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Received The MC2000 Back From Expert Stylus Today

So I got the Ortofon MC2000 back from Expert today, and Mr. Hodgson did a beautiful job on this service. He fitted a new Paratrace stylus and made a minor repair to the end of the OEM cantilever. Looks as new, and there are no oddities to the stylus assembly. The Paratrace diamond is quite diminutive, barely able to be seen with my aging eyes. 

This afternoon I installed it on a very light Fidelity Research headshell, looks kind of like one of the Swiss cheese SME ones. Wired it to a T2000 transformer and then to a Graham Slee Accession. 

This is a remarkably detailed and neutral sounding cartridge. I have a few decent cartridges here and this is as good as any I have experienced. My system uses a pair of JBL 4365 speakers and a Halcro DM8 pre amp, so I have to be careful with system synergy as a too clinical component can push it over the edge. The MC2000 comes very close to doing this. I am considering a wood headshell like the Yamamoto boxwood, due to its low mass and its ability to add a touch of warmth/body to the overall sound. 

But even as it sits the transparency, the fine detail, the dynamic contrasts are all outstanding. I can tell after an evening of listening this is a keeper for me, and while its been a bit of a drawn out journey to accumulate the bits and pieces and get the cartridge serviced...well...it was worth every bit of effort. 

Yes I enjoy my Transfiguration, ZYX, and Ikeda, that is true. But I like the MC2000 every bit as much and I would get rid of a whole bunch of stuff before I ever parted with this cartridge. 

neonknight
lewm
13,019 posts
 

In the midrange, my MC2000 can be uncannily good at conveying the sense you are there at the performance. I hated when HP used the word "holographic", which was then copied by other reviewers who were not in his class linguistically, but "holographic" is one way to describe what I sometimes hear.  Some LPs are just not good enough to allow that sensation, unfortunately.

neonknight OP
392 posts
 

@lewm 

Yes the midrange has a purity that is exquisite! I have decided I want another so that I have a spare when one goes in for service. These are indeed special. 

Do you suppose it's possible to run the MC2000 on a SME V? The V is reported between 10 to 11 grams, so a touch high. But Ortofon sold the cartridge with a 10 gram headshell and expected people to use it. So a V should be in the realm of possibility? 

nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 

neonknight, If you want another you should ask nandric .

neonknight OP
392 posts
 

If i am able to acquire another one of these MC2000 I wonder about the possibility of running it on a SME V arm. Arm mass is between 10 and 11 grams as I understand, and it seems like the compliance is 24 dyne at 10 Hz. If the arm comes in at 10.5 grams the resonance frequency calculates at 6.93 Hz. Not as bad as I thought. If 11 gram arm mass its 6.85 Hz. It seems like this might work, as there is a scanned PDF article on the net regarding the T2000 review in Stereophile where the arm was set up with a MC2000 and the resonant frequency was in the 5 Hz range and the reviewer had no issues with warps or mistracking in that set up. 

Now its a matter of finding another MC2000. 

lewm
13,019 posts
 

I just yesterday moved mine to my Triplanar, because the TP has no physical connectors between the cartridge pins and the phono input jacks, whereas the DV 505 has three sets, in addition to at the cartridge pins and at the phono inputs.  The TP has about the same effective mass as the SME V, if your numbers are correct.  Of course, I had "expectation bias" based on having reduced the number of connections in the path, but I do believe it's even better in the TP.  The jury is out, however, on bass response.  Bass seemed a little light, but I played only one or two LPs, so far, and neither is really good for judging bass (jazz guitar-ists, entirely). Since mass is probably a tad high, I would listen for a lowered resonant frequency.  Didn't hear that at all.

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