MC-MM-MI CARTRIDGES . DO YOU KNOW WHICH HAS BETTER QUALITY PERFORMANCE? REALLY?
Dear friends:The main subject of this thread is start a dialogue to find out the way we almost all think or be sure about the thread question : " true " answer.
Many years ago I started the long Agon MM thread where several audiophiles/Agoners and from other audio net forums participated to confirm or to discover the MM/MI/IM/MF/HOMC world and many of us, me including, was and still are" surprised for what we found out in that " new " cartridge world that as today is dominated by the LOMC cartridges.
Through that long thread I posted several times the superiority of the MM/types of cartridges over the LOMC ones even that I owned top LOMC cartridge samples to compare with and I remember very clearly that I posted that the MM and the like cartridges had lower distortion levels and better frequency range quality performance than the LOMC cartridges.
In those times j.carr ( Lyra designer ) was very active in Agon and in that thread I remember that he was truly emphatic posting that my MM conclusion was not true due that things on distortion cartridge levels in reality is the other way around: LOMC has lower distortion levels.
Well, he is not only a LOMC cartridge designer but an expert audiophile/MUSIC lover with a long long and diverse first hand experiences listening cartridges in top TT, top tonearms and top phono stages and listening not only LOMC cartridges but almost any kind of cartridges in his and other top room/systems.
I never touched again that subject in that thread and years or months latter the MM thread I started again to listening LOMC cartridges where my room/system overall was up-graded/dated to way superior quality performance levels than in the past and I posted somewhere that j.carr was just rigth: LOMC design were and are superior to the other MM type cartridges been vintage or today models.
I'm a MUSIC lover and I'm not " married " with any kind of audio items or audio technologies I'm married just with MUSIC and what can gives me the maximum enjoyment of that ( every kind ) MUSIC, even I'm not married with any of my opinions/ideas/specific way of thinking. Yes, I try hard to stay " always " UNBIASED other than MUSIC.
So, till today I followed listening to almost every kind of cartridges ( including field coil design. ) with almost every kind of tonearms and TTs and in the last 2 years my room/system quality performance levels were and is improved by several " stages " that permits me better MUSIC audio items judgements and different enjoyment levels in my system and other audio systems. Yes, I still usemy test audio items full comparison proccess using almost the same LP tracks every time and as always my true sound reference is Live MUSIC not other sound system reproduction.
I know that the main thread subject is way complicated and complex to achieve an unanimous conclusions due that exist a lot of inherent differences/advantages/unadvantages in cartridges even coming from the same manufacturer.
We all know that when we talk of a cartridge we are in reality talking of its cantilever buil material, stylus shape, tonearm used/TT, compliance, phono stage and the like and my " desire " is that we could concentrate in the cartridges as an " isolated " audio item and that any of our opinions when be posible stay in the premise: " everything the same ".
My take here is to learn from all of you and that all of us try to learn in between each to other and not who is the winner but at the " end " every one of us will be a winner.
So, your posts are all truly appreciated and is a thread where any one can participates even if today is not any more his analog alternative or is a newcomer or heavily experienced gentleman. Be my guest and thank's in advance.
Regards and ENJOY THE MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
Dear @pryso :closed eyes/open eyes. Debate? Certainly not because that listening characteristic is PERSONAL and each one of us is different in that specific regards.
It’s the same with the near field listening position, in both cases mijostyn posted what for me is his personal opinion where I disagree with him. His Amygdala has different information that mine.
R. |
Now the subject is taking on a vety important area to be considered. Assessments of Audio {produced sound} are an Environmental Occurrence. The Amygdala sends info on into the limbic system, that generates millions of Chemical Reactions, each unique to each individuai in how they influence a response or reaction to an exposure to a happening in their Environment. Read all the Books and White Papers one likes, the Amygdala is Survival, Humans are unable Control their survival mechanisms, but are very selective in academia they choose to learn . Nobody can evaluate or make a choice, as a result of their being a stimulus Sent to the Amygdala, without survival function having manifested, way before choices are made. It something to be embraced not fought, even the smallest of willingness to comprehend is weight of one's shoulders. |
@pindac Not really chemical reaction. Read about neurotransmitters and vestibular nucleus. |
On this subject there is endless reading to be done and much is for the mindsets that are fully academic and research this field of Science. As an absolute Layman and having learned research has stepped into the research of the Amygdala in a unusually intensified manner in the past 10 years. There is now a lot of info that strongly suggests the Amygdala is the Gateway to how each Human has a unique relationship with their Environments and each individual are unique in their Sensory Perception. Sound is one Sensory Perception that the Amygdala is going to process, and stimulate the Limbic System. This is Survival and each individual is unique in how their Electrical Activity and Chemical Activity. "With information traveling at 260 mph, more than 100,000 chemical reactions occurring per second, 86 billion cells and over 10,000 types of neurons, the human brain is probably the most complex entity known to man." "One intriguing aspect of the limbic system as a mechanism for multiple chemical sensitivities is the system's responsiveness to both chemical and cortical stimuli. Therefore, conscious thought processes and emotional states influence limbic activity just as chemical or physical stimuli can. The former may be under more or less conscious control of the individual, whereas the latter arc almost entirely unconscious and automatic However, conscious efforts that play into the delicate circuitry of the limbic system may be able to alter or suppress concurrent electrical activity evoked by environmental agents." My putting such info out there, is for one reason only, much of what one thinks they are contributing in elation to how an end sound has impacted on / influenced them. Is not their assessment of s Sound but a very unique response / reaction to a stimuli sent as a part of survival function within the body from a sensory perception created in a particular environment. When an individual can get to the place, that they have one grain of sands worth of acceptance of this. The Flood Gates will open for them, and they will be quite liberated, knowing their interaction with sound is unique and not able to be replicated by another. Or as an alternative, an individual might struggle with the concept of not being an authority, and will not even accept a Sand Grain of the knowledge strongly suggesting, their interaction with sound is unique, not able to be replicated by another's and is pretty much worthless to another individual. "All things being equal" It is impossible to factor in only the Math and Production of a Particular device designed to create manage electricity. At one point the Electricity will meet with a Part designed to Transfer received Electrical Energy into a Sound. When this sound is experienced the Human has a Survival Function, that will override all intellect, and will most likely be the control of the intellect to manifest. All the above without adding to the mix, Phonophobia and Hyperacusis Tolerances, that are exponentially increasing in numbers being afflicted with symptoms as age increases. I am not tested for Phonophobia or Hyperacusis, but I would bet I have a symptom discovered? I would bet I persevere with a enforced tolerance for my want to enjoy experiencing music. Strange Fact to Ponder: Some of the most renowned and revered, who have produced Amplified Music have when tested, shown both P'phobia and H'acusis Symptoms that are quite prevalent. |
IME $2K LOMC Cartridge- 10 / 10. The best sound I have heard vinyl make in my system. $2K MI Cartridge- 7 / 10. Tried a supposed excellent MI cartridge and it was a disappointment. $1K MM Cartridge- 6/10. Not bad but still did not compete with the LOMCs at or above its price in terms of refinement and dynamics. |
