A How To Guide on Phono Cartridges

4Play

4Play

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When it comes to phono cartridges, how is your knowledge? Do you know what to get or are you overwhelmed with choices? My knowledge is not that great and I would like to learn more about the differences in stylus and sound.

What I would like to accomplish for this thread would be to use this as a guide if/when you are looking to replace a cartridge, or if you would like to add one so you can interchange.

Those who are willing to help us younguns, list the cartridge along with your turntable, and any other information that may play an important factor in your choice of cartridge. Give us your opinion good/bad, and give a brief review, how you would rate the cartridge performance, and would you/would not recommend the cartridge.

I am hoping that the following information will be a guide into your decision on choosing your next cartridge. I hope we can get many different brands and models listed where it would be easy to do a search for a particular cartridge.
 
Tough sell on this

Some sites have an unending amount of info. on this issue. But nothing on sound and your preferences.
Vinyl engine is one. I look at it regularly but again, no info on overall sound and performance.

Paul
 
There is a belief with race cars and street rods that money buys performance, and it's usually followed by asking, how fast can you afford to go. What this whimsical assertion leaves out is the knowledge factor - knowing what to buy and why for your application. No matter what you're trying to extract performance from, you can't ignore the knowledge factor. Knowledge will come from sifting through all the good advice you receive plus investments of time, money, and/or possibly the number of birthdays you can convince different people you have throughout a year. :)D)

So, what do you know? The difference between conical and elliptical styli? What the terms "mounting distance", "overhang", "effective distance", and "offset angle" actually mean? How to properly use an alignment protractor, and either a balance or digital tracking force gauge? How to properly use the counterweight and rotating scale (if so equipped) to set tracking force? How you would go about adjusting Vertical Tracking Angle for your tonearm? Understanding these basic concepts will help you get the most out of any cartridge/stylus combo you may want to try.
 
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I've been through a number of turntables and cartridges, from vintage to expensive, new models. (Not crazy expensive, like $20,000) My son, who is using a modded Technics 1200 MK2 with an Ortofon Bronze cartridge, recently had got some valuable information from an engineer at Technics. As a collector or original rock records, he frequently encounters records that have some kind of groove damage. If one wants perfect records, it's best to buy used classical music because most were well cared for. But rock? Everyone who lived through that era knows that the listeners sometimes played them on cheap equipment and were frequently too intoxicated to handle something as delicate as a record. I was probably one of the worst offenders and remember waking up in the morning to a scene of records strewn everywhere. I also stacked them--Things I would never do in my more mature old age.

So my son frequently goes nuts because when he hears any kind of distortion, he thinks he did something wrong with the alignment, overhang etc. The truth is that most problems people hear is due to the condition of the media. The mastering of many early rock records, is frankly, terrible. Things were perhaps better with UK pressings. But American record companies sometimes had an adversarial relationship with rock bands and probably didn't use their best sound engineers and studios. In those days, many young rockers referred to professional corporate types as "Suits," "The man," "stiffs" and other endearing titles. Remember the saying, never trust anyone over 30? In their youthful ignorance, many young people in those days believed this nonsense. I'm not asserting there weren't good sound engineers who worked with rock groups. But there was definitely a bias by big corporations against rock music. Think about how hard "The Doors" had to work to get a record contract. It wasn't until people were vehemently demanding the music that a record company picked them up.

Getting back to my central point: The Technics engineer told my son to stop trying to get everything perfect and enjoy the music. It was exactly what he needed to hear because he was spending more time readjusting settings than listening to music. There is no such think as perfection with music recorded on records. If one wants perfection, store music on a flash drive. Bet then, one also gets the sterility of digital sound. I won't get into the advantages of records. I'm assuming that I'm writing to people who already like records.

Well, I hope I helped at least someone get more pleasure from their records.
 
I'll add that the mfgrs of cartridges seem to have a "house sound". At least to my ears. If you like an Ortofon, it is likely you will like a better Ortofon that much more. Same with AT, Lyra, etc.
 
Totally agree with previous two posts. All of my 500or so classical records are pristine. Jazz and jazz vocals are also very good to excellent. Have no rock so can't comment on that genre.

And there definitely is a "house sound" to carts. I love my Ortofon Bronze for its warmth and my At440mla for its detail and brightness. Each cartridge is used for specific music genres or individual records.

My two cents
 
Yep, I've had the same experiences, since getting back into vinyl. I have to look harder to fine rock records in good shape, but Jazz and Classical are usually in great shape. But Boy, back in the day, jack the speakers up against the wall, 6 ft. apart and let the wine, women and song floooooooooow..
 
I guess cartridges are an easy target because they're small and fragile.

I'm starting to think that most cartridges have the potential to sound good if they are installed in a tonearm that doesn't fight against it and tracks a record that has been recorded with care.
 
