mm vs mc turntable for my receiver

Posted by Alan L. Maier [SysOp] [IP: 129.37.205.3] on May 09, 1999 at 10:59:41
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In Reply to: mm vs mc turntable for my receiver posted by Tim Baldwin on May 09, 1999 at 04:09:04:

Tim,

I'd say keep your old Pioneer going. It may have not been special back then, but today you will have to pay quite a bit to upgrade as turntables were built much more solid back then.

I feel a MC will work just fine with your Pioneer '117. The difference between low and high output MC is indeed output! A high output MC can be connected to a MM gain stage and play fine - yes the volume will be a bit lower but not like a low output MC.

When shopping for cartridges, you will find that high output MCs are listed for that feature. Some common high output MCs are the Sumiko Blue Point series, the X series from Ortofon and the Denon DL series. Of those, the Blue Point is very popular at $150 for its midrange qualities - not noted for its top end, which may be due to the .3 x .7 mil tip. I happen to prefer the Ortofons for their crisp high end - the Denon DL-160 I stumbled into has been a keeper for me for its very dynamic midrange. Plan on spending $150 for a MC - you may be able to get by for less on the MM market but you are going to loose quality. As example you could go with the Ortofon OM20Super at $100 - but for $30 more the OM30Super is worth the extra (J&R has the OM30Super for $129). If you can use a low output MC, the AT OC9 is a good bet at $200 from Audio Advisor - just beware they are fragile.. the cantilever does not bend, it breaks! (tru$t me here).

Alan,
: Thanks for the info. I have a PL-117D, purchased in 1978. It has an S-shaped arm, with a screw-in headshell, so I guess that would be considered higher-mass. I'll start looking around. Curious...what would differentiate a high-output cartridge from any other?
: Tim

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