Buying a new TT today

If I did that, I wouldn't need a phono stage, correct, or would it still help?

Acutex is not a top level MM - it is a good mid level one. What is MI? Sorry I'm not a cartridge analyst like you....

BTW, I listen to jazz and rock and (I guess you would call it} pop (Beatles, Paul Simon, Elton John, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt), so it has to be versatile.

MI is Moving Iron (like all the Grado and Sound Smith)
IM is Induced Magnet (like ADC for example)
MF is Moving Flux (like Glanz and Astatic) 

they are all belong to the group of MM/MI 

Watch SoundSmith lecture, he will explain the most :)) 
@sokogear  

Very relevant thread. So many T.T. choices out there...I’m thinking of selling my Basis Audio 2001/modified Rega RB900 with VTA adjust and upgrading to the Vertere Magic Groove MG-1 with the SG-1 tonearm. Everything I’ve read about the Vertere combo(and Touraj) is stellar. But I could not find many individuals who bought them both and reviewed them. It doesn’t seem like anyone would be less than thrilled but I am curious. The Vertere set up seems like a very big bang for the buck.

Any folks here have that set up or are familiar or heard reviews?
Thanks!

@chakster 

Relating to the Doug Sax article. I recently got into vintage reel to reel. A 4 track revox B77. A record dealer friend found me 25 7.5 ips tapes. Mostly jazz from the 50’s and early 60’s. I listened almost exclusively to these tapes for a couple weeks. Going back to my mc cartridges there was a distinctly different presentation. But switching to mm (881s) it was much closer.  Most noticeable was guitar and piano. MM and even better, tape,  gives a fuller, more weighted sound similar to when I hear my guitar and piano in the house. My mc cartridges are all of the more full bodied sound too. But I have to say piano from some of these tapes was the  closest to the piano downstairs that I’ve ever heard in my room. But not in the audiophile sense. The tapes don’t have the frequency extension, soundstage, and air. But wait. Neither does my piano. Or my original 1962 Stratocaster through my  assorted Fender amps. 

sdrsdrsdr,

"But I have to say piano from some of these tapes was the  closest to the piano downstairs that I’ve ever heard in my room. But not in the audiophile sense. The tapes don’t have the frequency extension, soundstage, and air. But wait. Neither does my piano."


It's always more interesting to hear about direct comparisons rather than what we audiophiles think or expect that we should be hearing.

I'm not too surprised that tape came out ahead in your experience here despite expectations of 'frequency extension, soundstage, and air.' This kind of unexpected result, which has happened to me on a few occasions, can take a while to fully sink in. 


Regarding MM v MC cartridges, I favour the former as they have a higher output and are less fussy regarding arms and might even track better. Sound archivists and broadcasters also tend to stick with Moving Magnets.

It's also worth bearing in mind that the cartridge is in effect little more than a slave electrical generator under total control of a much larger and important one - the turntable drive motor itself.

Anything the motor (turntable/arm) does incorrectly will be inevitably magnified by the cartridge output, even moreso for MC cartridges which unfortunately have a lower output etc.

Just where the bottleneck with today's vinyl playback systems is will depend upon which turntable, which arm, and which cartridge. Case by case.

Cost can be a very poor indicator of performance for all three components. Nothing new here.