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gagelle said:
In those days, many young rockers referred to professional corporate types as "Suits," "The man," "stiffs" and other endearing titles. Remember the saying, never trust anyone over 30? In their youthful ignorance, many young people in those days believed this nonsense. I'm not asserting there weren't good sound engineers who worked with rock groups. But there was definitely a bias by big corporations against rock music. Think about how hard "The Doors" had to work to get a record contract. It wasn't until people were vehemently demanding the music that a record company picked them up.



Sorry to get the tread off topic but there was & still is a reason for many bands/artist to hate their labels. I am one of them.:smoke:
To quote Hunter S. Thompson "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”


Now back to the OP's question
I have a Dual CS620Q with the factory Ortofon ULM65E cart (renamed OM(B)10) & an upgraded Ortofon Super Om 30 stylus. I really like the sound of this cart & stylus great bass & soundstage.

I also have a HK T60 with a ADC QLM 36 MkII with a after market stylus. To be honest Its bright & lacks the bass & depth of the Ortofon but to be fair it's a cheap aftermarket stylus. The original NOS stylus are not available but I am looking for a quality stylus. I understand that with the right stylus it's a wonderful sounding cart it cost $135 in 1975. Sure wish I could find the ADC stylus for it!

I have a Thorens TD 166 Mk II with a ADC XLM MkIII that I am working on getting set up & running. I haven't heard it yet so the verdict is out. But I can’t imagine its a bad sounding cart the reviews on VE are very good. Cant wait to hear it. I will report back when I can give it a good listen.

Hope that helps a little.
Cheers
PQ:music:
Click to expand...
 
There's a guy goes by the name DaveyW.. he has posted on various fora at various times.

He has a large selection of cartridges with audio samples and his own comments / reviews.

I have downloaded most of the .WAV samples and burned them to audio CD and then listened to them on a CD player.
Of course you can also listen on your computer but most people have pretty poor speakers connected to them.

I found that the differences were easily noticeable, and allowed me to very quickly eliminate the carts ( cheap and expensive! ) that I just didn't like.
It saved me a fortune in cartridges that I wanted to try and also opened my ears to some that others on various fora didn't rate highly etc. and of course vice versa.

http://daveyw.edsstuff.org/vinyl/cartridges/

He has some other interesting opinions etc. starting from the home page:

http://daveyw.edsstuff.org

I have no connection etc etc etc...

I was surprised at the number of well regarded cartridges that had audible sibilance or slight mistracking. I cannot say whether this was due to errors in setting up / alignment or not, but the impression he gives is that he did his best to achieve a level playing field as you can read for yourselves in his comments on the site.

For me, this is one of the most useful audio sites I've come across by accident.. almost as good as pestering your friendly audio dealer to demo a dozen carts each with 4 very different test pieces of music :)

It was because of his audio comparisons that I bought a Goldring G1000 series
body with a G1012 stylus and later a 1020 stylus to replace a Shure V15 II.
A friend / colleague who built my Garrad 401's plinth for me has also bought a Goldring G1042 to replace his Linn K18 on his Linn Sondek ( built from bits off Ebay ) after hearing the G1012 and listening to the samples on a set of the audio CD's I gave him.

Opps.. bit of a long winded post.. sorry!
 
gagelle said:
I've been through a number of turntables and cartridges, from vintage to expensive, new models. (Not crazy expensive, like $20,000) My son, who is using a modded Technics 1200 MK2 with an Ortofon Bronze cartridge, recently had got some valuable information from an engineer at Technics. As a collector or original rock records, he frequently encounters records that have some kind of groove damage. If one wants perfect records, it's best to buy used classical music because most were well cared for. But rock? Everyone who lived through that era knows that the listeners sometimes played them on cheap equipment and were frequently too intoxicated to handle something as delicate as a record. I was probably one of the worst offenders and remember waking up in the morning to a scene of records strewn everywhere. I also stacked them--Things I would never do in my more mature old age.

So my son frequently goes nuts because when he hears any kind of distortion, he thinks he did something wrong with the alignment, overhang etc. The truth is that most problems people hear is due to the condition of the media. The mastering of many early rock records, is frankly, terrible. Things were perhaps better with UK pressings. But American record companies sometimes had an adversarial relationship with rock bands and probably didn't use their best sound engineers and studios. In those days, many young rockers referred to professional corporate types as "Suits," "The man," "stiffs" and other endearing titles. Remember the saying, never trust anyone over 30? In their youthful ignorance, many young people in those days believed this nonsense. I'm not asserting there weren't good sound engineers who worked with rock groups. But there was definitely a bias by big corporations against rock music. Think about how hard "The Doors" had to work to get a record contract. It wasn't until people were vehemently demanding the music that a record company picked them up.

Getting back to my central point: The Technics engineer told my son to stop trying to get everything perfect and enjoy the music. It was exactly what he needed to hear because he was spending more time readjusting settings than listening to music. There is no such think as perfection with music recorded on records. If one wants perfection, store music on a flash drive. Bet then, one also gets the sterility of digital sound. I won't get into the advantages of records. I'm assuming that I'm writing to people who already like records.

