Is a good Cermic Cartridge an Oxymoron?


A wonderful Metzner Starlight turntable (circa 1950s) is terrible thing to waste. Yet, its induction motor throws out so much EMF that I’m afraid it’s a two-pole and therefore a death sentence for all magnetic cartridges.
While I’m going to try some heavy MuMetal application with it, I want to prepare in the event that all the transmissions can’t be shielded. Do any good ceramics carts exist?
Thanks, Mario
mario_b

Showing 1 response by gp49

There once was a high quality, affordable ceramic cartridge, from Grado (Yes, THAT Grado). It was the Grado B series, from the mid-1960s. It fed a magnetic phono input, tracked light, 1.5 to 2 grams depending on how you set the user-adjustable compliance, and sounded superb. Unfortunately after a couple of years' use, the thing would break down, due to some problem with the ceramic element coming unbonded. Grado gave up on it and went to the magnetic Grado F, and never has looked back at the ceramic.

I guess if you HAD to, look for a Sonotone 9TAFHC-D77. It is a high output ceramic and can feed an AUX input, though a frequency-shaping network really should be used, otherwise it'll sound bass-shy. It tracks acceptably at about 2.5 grams, and that's about as low as you're ever going to get with ceramics these days.