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In Reply to: RE: What competes with the AT33MONO in the ( $600 range? posted by tonyptony on November 27, 2015 at 07:16:23
With just ten hours of run in it's early for judgment. So far while spinning mostly the Beatles box and 50's Verve and Riverside jazz, the AT has the hallmarks of what I was hoping for in a mono cartridge. Dynamic and organic, wide and layered soundstage(with none of the receding bullseye pattern of lesser mono), more resolving than expected from a spherical stylus, and quieter in the groove than a stereo cartridge.
It's mounted to one of two SME 3012R arms on a Luxman PD444 into a Pass XP-25 phono stage with switchable inputs. With a mono record the AT does pretty much everything better than a $3K Accuphase AC-5 LOMC stereo cartridge of similar output and compliance on the second SME arm. Relative to the stereo cartridge, the mono cartridge has more center density, liveliness, and tonality, while still sounding neutral across FR.
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That was helpful, and a bit surprising. I remember AT MC carts in years past sounding very "hi-fi" - pushing the high frequencies and sounding a bit thin and bleached. From what you said it doesn't seem like the AT33MONO is like that at all. Have you had a chance to hear other monos?
I heard a Miyajima mono at an audio show, but haven't had a mono cartridge since inheriting my grandfather's Magnavox/Garrard console in childhood...
The only other ATs I've owned are ART 7 and 20SS. The vintage 20SS is a tad thin, but the current ART 7 is balanced and refined and pretty close to SOTA.
One data point that leaned toward the AT33MONO was a post by someone who had transitioned from an AT33 stereo cartridge to an AT33MONO. He found the two 33s sounded very different-- the mono unexpectedly smoother and fuller and more listenable than the stereo.
Good luck with whatever you decide. Now that I've heard what a good mono cartridge can do, I'll be cruising for more mono LPs. At about the 150 record mark a Miyajima Zero might be nice...
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