sd is right on about the performance aspects and/or quality, I enjoyed that thourogh responce. I feel that it should be added that both types have different requirements to get the most out of them, much for the same reasons stated above. phono stages are equally as important as the cartridge, and how the two work together. mm's don't usually require a lot of gain in the phono stage, but they are sensitive to capacitance, of both the cable going into the phono and the phono stage itself. You should be sure to check that to be sure it is within the range of the particular cartridge if you go with a mm. nc's are not affected by capacitance, but the amount of gain must be sufficiant and the loading, the ohms. Low output mc's usually perform better than high output as explained by sd, but then you must have enough gain in the phono stage to reap the benifits. many mc's are designed to run better at a higher loading the mm's, it is typical to find phono stages with both a mm input and a mc input, with a loading of 47k ohms for mm and 100 ohms for mc.
the basis for my responce is that you should check your phono stage to see what it will work well with. the ps audio step up is a good one, and you might actually be geared up really well for a low output mc, especailly since that is what your system had before. there has been a lot of buzz on this site about the denon dl-103, which is a reasonably priced low output mc. the sumiko bps is a good candidate for a lot of set ups because it is a mc that was actually designed to be within the requirements af a mm phono input. I am not familiar with the grace 999, but one grace arm i had set up before was a real light, low mass arm. the bps does not like low mass arms, but the shure you mention does. i'm glad i remembered this important aspect in choosing a cartridge- different cartridges all have requirements as to the mass of the arm based on their complience. most mc's made now are designed for high mass arms while mm's are usually more complient, requiring a lower mass arm.
a good a'goner to seek out is twl, he is very knowlegdeable on the specs of arms, cartridges, and analog in general. many have made post of satisfaction on this site after following his advise.
the basis for my responce is that you should check your phono stage to see what it will work well with. the ps audio step up is a good one, and you might actually be geared up really well for a low output mc, especailly since that is what your system had before. there has been a lot of buzz on this site about the denon dl-103, which is a reasonably priced low output mc. the sumiko bps is a good candidate for a lot of set ups because it is a mc that was actually designed to be within the requirements af a mm phono input. I am not familiar with the grace 999, but one grace arm i had set up before was a real light, low mass arm. the bps does not like low mass arms, but the shure you mention does. i'm glad i remembered this important aspect in choosing a cartridge- different cartridges all have requirements as to the mass of the arm based on their complience. most mc's made now are designed for high mass arms while mm's are usually more complient, requiring a lower mass arm.
a good a'goner to seek out is twl, he is very knowlegdeable on the specs of arms, cartridges, and analog in general. many have made post of satisfaction on this site after following his advise.
