Need New MM Cartridge Recommendation

Jbhiller,

Nice to hear you're enjoying the 2M Black.  I suspected,  surface noise would diminish while the cart settled in.  There is a break in period with carts and it seems that the electrical aspect might take longer than the mechanical. I also think the Ortofon is well suited for your Creek phono board. Your input impedance is set at 47K ?  Do you know the capacitance of the input?

Audio Technica carts are generally less expensive than Ortofon.  Look up the price of your replacement stylus if there's any doubt, but AT carts require a bit more user knowledge to find the right fit.

We differentiate AT bodies (generators) by their inductance. Generally speaking, the higher inductance models tend to be more "musical" while the lower inductance models tend to be more detailed and "transparent", but loading requirements also become more critical.

I'm quite sure I could recommend an AT combo for < $400 that would give your 2M a run, but first it would be nice to know the details of your Creek.  BTW an AT MM requires at least 30 hrs. break in. My AT440ML OCC took > 75 hrs. to fully break in.  That's a long time and to endure I had it loaded at 22K and it was still hard to take. Having an old auto-changer running silently during this period might be a good idea. Just check on it once in awhile to clean the tip and make sure all is well.

Regards,

• Gain x100 (40 dB)
• Frequency Response
  10 Hz to 20 kHz +/- 0.5 dB
• Signal to Noise Ratio – 80 dB
• Total Harmonic Distortion < 0.03%
• R1AA deviation +/- 0.5%
• Output 400 mV from 4mV input
• Input Sensitivity / Impedance/ Capacitance – 4mV / 47K Ohm / 220pF
• Overload Margin 22 dB
• Suitable for medium to high output MM cartridges in the range of 3.5mV – 5mV output

Chakster,

It will be interesting to see what you come up with regarding the X1-II.

Griffithds loaned me a MK I, but the stylus was loose and I'm not sure if I secured it enough.  I had better results with the Z1/SAS.

Regards,

Jbhiller,

Your Creek phono board is old school regarding shunt capacitance. It might be better suited for the Ortofon in that respect.  225pF was sort of a defacto standard MM capacitance for awhile.  More "modern" pieces tend to use 100pF. 

Regardless, this is the cart I recommend:

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT7V-phono-cartridge-Japan/dp/B00008B5EB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&...

If you get it from Amazon you also get free shipping and they stand behind the sale.  You'll also need an ATN150MLX stylus.  Zzounds.com is an authorized dealer and sells it for $200. 

The stock configuration is made with a heavier arm in mind, but I'm quite sure it will work. The cart takes on the compliance, VTF etc. of the stylus and you'll be amazed at the performance here.  Under the circumstance I'm not sure how much of the potential will be realized, but I think you'll enjoy the performance.

Regards,