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In Reply to: RE: VM760SLC posted by flood2 on January 04, 2017 at 15:47:20
It is interesting that AT have such a disparity in the sonic characteristics of their MM vs. their MC lines isn't it? I have always liked the sound of their MC cartridges, even their least expensive ones. Their MM cartridges have always disappointed me. By contrast, Ortofon has a much more consistent sound signature. At the moment I own a 2M Black, A 2M Mono SE, a Cadenza Black and a recently acquired Winfeld. There is a definite family resemblance and all are quite satisfactory. Unfortunately they get better the higher up the line you go. Your comments about stylus alignment are also right on the money, the simpler ML is also my preference, although if care is taken with setup the Shibata, other than being more difficult to get right, is quite satisfactory. If the stylus is askew too much, though, irrespective of geometry I would rather have a conical. This follows a bias for the KISS Principle.
Follow Ups:
I think it is quite deliberate that AT have distinct voicings for the MM and MC ranges. All manufacturers know how to achieve flat response with an MM and given the consistent "hump" around 12 KHz irrespective of cartridge inductance, I'm sure that AT have done this very deliberately. The question is why?
Perhaps it is simply to draw a point of difference compared to other manufacturers. For example, Stanton 681 users may be looking for something that sounds "more exciting" with better clarity and so will be drawn to the AT. Certainly for the average user who has a phono stage with a fixed 47k load, the 681 would have a very recessed top end. I load mine at 68k which pulls up the response at 10 to 11kHz to give a ruler flat response. However, in the absence of load adjustment, a "disappointed" 681 user would get an instant "fix" by using an AT instead!
Whereas MC is targeted at the audiophile who is more focussed on neutrality and accuracy thus dictating the cartridge to be engineered to compete with other manufacturers using those metrics.
I don't know...maybe I'm way off!
Regards Anthony
"Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty.." Keats
I had to think about this before responding. Your's is a thought provoking post. First of all I don't think you are off base at all. I just hadn't thought about these issues before and certainly not in the same way as you. My phono stage is the very excellent Conrad Johnson TEA2MAX, which is set at 47K ohms. It can be changed, but after messing around with the dip switches for a while, I decided that 47k ohms works well for the majority of the cartridges I have tried. Way back in time I was going back and forth between 681EE and Shure V15-III. Speakers were Bozak Concert Grands and I do recall adding resistance for the 681EE. Preamp back then was an Audio Research SP3. Again you and I seem to be on parallel tracks. Interesting. Yesterday I was listening to Ella and Duke on the Cote D'Azure with my 2M Black and just for the hell of it threw in the AT150ANV mostly prompted by the musings here. Suddenly it sounded like Ella had a cold. I think your observations help explain why.
Thanks,
Bill
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