Advice needed on MC cartridges
I’ve an Ortofon Black 2M cartridge on my VPI Classic 2 turntable, It’s a moving magnet type cartridge with a Shibata stylus and cost about $700 when purchased. I could easily be wrong, but am under the impression that the Ortofon 2M Black is about as good as it gets with MM cartridges and if I wished to upgrade I’d need to be thinking about moving into a MC, moving coil, type.
So I’ve been trying to learn something about moving coil cartridges and what differences or improvements in sound quality might be obtained by using one. My integrated amp, a Luxman 507uX Mk2, has a built in phono stage and can play either type,
Generally speaking, how much more would need to be spent on a MC cartridge before a noticeable, or significant improvement, might be heard in sound quality over the Ortofon 2M’s performance? What improvements in performance might you obtain using one a better quality MC over the Ortofon 2M Black? And third, what MC cartridges might you recommend that would fit in performance and budget wise with a system composed of the above equipment plus Magico A3 speakers. My other equipment is a Marantz Ruby CD/SACD player and a Shunyata Denali Hydra power conditioner.
I’ve never heard a MC cartridge in use so would be interested in following your advice and recommendations to see if I can find a dealer or someone that might be able to demo one so I can hear what the differences might be in performance. Thank you for any responses or suggestions
Mike
Mike, there is no magic hear. Before going to a moving coil system there are several high output cartridges that offer a significant improvement over the 2M Black. The moving coil market is valued differently than the high output cartridge segment. A moving coil cartridge of the same performance and quality of manufacture as a specific high output cartridge will cost 2 to 3 times as much and then you have the expense of a low level phono stage on top of that. As am example the Soundsmith Voice costs $3000. You will have to spend at least $5000 on a moving coil cartridge to equal it and you have not included the phono stage yet. It is also far easier and cheaper to build a SOTA high level phone stage than low level phono stage. IMHO, people who buy inexpensive moving coil cartridges and low level phono stages are doing themselves a large disservice when we have cartridges The Voice available. The Goldring 1042 is a stunning $600 cartridge. The LVB 250 2M Black is no slouch likewise the AT VM760SLC and the Clearaudio Charisma and Maestro V2. The first MC cartridge that will better any of these that I have personally heard is the Ortofon Windfeld Ti. This cartridge with a suitable phono stage will cost you at least $8000, a jump which is really not cost effective for most people. |
Dear @skyscraper : So, your MM cartridge world ended with the Ortofon Black? In reality that world only started with your Ortofon and you have a great " land " to discovery down there.
Please do it a favor and try any of the very good options that a high knowledge level audiophile as @mijostyn already did it, including the new Ortofon top fligth Black: LVB 250.
Btw, "" so will go to the Soundsmith site to get educated about them...""" Be carefully about, your unit can't handle the impedance need it for SS cartridges.
Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
