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Can anybody define LOW OUTPUT...?

Hi. I'm currently pursuing the insanity of trying to decide on and purchase a really, really good used low output MC (only because it seems - in theory at least - that there's more detail to be had there). At any rate, my phono stage was designed for a Linn Troika cartridge (low output - 100µV - that was a MU - in case you don't have a mac also!) - yet I've been looking at some van den Hul low-output MCs that are something like 5-6 TIMES higher output than this - I'd imagine that would put the vdH at LEAST in the MEDIUM output camp. Am I missing something here? Can anyone APPROXIMATELY delimit (spell out for me) the boundaries of what is commonly considered low, medium and high output?

Thanks much.
Jonathan
letranger
letranger OP
9 posts
 
Anybody else care to take a shot at this? (thanks anyway though)
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I would not get hung up on the terms High/Mid/Low output. It is like trying to define what is really meant by "low fat" on product labels.

I doubt any audio designer ponders very much about how a design will be classified in the market place (low/med/high). It is low or high to them.

The matching with/to the desired phono preamp will matter more in the long run. This is not hard to do. There are great sounding cartridges at all output levels.
cmk
397 posts
 
Is the Troica's output really that low?

As a rough guage, IMO only and YMMV,
Low < 0.4mv
Med 0.4 - 1.x mv
Hi >2mv

What's more important is the matching of the cart's output to the phono's gain.

For the low output MCs, gain required is approx >60db, med output you could get by with >50db, and the high output require about >40db.

I maybe wrong, so if someone else can shed more light, pls go ahead.
letranger OP
9 posts
 
This actually has a very real application (believe it or not). I'm going to pack it in with my preamp phono stage if 0.1mV is FAR lower than something I end up buying. So - if the 'low end' - or, in other words, what most designers AIM for is above 0.25mV then I probably need to find my game somewhere else.

thanks for the input, though!
Jonathan
metralla
945 posts
 
If that phono stage is really designed for the Linn Troika then it should be presenting a load of 560 Ohms and has maybe 70 dB of gain. You are right that this is more gain than many moving coils need, but it's hard to guess without knowing the component specifications a little better whether this will overload the complete chain (phono-line-amp-speakers-room) when driven by a cartridge with 5 times the output.

Even if not overloading the system, you may not be in a very sweet spot on the volume control - too much volume at very low settings.

There are a few moving coil cartridges that also have a very low output like the Troika, although I can't think of them off hand. What about a Troika?

Can you try the cartridge you are considering before you commit?

Regards,
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