The greatest MM and MI cartridges ....

Dear Nandric,

of course, and without question mark. :-)

best @ fun only

Dear Professor, The nomenclature of many MM brands is not
easy to understand much less to remember. The LPM 320;315;312 we refered to as 'long nose' in order to distinguish them from the earlier models with the same numbers but different looks. I noticed that the 'long nose' got more than the 'nose lenght' of advantage in valuation. I owned the earlier 315 and 312 but alas without original styli and,speaking about styli and the nomenclature I bought 3 wrong styli for them. Because of this 'radical' difference in valuation I assume that the 'long nose' contains some important innovations in comparison ? Would you care to explain?

With pupil's regards,

Regards, Nandric: AFAIK, with the M3xx (square) carts, output impedance is 2700 Ohm instead of the 610 Ohm with the LPM 3xx carts, or the LPM 4xx carts with 710 Ohm output impedance. IIRC, the "M"'s are also higher output, 4.0mv compared to the LPM's 3.5mv. I've no exposure to the "big block" Acutex's but under the circumstances would expect the mids to be brighter/more forward & would anticipate cap. requirements to be in the 300-400pF range. It's possible the diamond on the LPM's are of better (Ogura) quality, Acutex stressed the quality of LPM styli. Just a guess. Or three.

The terminal 4xx series (available for only several years as Acutex dropped cartridges from their catalog in 1992) differ in apperance by their translucent grips, specific grip fitment and mechanically by a redesign of the neutral or negative third armature. This was modified from a sleeve on the cantilever to a lighter tab afixed to the base of the cantilever. There is a very slight trade-off in improved clarity (reduced cantilever mass?) for the very pleasing presence heard with the LPM 300's. One must listen closely to hear any difference.

BTW, out of curiousity did a search of VE's cart database, there's a pantheon of well regarded carts with Ti. cantilevers. The majority wore LC, Shibata, VDH1/2 or ML styli.

Peace,

Clearaudio Maestro.

Dear Professor, thanks for your kindness and technical explanation. May I deduce that the actual situation is/was even more complex than I assumed ? Ie three versions with
nearly the same nomenclature? Those, as you call them 'big
blocks', are still to find on the German ebay. I must confess that I thought that those are better because they are much bigger...What a pity that Acutex needed to quit in 1992.

Regards,