Marantz TT15/ Clearaudio Satisfy for MC carts?


I’m putting together a second system which I’m very excited about. My new Integrated is the Naim XS3, which drive my Harbeth Compact 7 (non XD) speakers. So on to my question...I recently heard the TT15, and was very impressed. I would say it’s now the #1 choice to be my analog source for this system. I can’t imagine doing much better for the money. I have learned from reviews that the TT15’s Satisfy arm may actually exceed the performance of the (Verify?) arm that comes on the Clearaudio Concept. But my concern for the future is how the Satisfy arm will do with MC cartridges. The supplied Virtuoso MM sounded very impressive running in to the Naim in the dealers showroom. But I would still like to gather opinions to see if the Satisfy arm will also play well with MC cartridges. Btw...for those who are not aware, the TT15 is made by Clearaudio.

fjn04

There are both low and mid to high compliance MC cartridges so your question is impossible to answer without more information. But you can answer it for your self with that calculator.

It's a price point turntable-$1500.

Likely a good performer, based on the company that manufactured it. With those two factors in mind, I wouldn't think too deeply about technical absolutes.

Most of the popular MC's discussed on the forums in the $500-1K, along with a decent phonostage will do the deed. Perhaps you're just going to use the Naim's phonostage, so you will need a hi output MC.

Since you have a Well-Tempered already, you know setup to optimize it is paramount.

It's a pretty decent table.  I had the Clearaudio Emotion with the Satisfy arm which is basically the same table with a different plinth shape.  It shouldn't have any issues with MC carts so long as you match whatever you get to the arm.  Listen with the Virtuoso before you get ahead of yourself.  It's a very good cartridge.

I'm trying to keep this system as sane as possible. I have around 7k in to it so far...the Ton Trager stands didn't come cheap. I'd like it to be a well balanced system that will be less than 10K after the turntable. At the end of the day, I'm sure there are used options that were $5K new, and are available for $3K. That would be ok, but I'm not quite sure what table to target. tablejockey- I really enjoyed the Amadeus, but no longer own one. I had two here at one point. If I can reach the WT performance with a more user friendly (less finicky) table, that would be perfect. But I'm not sure I would want to go back to the WT. I'd likely go JA Mitchell, a Kuzma Pipe Bomb, or a GEM Dandy. BTW- I moved from the WT to a  Kuzma Stabi Ref 2/ Ref 313 arm.  I picked that up 3-4 years ago. It's likely my LAST table, but that's for my Tube/Horn setup. 

I can't speak to running a MC on the TT15, but I did own the TT15 for a few years and it was a fantastic table with overall performance that I think is above it's price tag.  The supplied Virtuoso cart is very good, albeit a little noisy in the groove.  I did a mod at one point and removed the stock elliptical stylus and replaced it with an AT VM95ML microline stylus.  (From what I understand, the CA Virtuoso is made by Audio Technica.)  It's easy to do, lots of videos and instructions out there on the web.  The ML stylus gave me better tracking and a nice reduction in surface noise.  I never really had a burning desire to replace the Virtuoso with a moving coil.

The key as others have pointed out is choosing a cart with the proper compliance that mates well with the Satisfy tone arm.  I use the cartridge resonance evaluator tool over at vinylengine.com.  At 8g effective mass, the Satisfy is a low mass tonearm, so you'll want to look at carts with higher compliance.  I've read of several people having a lot of success with the AT ART9 cartridges on the TT15.