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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

skyscraper
jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 

Spending thousands for a cartridge is insane! They all wear out and need replacement! The most I would spend would be about $1300 for the Hana ML with the micro ridge stylus. But I still think that the SL at $750 is just about as good for a considerable cost savings. I have been using moving coils since 1977. IMO there is no contest compared to any mm or mi (Grado/Sound Smith) type - even the vaunted Shure V15mk5 with the micro ridge stylus. I have a NOS one I am saving for posterity! The big advantage a good mc type has is low inductance coils. Superior (faster) transient response compared to mm types with their inductance measured in the hundreds of millihenries. Low inductance mc types are also immune to cable capacitance loading.

jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 

There are several Fidelity Research FR-1mk3 mc cartridges available on EBay for around $400 from Japanese sellers. I have owned the FR's and like them very much! Any cartridge, tone arm and SUT from the late Ikeda-san is a worthwhile acquisition!

ghdprentice
6,428 posts
 

I moved to high quality cartridges about 30 years ago… a Van den Hull Frog (MC)… about $3,500 on my VPI Aries. It completely took my system to a whole new level. I think I put a couple thousand hours on it and 20 years of use with no maintenance. I now have a Koetsu Rosewood Signature ~$5,400. There is no comparison with reputable high end cartridges with budget oriented stuff.

socalml528's avatar
socalml528
121 posts
 

I went from an Ortofon 2M Black to the Hana SH (high output) MC.  As much as I enjoyed the detail of the 2M Black, I found it unforgiving and revealing of every flaw on a record.  The Hana is more detailed and surprisingly more forgiving.  I can't say how pleased I am with the Hana and I was able to plug into my IA's MM port without the need for a phono pre-amp.

Hana SH

richdirector's avatar
richdirector
266 posts
 

Presuming the Luxman 507 has the same phono input (or better) than the 550axII then a MC low will be fine - I am using Rega Apheta 2 on my deck which is 0.35 and the MC input works well  - The Hana SL or DV MC looked great but meant I would need to use shims on my deck so I stuck with Rega

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