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I have a Pioneer PL 10 which I'd like to use as a "third" turntable and I'm looking for a fairly cheap but good cartridge for it. I can buy either of these for under $35 CDN, so I have to choose. What are the advantages/disadvantages and recommendations? Thanks.
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and although I mostly agree with the review below, I found bass got much better after break-in. I certainly have no lack now. YMMV. I like the very musical midrange of the AT95e, good trackability, and I never found the detail harsh as some have.I think some folks below are talking about compliance and some are talking about weight -- if your arm is mid to high mass, the AT will be a winner. Not all s-shaped arms are though, and if yours was made in the late 70s or early 80s it might err on the lighter side (just a guess). Some RTFM would be good here.
"The Blues ain't about makin' yourself feel better; it's about makin' other people feel worse!" -- Bleedin' Gums Murphy
Mark111 gives a great sonic critique, here. While both of these carts are good choices, you, the buyer, needs to listen and decide.
I would trust the Mark111 critique and quickly buy the Ortofon, even if I would have to add some mass at the headshell.
But, I like sweet sounding stuff. I can sacrifice a little detail up top or down low for sweet music.
Might I be able to suggest some classic, vintage carts, that meet your price criteria ? Currently, on the bay, some of these early stereo, 1960s carts are only fetching approx. $30 plus shipping.
While buying used is chancey, the results seem worthwhile to me.
Moreover, if you listen to older music, does it matter that some of these classics might have been used by those musicians ? That matters to me, a little, but the music quality is most important.
I have compared an OM10 and 15 to my fave moving magnet cart, and prefer the early stereo Pickering/Stanton 380. It is the sweet sonics, speed, and 3D imagery that capture my heart with this cartridge. Buying one, albeit with its conical tip and 3 gram tracking, will undoubtedly please any music lover, IMHO.
If you want a more analytical sound, then the early B&O SPII, marketed as the Dynaco/B&O StereodyneII, is another great early stereo cart.
Two more recommendations are the early Elacs, and Empire 108 or 88.
The Empire was also marketed by Knight. All of these are very smooth sounding. The Elacs go for more money, but they are reference grade !
The Empires and later Empires, as well as the later Pickering/Stantons also fit your $$ criteria.
Enjoy the journey. Your third system tt, with a classic cart, might become more important to you...
You may need to add weight to the headshell using the OM-series.
I'm not sure if your PL-10 has the same arm as the PL-12D, but I believe it may. If that is the case, one more consideration for you would be that the AT 95E is a little heavier (but still a bit short of the 6 gram weight recommended by Pioneer for the PL-12D) at 5.75 grams compared to the Ortofon at 5 grams even, so should be a better match with the tonearm.The AT 120E (more money at $55 U.S. from garage-a-records) is, I believe a little heavier around the 6.5 gram mark and a great match with the Pioneer PL-12D in a second system I have.
Upon checking the PL-10 manual at vinylengine it appears that cartridges between 4 and 5.5 grams weight are recommended, so the Ortofon may in fact be the better match. May well come down to personal preference in sound going to the "mini review" below.
The AT is more detailed and has fantastic separation among the instrument,but is a little light in the bass,The Ortfon delivers much better bass(though a little woolly)and has good top to bottom balance but is not nearly as detailed.
I guess it depends on what type of sound you are looking for.They are both good carts for the money.
enjoy,
mark
Is the Pioneer arm light, medium or heavy (eff. mass)?The AT cart is rather stiff while the Ortofon has a soft suspension.
The arm is probably medium. It's an "S" arm, but not too thick.
The stiffer suspension (lower compliance) of the AT make it a better match for your S-arm which would be medium to high mass. Don't worry about the weight of the AT--it will work fine with your arm.
The S-shaped arm on the Pioneer is going to be low to medium mass at the high end. It is certainly not a high mass tone arm. The compliance #'s on both cartridges (20 on the AT, 25 on the Ortofon) put them both solidly in the high compliance zone (they are both pretty "springy" cartridges), making either a decent match with a lower mass arm.After checking the PL-10 manual at vinyl engine, it appears that Pioneer actually recommended lightweight cartridges in the 4.0 to 5.5 gram weight range, so it would appear that either of these with their high compliance would be a good match with the PL-10, the Ortofon perhaps more so based on weight alone, not that that would be a truly defining parameter.
How is an S-arm low mass? I have tested for resonance on s-arms and high compliance carts always end up in the 6-7Hz range, which is too low. The AT-95E has a compliance of 6, which makes sense having a tracking force of 2g, and will be a very good match for the tonearm.
The AT 95E has a stated compliance of 20 (the Ortofon is 25-both are high compliance cartridges):http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=ATC95E
The S-shaped arm on the older Pioneers is definitely not a high mass design.
check cartridgedb.com
"The Blues ain't about makin' yourself feel better; it's about makin' other people feel worse!" -- Bleedin' Gums Murphy
Yes, they measure the same as Denon, apparently. My Denon 103R has a quoted compliance of 5 by Denon and the AT95E is quoted as 20 by AT. While one might argue that the Denon is really a medium compliance cartridge, it is pretty difficult to argue that the AT 95E, being 4 times as compliant, is a lower compliance cartridge.
AT95E has a compliance of 6.5cu @ 100Hz. It will be approximately double that at 10Hz - still lowish.
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