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Electret transducer cartridges vs MM and MC. What are your experiences?

Hi all,

Through the years of following the MM thread here I collected a small selection of good ones, many of them NOS: Signet TK-7LCa, Empire 4000D/III, Astatic MF-100 (sold), Sonus Gold Blue, Shure V15 Type III with VN35MR stylus, ADC XLM Mk II Improved, and Stanton 681-EEE-S.

I also discovered the Micro-Acoustics Electret line. First the 2002e, then the 530mp, and later the 3002. All have beryllium cantilevers, with thinner and lower-mass "Micro-Fine" beryllium cantilevers as you move up the line. The 2002e has an elliptical stylus, the 530mp a "Micro-point", and the 3002 a "Micro-point II" stylus. According to MA, the electret transducer design is completely immune to capacitance and resistance of associated cabling/phono stage loads, making it very unique in the cartridge world.

My MA exemplars deliver ultra-fast, open, dynamic, and tonally balanced sound. While I recognize and appreciate the strengths of each cartridge in my small MM stable, I prefer the MA 3002 to all of them for listening excitement and satisfaction. I must confess that I find my Transfiguration Orpheus L to be in another league in refinement, yet I still enjoy the MA electrets on various tables/arms in my vintage system.

I would like to hear from anyone that has experience with electret transducer cartridges of any type, is just curious, or has technical expertise (J. Carr?) on this special type of sound-making device.

There are some errors in this link re: stylus specs for some models, etc. but I think it is a good introduction:
http://roger-russell.com/sonopg/micropg.htm

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best to you all,
Dave
128x128dlcockrum
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

Dear Dave, I ever started a similar thread ''induced'' by Carr who

suggested to extend our MM/MC discussion to the ''other kinds''.

He was , alas, the only member who reacted to my thread.

My reaction is, alas, not a kind of contribution but rather a question.

Do those ''electret'' kinds need some special ''phono-amp''?

Curiosity has some limitations connected with money as so many

other ''things'' do. So my curiosity is also connected with this

pragmatic question.

dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum OP
2,190 posts
 
Hi nandric,

No special anything to use the MA electrets.  Just the opposite.  Output is a very-agreeable 3.5mV and they seem to be, as claimed by MA, immune to loading, both capacitive and resistive. I suspect that it is this immunity that lets the sound come through in a uniquely dynamic and lively way.

They are also relatively inexpensive.  I paid $325 for the NOS 3002.

Best to you nandric,
Dave

dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum OP
2,190 posts
 
Some interesting reading material on MA’s final electret cartridge products:

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/micro-acoustics/system-ii.shtml
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