Well, I hope I helped at least someone get more pleasure from their records.
Click to expand...

Well said.
This matches my experience exactly. For a time after getting back in vinyl, I would obsess when I played a used record (sometimes new record) that had distortion. Was something wrong with my alignment or tonearm or isolation or...whatever????? I finally realized that the medium varies so much. I just learn to live with the fact that some recordings/pressings sound better than others.
 
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SupaWales - how do you know the fellow with the website knows what he is doing and what his level of skill and matching components and files might be? You could just as well be hearing "his" problems as hearing differences between cartridges. As always, trust your own ears.
 
MX117.MC7150 said:
SupaWales - how do you know the fellow with the website knows what he is doing and what his level of skill and matching components and files might be? You could just as well be hearing "his" problems as hearing differences between cartridges. As always, trust your own ears.
Click to expand...

The point of the exercize was to compare cartridges as the only variable. He did list the table and arm used, tracking force, antiskate, loading, etc.
He spent many hours in this project, and some of us sent multiple cartridges or styli to help him fill out his library. As far as his personal skills, I won't question them.
 
marcmorin said:
The point of the exercize was to compare cartridges as the only variable. He did list the table and arm used, tracking force, antiskate, loading, etc.
He spent many hours in this project, and some of us sent multiple cartridges or styli to help him fill out his library. As far as his personal skills, I won't question them.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't question his ability either. Anyone that can repair a stylus with a cactus quill is fully qualified in my books.
However, I also owned a Linn for many years and I don't think it works best with all cartridges. Some sound better than others and some that sound not so good on the Linn sound really good on other arm / table combos.
Still, it's an impressive collection of cart reviews.
 
Although the idea of this thread becoming a reference for cartridge selection is nice, I don't see it happening. Opinions on Phono cartridges, just like speakers, are VERY subjective. There have been countless threads written about how wonderful Bose 901s are, and at least as many rebutting that. Does anyone benefit? Until you've heard them yourself, there's no way to know who's "right", is there?

Of course you can always talk about what a particular cart NEEDS as far as loading, VTF, arm type, mass, etc., but that's just to maximize the potential of a given cartridge... it says nothing to how a particular person actually HEARS that cartridge.

The bottom line, I'm sorry to say, is that the only real way to gain much useful information on what brands of cartridges you like, or dislike, is going to be through personal experience. Just like so many have said before about needing to actually hear speakers to know if you'll like them, the same holds true with cartridge selection.
That's why most older audio enthusiasts, myself included, have large stashes of cartridges tucked away. We contemplate, read the occasional review, and ultimately just jump in & try them. I'm constantly giving away cartridges to folks, and I still must have 25-30, maybe more good working cartridges low hour cartridges sitting in a drawer. I could tell you what I liked & didn't about most of them, but your take on it would just be MY opinion.

About the only generalization I can agree with is that most brands DO tend to have their own "house sound". If you find a cartridge that you like, it's often possible to move through that company's models to fine tune your selection. ...Again, much like it is with speakers.
 
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MX117.MC7150 said:
SupaWales - how do you know the fellow with the website knows what he is doing and what his level of skill and matching components and files might be? You could just as well be hearing "his" problems as hearing differences between cartridges. As always, trust your own ears.
Click to expand...

I simply wish to point out that here is a USEFUL resource for those who cannot get to hear cartridges at a dealer or in their own home on loan for whatever reason.

As far as "hearing HIS problems" goes, I'd have thought that any problems would equally affect each sample as the equipment was the same throughout barring noted cartridge loading changes VTF & antiskate.

I did NOT mean ( or imply, I hope! ) that the tester was a golden eared super duper audiophile or whatever.. even though he may be, I don't know the guy from Adam but most of the methodology seems reasonable to me.

It's not as if it's going to cost any money to just listen to the samples using a public library computer.

It will cost you a minimal amount for bandwidth and a few CD-R's to burn the .WAV files to CD and then audition in your own environment or wherever with your own ears.

I for one am extremely grateful to the guy for the not inconsiderable time and effort he puts into this still ongoing project.

Yes, perhaps the turntable / arm / preamp / amp / cables / temperature / humidity/ phase of the moon etc. may result in some inaccuracy but I'm happy to accept this because it gave me the opportunity to evaluate many cartridges quickly and easily, allowing me to make a choice without having to take a complete blind luck test only guided by other peoples OPINIONS rather than actually hearing for myself.

At the end of the day the guy isn't writing a PhD on which cartridge you should buy.

If you don't approve, fine.

I personally found his input extremely helpful and it prevented me from wasting an awful lot of money buying cartridges that I just didn't like the sound of in my listening environment.
Here in the UK it is very difficult to find an audio dealer that will loan you several different cartridges to evaluate in your own home.
Perhaps it's different in the US..

Have a great weekend.. most important of all..
Enjoy your music!
 
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