Still looking for a new Moving Coil Cartridge
I noticed that Music Direct has 20% off cartridge sale on select cartridges. I am still using a ZU/Denon DL103 MC cartridge Series 1 with the cartridges tightest tolerances. I purchased it here from “Audiofiel” back in 2010 and have used it sparingly since. I had been using a Dynavector DV20XL cartridge which I bought a couple of years ago but my 6 yo nephew destroyed it (that’s another story) so I am back to the ZU/Denon.
My table is a Technics SL1200G which I truly love. I have been looking at the Hana Low out put MC cartridges. I am interested in the low output “S” series as the $600.00 price is right where I want to be. Now, the million dollar questions: I listen to 95% 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Rock and want whatever cartridge I purchase to make the records sound good without excessive surface noise. Will the Hana S be up to the task? My Mac C2500 tube preamp has cartridge loading from 50 ohms up to 1000 ohms so I should be ok. I just want to be sure this cartridge will be very musical and full bodied sound. I do no want a thin sound. So there you have it, yay or neigh?
@elliottbnewcombjr I am totally on board with the Manual Cleaning Method for looking after a LP. I don't use the owned US Tank the Neil Antin manual method has superseded the use of this. Relating to the Hana SL, this is a Cart' I have not been attracted to, my own one has been sitting idling from non-use for quite a few years, that does not mean it is an unacceptable Cart', I just haven't been able to become Wed to it. |
I cannot argue with the use of a proper mono cartridge, but that is not what the OP was asking about. And if the avoidance of surface noise is the prime consideration, then proper record cleaning is the sine qua non. As for satisfying MC sound with a $600 price limit, I doubt if there is a good answer. Any MC at that price is probably (here goes!) inferior to an MM/MI of the same price. I admit I have not dabbled in cheap MC cartridges, but I have gone up into the realms of 3-4k MC cartridges to find competition for good MI cartridges, and 5k before I was convinced I had found something superior. |
lewm the idea of an advanced stylus being MISALIGNED can cause more damage than a spherical/conical Stylus. Thus they consider spherical as ’safest’. Properly aligned, advanced is LESS groove wear, and LESS stylus wear, and better sound. amateur/novices without the simple tools and skills to properly align advanced stylus do run a higher risk of misalignment. |
pindacThe tank and brushes is supposed to be filled with the cleaning fluid, the brushes doing the cleaning. I scrub aggressively with the baby scalp brush, and the tank is just distilled water for rinse, then light cloth dry holding the LP over the tank (so excess distilled water drips back down into the tank. Then on to the drying rack, they dry faster that way, off to the next batch of 10. I position myself centered between the speakers, for quality listening while cleaning, add a bit of joy to the task. A folding table with a plastic sheet would work for other setups. |
