Dear @richardkrebs : How you doing? rauliruegas@hotmail.com
R.
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.
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- 335 posts total
@pindac When you do go to solid state, I suggest a full complementary push-pull design. A NiCad battery power supply is also beneficial. These are two things you can’t do with tubes, and both matter. Of course, multiple devices in the first stage differential amplifier from the cartridge to reduce noise. And (discrete) aerospace BJT’s. Last, I would build in filters at about 200 Hz and 50 Hz for woofer and sub - you may need them. I don’t know if you should bother with Bessel, or just go with Butterworth filters. I am building a Bessel, but it gets forced onto the back burner, so can’t tell you how it sounds yet.. |
Dover, I am aware of the difference between a capacitor and a resistor. By comparing the Russian SSG capacitors to a TX resistor I was only suggesting an analogy as regards the property of transparency. Most regard the TX2575 foil resistor as very neutral and transparent, as resistors go. The SSGs are similar, as capacitors go, in my opinion. Raul, I am aware that tiny differences in capacitor value can alter RIAA. The SSGs are extremely tightly matched to their stated values, using my Sencore capacitor tester. The caps I replaced were a good match to the SSGs. This was in a tube phono stage, not the MP1. |
Terry, when you advised a push pull complementary device, were you thinking about a phono stage? Or an amplifier? Certainly that topology is more commonly associated with amplifier output stage design. In fact, I know of no phono stage in history that used a complementary push pull output stage. Unless you could say that the Atma-spher M P1 and MP3 preamps, which use a circlotRon output linestage might fit that description, broadly. Also, I just wanted to point out sheepishly that you can certainly do a fully complementary push pull output stage with tubes. It’s been done many many times , in the history of our hobby. |
Dear friends: Yesterday received a call from the gentleman that came at my place with his CH P1/X1 and ask me for the model of the Astatic cartridge he listened here and tell me that he really still impressed with its quality level through his CH and my phonolinepreamp unit. Yes, it's something unexpected for a 200 vintage cartridge. I still own the Astatic MF 300 that I think is new because I don't remember been tested, I will do and we will see.
R. |
- 335 posts total