Inexpensive MM Cartridge

Dear @mr_m and friends  : I agree totally with you and your experiences about with the 881, I own the top 981 that’s hand calibrated and had same experiences than you and not only with Stanton but with any vintage top cartridges that I re-tipped as Technics EPC100CMK4 ( stand alone version ).
Btw, a gentleman that’s an Agoner and that owns the Lyra Atlas re-tipped too ( through VdH. ) that same cartridge model and guess what not only performed better than before but he posted that likes it more than his Atlas.

Don’t waist your time with that person that is not a true audiophile but a seller and he takes advantage of the high compliance of Agon but he is truly dishonest not disclose he is a seller and that’s why always try to dimish every other cartridges that he has not on sale and always comes with that bla, bla, bla of pictures, stylus shape, specs and the like but with no facts.

All what he knows about vintage cartridges he learned through the long Agon MM thread. Again he is not a true audiophile he are behind the money and nothing wrong with that if he disclose whom he really is.
His opinions always are 100% biased to what he has for sale and nothing else and that’s why he posted what he posted on Nagaoka and in other threads all what he post: sale biased.

I don’t care of him what I care is that he is a lier and he is spreading lies and for new comers with out experiences gaves untrue information: this is not fair for those gentlemans.

Any seller has the rigth to be a seller, just disclose it. Which the problem?

when there are other manufacturers/designers(sellers that post in Agon as: J.Carr, Atmasphere, PNB and even re-tippers as SS but all of them disclosed their status. They are honest gentlemans.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Seems like a good choice, it's a wonderful feeling to move on.

For others following:

The elliptical have the advantage of succeeding with less than perfect alignment. That is a reason they are good choice for someone without tools and skills. 

Many of us it seems have had darn good experiences with that Shure M97xe elliptical. Shure's also has the advantage of the brush, damped for warps and/or springy floors, and to pick up dust prior to the stylus.

The advanced stylus shapes need very careful alignment not only to perform to their increased potential, to avoid groove damage if improperly aligned.

Dear @mr_m  and friends : This is a honest seller not like the person you was talking about that's dishonest one:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/pure-tube-phono-preamp/post?postid=2079166#2079166

R.

Thanks Elliot for your information. Good to know that an elliptical stylus is more forgiving of setup issues. Although I have the tools and knowledge to properly align the cartridge, this turntable (and many other budget tables) does not have VTA adjustment.  I wasn't planning on trying to adjust VTA, so hopefully this flexibility will help.  Thoughts?

chakster - I just want to point out that the dynamic compliance of the AT740 is 10, whereas the Nagaoka is 7.2 (they do not actually state 100hz, but that’s probably a reasonable assumption). On a scale reaching up to 35, the difference b/t 10 and 7.2 seems small. Yet 10 is still almost 50% higher than 7.2. Anyhow, if necessary, I’ll add mass to the tonearm. If I were really seeking a higher compliance cartridge, perhaps the AT740 wouldn’t be enough of a change? Thoughts? Here is a scale from Ortofon Support:

Low compliance < 10 cu.
Medium / moderate compliance 10 - 20 cu.
High compliance > 20 - < 35 cu.
Very high compliance > 35 cu.
Note: Dynamic compliance @ 10 Hz.

Thanks everyone.

Look if you think they did not actually stated 100Hz then it’s 10Hz in your opinion ? But it’s even worst :)

Do you understand that converting from 100Hz to 10Hz dynamic compliance will only increase?

As I said million times on this forum the compliance of Nagaoka is extremely low for an MM/MI cartridge.

Audio-Technica are mid compliance cartridges, but my choice is not the model you just mentioned, anyway.

If Dynamic Compliance measured @ 100Hz as 10.0 then @10Hz will be around 18-20cu

Simply multiply on 1.7 or on 2

So Chakster, how do you explain Soundsmith’s decision to make low compliance, low output moving iron cartridges. What could possibly be the advantages over "The Voice" which is high output (2.12 mV), high compliance other then matching high weight tonearms? What are your favorite styli. I like the Gyger S to which Soundsmiths OCL is very similar.

@mijostyn

Nothing new here, Pickering and Stanton designed and made low impedance (low output) Moving Magnet cartridges, but not a low compliance! You can ask Peter why he made a low compliance, probably for high mass tonearms ? Because you can ask yourself who produce light mass tonearms today ? Those arms from the 70’s are about 5g effective moving mass, remember? And cartridge compliance was 30cu average or even 50cu.

Here is a short sample from the review for Stanton 980 low impedance model:

"Aficionados of moving-coil (MC) cartridges will be surprised and pleased to learn that 980LZS is indistinguishable from the very best moving-coil (MC) types in the most rigorous laboratory and aural tests. Stanton’s is an impressive dual achievement. I was continually aware that 980LZS sounded like a moving-coil (MC) cartridge. The bass was well defined and tight with good sonic clarity, as well as transient response and applause definition. Transparency of sound was excellent when reproducing the high recorded levels present on most direct-to-disc recordings. At no time did I notice any coloration of the music. The 980LZS is also one of the very few phono cartridges that can cleanly reproduce the cannon fire on the Telarc DG-10041 recording of Tchaikovsky’s 1812." 

- B.V.Pisha (Audio Review, Feb.1982)


Stanton equivalent in Pickering line is XLZ-7500 low impedance version, low output, but high compliance.