/dp/B000WMCEKK/ref=sxin_0_ac_d_pm?ac_md=3-1-QmV0d2VlbiAkNTAgYW5kICQyMDA%3D-ac_d_pm&keywords=phono+cartridge&pd_rd_i=B000WMCEKK&pd_rd_r=c69f59d7-1390-4f4d-8e48-8cbd1c56731a&pd_rd_w=JXnwC&pd_rd_wg=MR0Jx&pf_rd_p=aba5dc0d-7593-4752-a14d-357ecc5c98cc&pf_rd_r=VQHY3XZSAGASYAE5D0QM&psc=1&qid=1576685064
excerpt about 2M Red
The Absolute Sound Product of the Year and Editors' Choice Award-Winning Ortofon 2M Red Sets the Standard for Entry-Level High-End Moving-Magnet Phono Cartridges The Ortofon 2M Red MM phono cartridge is as good as audiophile-grade moving-magnet types come at its price point. It features Ortofon's trademark split pole pins, an invention which enables moving-magnet cartridges to have flat frequency response, just like a moving-coil cartridge. 2M Red also uses an improved engine, which provides an increased output of 5.5mV. The 2M Red features a tipped elliptical diamond , engineered for precise and accurate retrieval of the information in the record groove. The Japanese company's 2M series was developed in conjunction with Danish designer Møller Jensen Design. Inspired by the facets of a diamond, whose contours gracefully trace the grooves on a record's surface, 2M 's handsome elegance establishes a great combination of form and functionality. Ortofon' s philosophy is to make cartridges which reproduce the record grooves as accurately as possible, without coloring the sound. The 2M series design has been optimized for ease of mounting and their weight and size fit virtually any current turntable. “[This] is one sophisticated and musical cartridge—for the price of a nice dinner for two.” —Neil Gader, The Absolute Sound , Editors’ Choice Award “If you’re looking for a high-value cartridge…the 2M Red is an excellent place to start.” — Stereophile , Class D Recommended Component “It’s worth experimenting, because at best this is one of the most detailed cartridges we’ve come across at this kind of price.” — Tech Radar “The midrange is full and expressive, handling vocals with sensitivity and warmth. The bass and treble interact well here, and while we'd like more authority from the bass, You need time to consider whether you will try Tubes, preamp or amp also, another reason to get listening right away with a basic elliptical.
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Example I may or may not want an MM cart in the future or a different
MC and I would want to buy something now that can accommodate a fairly
large variety of options vs something that’s more specific to one type
of setup. Buy once cry once if you will...with limitations of course. @tommyd902688 FWIW Dept.: SUTs are not all that specific. They will require loading at the output, depending on the cartridge used and the SUT in use. Jensen transformers makes some of the best for this purpose and also have a pdf on the correct loading for the transformer (assuming also that the input of your Denon is the 47K standard). However I would have expected a cartridge with 2.5mV to be no worries in this situation- and since you are experiencing weak bass and low output that suggests to me that something is amiss rather than you're actually needing a different phono preamp. I would investigate your tone arm setup first to make sure it really is right! For example the arm height can mess with the bass as can the platter pad itself. I have also seen damaged cartridges where they had low output and no bass because the magnetic motor has been damaged, probably from being dropped. I would exhaust these issues first before buying another phono preamp- if you did buy one and you still had the same problem I'm guessing you would not be happy about that. |
Atmasphere: I purchased the zphono xrm yesterday. I was going to update everyone tonight after hooking it up. If your theory is correct and the tonearm is not set properly, or the cartridge is dameged then I would not exactly be pleased. I could always return the zphono at that point. I will look into the height of the tonearm tonight when I get home from work and update you. Being pretty new to this I will admit I hadn't even thought to check that. The person I bought the table from had It set and I suppose I just figured it was good. |
So the tonearm is indeed at the correct height and everything is hooked up. There is a major improvement already. I played around with some of the settings and so far I've run into some interesting findings...
1. I tend to like the sound with the mono switch on. Regardless of the record being stereo or mono.
2. The MC section of the pre amp has 50db gain or 60db. I'm having trouble finding a balance. Recommendation from dynavector is 50db with 1000h ohmz load. So that's where I started. It seemed fine. And playing with the knob up or down didn't improve the sound, and actually degraded in most cases. Then I decided to switch to 60db gain and see what I get. What a difference! It seemed great when I turned it down to around 150-300 ohmz. But in some of the high lyric sections I got some breaking up and crackling. So it seems Im between ok sound at 50db with the impedence all the way up, or pretty good sound at 60db with it cranked all the way down and the occasional crackle pop. What do you guys make of that?
Anyway thanks to all for your input and suggestions. It is playing much better overall regardless of which setting I put it on. And I no longer feel like I made a terrible mistake buying the Sota! I'm going to be spending a lot of time surfing these pages learning as much as I can through my hifi journey. Thank you all agian. |
Usually, high output moving coils are designed to run into a MM section, not a MC section. Your overloading it.
Also, did you hook up your new phono stage to the phono input, or any other high level input, (i.e. Aux, tape, CD, etc)? That's where it should be, (high level input, NOT phono). |
