Suggestions - Cartridge/Stylus to mate with tube amp?

[jamsinalaska]

I have a Fisher 800-B. Other gear listed in signature. The Fisher has been refurbished. Finally time to upgrade my JVC turntable and it will be used as my primary player. It currently has an Ortofon OM with stylus model 10 (OM10). Headshell is threaded and is pictured below.

Thanks-j

 

[blacbloc]

That amp is pretty nice piece, congrats! What are you planning on using as a phono stage, the one that's built into the 800-B or something else? I think the phono stage of the 800-B would limit you to a MM cart, which isn't a problem, just something to keep in mind. Also, what's the budget? I'm sure you don't want to slap $15,000 cart on that thing, but price is a big factor too.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

If you're using the Fisher's built in phono, you need something in the 5-6 mv range to work better with the gain stages (and there were higher output MM cartridges in common use). That was low output in the MM field when the Fisher was new.

 

[JFRACE]

If your amp and speaker set up gives a more warm sound, you'd probably want a cart that's brighter in its house sound than others to level things out. Empire and shure may sound warmer than ortofon and audio technica. These are just a few examples or brand names, but from what I was told, if you have warmer sounding speakers and an amp, you'd probably prefer a brighter house sound from a cartridge, and even more brighter in extracting detail may be going higher on the diamond type. From conical to elliptical to shibata or micro ridge.

 

[jamsinalaska]

I currently plan on using the Fisher’s preamp. My Technics SL-BD35 has a Shure M92E. I run the preamp just shy of wide open. The Shure has an elliptical stylus and 5.0mv output.
I recently read a review of Audio-Technica’s VM540ML on hometheatrehifi.com and was surprised to see a frequency response graph based on the bench test(s) that the reviewers performed. Are there reviews on other sites, that contain similar graphs?

 

[bobins08]

I would try the Grado Black2 with the Fisher. Maybe Blue2 if you want to spend a bit more. The word on the Signature 2 is that Grado has recaptured the magic from their vintage days. If you like it, you can upgrade the stylus at a later date.

If you like Shure the M75/M91 would be a nice fit for the Fisher. You would have to find these cartridges in the used market.

Nagaoka is another option. The MP110 or 200.

 

[jamsinalaska]

Found below. In another section, it mentions mm cartridge into phono, ceramic cartridge, use aux input.