olddude55
Super Member
AT recommends 100-200pf total input capacitance. That's a hard target to hit, most phono stages alone are 100pf-200pf as a baseline. Add cables and you're at or over the maximum.I would not judge all fine lines by the AT 440ML, I've never heard one but folks seem to run hot or cold in their opinion of that one.
And yes the tip is but one aspect, however by the conical's physical design - it just can't ride as deep in the groove as the other two family of cuts.
Too much capacitance makes the cartridge sound bright. I've run the AT440MLa and AT150MLx through Bottlehead Seduction with low capacitance cables and both carts sounded lush with no brightness.
If you have tone controls, you can turn the bass level up a bit--I set mine at the 1 o'clock position because with my current system the best I can do is about 300pf.
I have no idea why AT designs the carts to work with such low capacitance. Nobody else does, as far as I know.
The AT VM540ML doesn't seem to be as sensitive to input capacitance as the older ATs, so maybe AT changed the cart but not the spec sheet.