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My experience on this.

Posted by jsm (A) on April 29, 2007 at 10:37:05

In Reply to: Anybody returned from MC to MM? posted by mikecole on April 28, 2007 at 13:06:06:

I was a lifelong Shure MM user, starting with the M7/N21D around 1960. I went through all the V15's to the V15 IV before I gave up vinyl for perfect sound forever. I was tired of record wear, noise, inner groove distortion, etc. I re-entered vinyl a few years ago when i discovered that real progress had been made in vinyl playback and bought my first MC cartridge, a DV 20XH. With my new TT, all my previous complaints were either eliminated (no distortion from wear, no inner groove distortion) or vastly reduced (surface noise). Last night I listened to about 15 minutes of a mint (new) copy of a Philips recording of Bach sonatas for violin and harpsichord and didn't hear a SINGLE pop, tick, or any other noise that would indicate I was listening to vinyl in that entire time. From a noise standpoint, I couldn't tell it from a CD.

Still, a while back I wondered about MM cartridges and bought a Shure V15VxMR. It is a very nice cartridge, and I could live with it if I had to, But, after a month of using it, I went back to the 20XH, and its superiority was obvious. There was more life, vibrancy, and air to the sound. Certainly there is no noise added, but this is an HO cartridge, so my situation is simpler than yours. Most people will say a LO MC will sound better than HO one, all other things being equal, and there are good physical reasons for this to be true. Some people claim that the LO version of the 20X is much better than the HO one, while others who I know that have heard both say they are quite close.

To come to your question, i would not go back to the Shure, and I am so happy with the DV, I see no reason to look at other MM cartridges. If you like the basic sound character of your DV cartridge, you might be on the right track when you say you are considering a 10X5. Maybe a HO would work very well for you, though I'm sure most others here would say you should solve the problems you have so that you can use a LO cartridge. For what it's worth, I know someone who has your cartridge in a better TT than mine, but he says he likes the sound of my 20XH at least as well and probably better than his. Also, the latest 20XH has threaded holes, which would make installation a lot easier.

Joe

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