2. analog
  3. 189527-245

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.

Ag insider logo xs@2xrauliruegas
lewm
13,070 posts
 

Terry, my expertise with solid state is not very high.  And my interests run toward learning about gain stages.  But suffice to say that I followed advice from the late Allen Wright in his "Tube Preamp Cookbook", to learn how to build a balanced, hybrid cascode input stage with a solid state device on the bottom and tube on top. One of the devices AW recommended for that, and what he used in his own TOTL phono stage, is the MAT02, which is a bipolar transistor.  After reading his book, I incorporated such a gain stage into my Atma-sphere MP1 phono section.  Turns out, Raul and Jose' used the MAT02 or similar in their series of phonolinepreamps, for the MC gain stage.  They use an FET, I think, for high output cartridges. (Their phonolinepreamps have two totally separate phono sections, one each for LOMC and MM/MI.)  Anyway, maybe you were thinking about a balanced circuit, rather than "push-pull".  Which of course you can build with tubes, too.

I think I recall that PNP and NPN power transistors can be paired to create a push-pull output stage.  That's the better way to do it rather than with PNP on both sides.  But that is as far as I can recall without opening a book. With tubes, there is no issue. Anyone who wants to correct me is welcome to do so.

pryso
1,928 posts
 

lewm, for several years now I've used a JLTi phono stage which was designed, at least in part, by Allen Wright.  Mine is an earlier unit, intended for use with a wall wart.  However, a (more knowledgable) audio pal built a regulated power supply for use with mine which was a worthwhile upgrade.  About that time JLTi began offering regulated power supplies as an option.  Anyway, it is a SS design so now I wonder if it includes the MAT02?

Regarding the performance, early on I took my unit to a friend's to participate in a phono stage shoot out with about five contenders (since forgotten most of the others).  Needless to say I was pleased when the JLTi was tied with a Manley Steelhead as the favored sonics by those in attendance.  I've not compared it to anything else lately but still consider it a "sleeper".

lewm
13,070 posts
 

I think JLTi is single-ended and all solid state. (Yes?) AW used an FET in his FVP5, which is also SE but tube based. The MAT02 and other similar bipolar was used in his RTP3C, which was his TOTL and balanced. It’s all in his “Preamp Cook Book”, including schematics.

terry9
2,334 posts
 

@lewm  I am following the notation on the data sheets, which use wording such as "complement to type XYZ", and of Horowitz and Hill (Art of Electronics Ed 3, 2015, pp106-108). Just wondering if I had misinterpreted..

Agreed about the superb MAT series. I use both PNP and NPN complements in my pre. After AD threatened to drop the PNP's I bought a jarfull and whatever is left over is going in my will !

lewm
13,070 posts
 

I found a business in CA that stocks lots of NLA transistors, both NPN and PNP.  I bought both types from them when I was trying to get my Beveridge direct-drive amplifiers up and running, which I finally did do.  Contact "Jameson Electronics".  I forget what city they are in but definitely CA. I can get further info for you if you need it after Googling. MAT02 are NLA also, but I think there are later subs (e.g., MATXX, where X is numerical) that might work; you'd have to read the fine print on the data sheets. I have a small stash of the 02s, but I have never blown one.

More to discover