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Age old discussion I know but MM or MC? Benefits?

Some mighty long discussions on this already here but I need a refresher!
Having decided to upgrage my phono amp to a Dynavector p75 mk3 I am now wondering about my cartridge.
At present I have a Clearaudio Emotion 4 table with a Clearaudio Artist v2 cartridge.
What are main difference between mm and mc that I could expect to actually hear?
And lomc and homc? What is all that about?
Sorry if this has been thrashed to death already but just trying to get a laymans understanding if possible.
128x128uberwaltz
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

The pudding metaphor will not do. But pudding kinds well.

I was pretty late with those FR-7 kinds which Dertonarm

recommended to me. But then I wanted them all. But by

comparing them the FR-7 was the first looser, then come

FR-7 f , then FR-702 . The winner or the best ''pudding'' among

them was without any question the FR-7fz. Despite the fact

that M. Cotter has chosen FR-7f for his celebrated combo.

In ''mini shoot out MC '' ( thread in this forum) FR-7fz and

Koetsu Coral stone were chosen as the winner with two

votes for each.

The Magic Diamond was my ''best cart'' for a long time till

I got Allearts MC 2. In direct comparison Allearts ''pudding''

sounded better. Thanks to the fact that I own Kuzma Stabi

Referenc with two toenearms (Reed 3P and Sumiko 800)

as well Basis Exclusive with two separate phono-pres I

was able to do ''A-B-B-A'' comparison between them. So

only in the context of such comparison one can say that

one is better sounding than the other. There is no way to

conclude from those comparisons about other ''puddings''

 in general.  

Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,048 posts
 
Dear @ the_treble_with_tribbles: In a " mainstream " set up?, if you are mainly an analog/LP person then top LOMC is second to none, it's perfect? nothing is in audio trade-offs always exist as almost anything in the life.

Distinction between MM and LOMC stages in a phonolinepreamp are mainly that the LOMC cartridges needs at the same time: very high gain ( some times over 80dbs of gain. ), .very low generated noise level and with low distortion level.

Units for MM/MI has around 40-45db on gain. Only for you can imagine what means that very high gain for the LOMC cartridges: doubling the power gain gives you only 3db of additional gain.

More gain means higher noise and level distortion and needs deep knowledge level and skills to design that phonolinepreamp to mantain that high gain with noise/distortions at minimum. That's why is really dificult to find out  good phonolinepreamps that can handle with " no compromises " LOMC cartridges using active devices and when you find out comes with very high price tags.

Drawbacks ?, all cartridge designs it does not matters if LOMC/MM/MI comes with its own trade-offs.

If you have the rigth audio system,  money and know-how levels to make the whole room/system set up and music/sound knowledge and enough " software "/LPs the best choice is LOMC cartridge alternative. Period.

If not then stay away from analog and go to the best alternative that's today digital that comes with very high quality performance levels even over the best analog alternative you can achieve.


Regards and enjoyb the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.




nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

Implicit comparisons, ''better than '' imply comparison between

at least two objects. In logical sense this comparison is the same

as ''longer than'' between people because it imply an ordering or

sequence like a>b>c, etc. In Greece for example people are

ordered by an assumed ''average length'' of, say , 170 cm. Those

above 170cm are considered to be ''long'' those bellow as ''short''.

 I myself am considered to be a long guy in my native Serbia

because I am 184 long. In Holland however I am considered to be

''average'' because ''long'' in Holland means above 190cm.

So in Greece , Serbia and Holland the length is assumed to be

an quality or property of an person and this make no sense.

One can't have different properties depending from countries in

which one is accidental present.

Consider now the question ''which is the best cart ?''

This make as much sense as ''who is the longest guy?''

By this question some ''inherent qualities'' of an single cart are

assumed to be ''the best''. But the answer is only possible by

some comparison. Say: among my 5 carts the ''x'' is the best in

comparison with 4 other carts because...

I try to avoid my (young) brother chakster who would like to

answer the question if MM carts are better than MC kinds or

the other way round (grin). For this kind of comparison we need

quantifier ''all'' (''all MM'' + ''áll MC'') while ''all'' is not a name

which refer to peculiar objects. With ''all' we want to express

generality which contradict any specific comparison.

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
I just bought nearly all top MM cartridges from our "best of the month" list over the years, and i also bought several top quality vintage MC cartridges that our "opinion makers" considered the best only a few years ago. I did the same with the vintage tonearms and turntables. I also have had some brand new 21st century top quality LOMC. I even got reference tonearms like Reed 3P just to make sure that those vintage japanese arms are not bad at all. I’m 41 now, hope my hearing ability is ok, i could live forever with MM cartridges from my own edition of the "best of the month" list. I ask myself why do i need all those cartridges, including MC cartridges, 8 different tonearms, 9 different turntables, different phono stages, SUTs etc ??? It’s an interesting process to compare things, but i always return to what i really liked before - those vintage MM cartridges. I’m not the guy who will invest multy thousands on a single brand new cart anymore, enough for me, the vintage MM is the better choise for many reasons. I do have an MC alternative just to prove it for myself. Life is so much easier with vintage top quality MM carts. The rest for the records, no digital! And yes, i like tubes! 
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,048 posts
 
Dear @chakster :  """   i could live forever with MM cartridges from my own edition of the "best of the month" list """

Well, me too but I'm not talking to live with but to live with the best that's a " little " different subject.

Btw, """  And yes, i like tubes! """.  This is your today limitation, that's why too "" no digital !  """

You are " young " and with many years to come with learning experiences  that will beats your today overall audio level and priorities.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
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