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Moving from MM to MC

I have a Shure M97x cart and it's been fantastic, but itching to test the waters with MC carts. What is the biggest thing I will notice once I switch?

BTW thinking of getting the Denon DL 103 for around $220. That a good bang for the buck under $300?
bstatmeister
tyray
60 posts
 
@bimasta,

Good call, I forgot about the platter mat and the effect it has on the turntables overall sound. The one I use is the inexpensive tweak but high quality GEM Dandy rubber cork compound mat and you can hear the difference between it and the stock mat. Although I do have mat/platter weights I chose not to use them.

http://dagogo.com/practically-priced-tools-for-the-lp-lover/2

boxer12
1,703 posts
 
I took out an old empire 4000d/III from my stash this week after not using it for 25 or so years (been running LOMC during that time frame) & am absolutely amazed at the sound quality this old cartridge delivers. That said, although you don't want to buy used, they are pretty robust as long as you can get a replacement styli for them. 
nandric's avatar
nandric
3,263 posts
 

Moving to MC for cheap? My (much) younger (Slavic) brother

chakster is learning very fast. His (Raul's) ''learning curve'' must

be  very high. Besides his memory is such that he even remember

that Denon ever produced an MM cart. Well he also mentioned

Denon DL-S1 cart. This cart is special designed for their very

successful AU-S1 SUT. I am not sure how much later. Anyway

this cart is even better than their DL 1000 . The only drawback

is its output: 0,15 mV. But the cart is perfect match for the AU-S1

not only qua impedance but also inductance. Inductance however

is seldom mentioned by carts and SUT's so how are we supposed

to combine them? I got the cart for less than $1000 and SUT

for about $1000. I am not aware of any combo regardless the

price that can compete with this one.

chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
What is perfect for my Fidelity-Research FR-7f (0.15mV) on FR-64fx tonearm is WLM Phonatata phono stage. This phono stage is universal for LOMC (see below)

Don’t know what’s happened, but when i changed my tube push-pull integrated amp to First Watt F2J jfet current power amp (and First Watt B1 preamp) the resolution and imaging significantly improved, now the best combination of phono stage+amp for LOMC became my old current phono stage WLM Phonata with automatic load impedance. I tried to discuss it way back on audiogon, but nobody knows this particular phono stage, because the company (WLM was a loudspeaker and amp manufacturer in Vienna) closed the business soon after this phono stage was made.

RIAA equalization is implemented across two amplification stages (within current amplification), providing a frequency expansion from 10Hz to 50kHz (Subsonic cut below 10Hz).

The PHONATA offers automatic adjustment of Load-Impedance:
• You don’t have to adjust the load-Impedance of your cartridge (plus the
interconnect-cable between cartridge and Phono-Preamplifier). It goes
automatically thanks to one ingenious piece of circuitry.
• You don’t have to adjust the source voltage of your cartridge as well.
• There are no micro-switches or any other mechanical contacts in the signal-path.

The PHONATA works with two-stage amplification:
• An inductive voltage amplification stage (for MC cartridges) using high
performance professional audio step-up transformers.
• A solid state current amplification stage, using specific MOS-FET transistors with tube-typical harmonic distortion characteristics.
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