Warm sounding phono cartridge
Hello all. I recently upgraded the phono cartridge on my Marantz TT15S1 from the Clearaudio cartridge that came with the table to a Hana Umami Blue. I'm overall happy with the purchase. However, while the Hana has made my well cared for and well recorded LP's sound excellent many of my albums now sound thin to me and noisy. Clicks and pops have been exacerbated to the point that I do not want to play some records even after a run through my Degritter ultrasonic.
I'm looking for a phono cartridge MM, MC or MI in the $1,000 range or less that is warm sounding and less revealing than the Hana. Any thoughts?
That has not been my experience at all, nor have even read heard about that being an issue from others. Quite the opposite. I read about taming the top end of some AT and Ortofon carts with proper loading, but the MP500. |
Agree with knotscott, in my system the MP500 is a very well balanced cartridge. If anything, it has an especially rich bass register without losing detail or separation of instruments. In fact I’d recommend it to counteract a “thin” sound. I’ve never seen any comment to the effect that the MP500 treble needs taming. |
Surprising. The Umami blue is a relatively warm catridge. I agree with suggestions to have set up checked by a professional. Or may be deffective. 80 Ohms is borderline. Of course it dépends of the set up but 100 ohms is recommended. Is the gain to high? Personaly, I had a Hana SL and upgraded to a Pure Fidelity stratos at 2000$ A bit less detailed, but more Bass punch and sound stage. The reviews on the Stratos are simply outstanding and so is my listening experience. |
