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Seems to me if a .3 or .5mv is low and my Grado's 4.8 is high, isn't a 2.5 mc a 'medium output'? I have the 1.5mv Sonata that seems to do well with 50db of gain and I consider that the low side of 'medium'. I've seen some MM cartridges with over 5mv and some even over 6. How can those 2.5mv 'high output' MC's really show their stuff through a standard MM gain stage? I don't like turning the volume way up to a decent listening even though I have a QA(quiet-ass) preamp. My slight tube amp buzz is a different story. My Oracle also has a coveted 'QA' motor :-)
Follow Ups:
HO MC's are about equal in output to low-output MM's at about 2.5mV. Ordinary MM's range from 4-7mV in output. The point is both can be plugged into an ordinary phono stage at 47K ohms and about 40dB of gain and work just fine.MC's need a step-up, either ss head amp or transformer to work into the same stage. When someone says they have 70dB phono stage, it really is the equivalent to the 40dB phono stage with a 30dB head amp. Medium output MC's have about 0.5 to 1mV of output can work with high gain tube phono stages that have 50-60dB of gain. Low output is 0.1 to 0.3mV output and really requires good transformers or heavy duty extremely quiet ss head amps and can get quite expensive.
Preamps have either moving magnet (high) or moving coil (low) inputs. If you can't get full volume with an acceptable amount of noise, then the cartridge output is too low for the preamp you are using. I think most moving magnet inputs will reach full volume with a cartridge output above 1.0. You may have to crank up the volume control and that may amplify the background noise to an unacceptable level.But most Low output cartridges I've seen put out between .25 and .5. That's plenty for a moving coil input and way too low for most moving magnet inputs. The so called medium outputs will work with moving magnet inputs, just not as loud. They will probably overdrive a moving coil input.
For this reason, I don't see Medium output as a seperate type, just a not very loud High output, that may be problematic if your moving magnet input is not very sensitive.
hopping on this...but I'm a bad little boy.All cartridges are easy to remove fuzz from...just carefully swipe a brush (a small paint brush will work if you don't have a stylus brush) from back to front...DO NOT SWIPE FROM THE FRONT BACKWARDS.
I was going to get really naughty about wiping rather than swiping, but I won't.
The devil made me do it, honest!
****
If I had more money I'd soon be broke...but I'd have more LPs!
MCs start out in the range of .1mv for the lowest of the low output versions (I think Ortofon had some this low)up to about .5mv at the high end of low output. The medium output camp is above .6mv or so up to about 1.0mv. High output MC go up to about 2.5mv which is typically enough to drive a standard MM 47kohm input fully.MM cartridges can get up to 5mv or higher. The 1.5mv Grados are low output for an MI (moving iron) design but still high compared to a LOMC.
LO MCs are below 1 mv.
Henry
When I went from a super high output MM cart (Goldring 1022) to a 2.5mv "high output" MC cart (Benz Ace), I noticed very little loss in volume, so I suspect there is an exponential-type effect going on. Would like to hear from some inmates who actually know something though! :-)
I had a similar experience. I had a turntable with a Grado Silver MM into a Bellari VP 129 Phono stage. I upgraded to a VPI Scout with a Benz H2 wood body, which is MC "high" output that is rate at half the Grado (5 vs. 2.5 mv). Yet I found the Benz to be actually a tad louder than the Grado (not to mention much better!). Perhaps there is some other parameter of the cartridge that determines effective volume when coupling with the phono stage.
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