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Cartridges: Complete Scam?

I’m very new to analog, and researching my options on forums I keep coming across the same sentiment: that past the ultra low-end cartridges, there is very little gains in actual sound quality and that all you’re getting are different styles and colorations to the sound.

So, for example, if I swapped out my $200 cartridge that came with my table for a Soundsmith, Dynavector, Oracle, etc, I may notice a small improvement in detail and dynamics, but I’m mostly just going to get a different flavor. Multiple people told me they perffered thier old vintage cartridges over modern laser-cut boron-necked diamonds.

It’s possible that these people are just desperately defending thier old junk and/or have never heard high end audio. But if what they’re saying is true, than the cartridge industry is a giant SCAM. If I blow 2.5k minimum on an Air Tight I better get a significant improvement over a $200 bundler — and if just all amounts to a different coloration, than that is a straight-up scam ripoff.

So guys — are these forums just BS-ing me here? Is it really a giant scam?
madavid0
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
You’re darned right the’re a scam. I started playing my 78s without using a cartridge at all. Emboldened by the excellent results, I moved on to 45s. And now I play my LPs without a blood sucking, audiophile scamming, cartridge as well.

The background noise is now inaudible and I don’t have to get up to change the record either. Thanks fo the tip.
stevecham
3,298 posts
 
Inna: hahahahahahahahaha, "you cartridge guys," you're killing me.

Viridian: interesting idea, and budget worthy too, but, something must be wrong because none of my catridges has sucked my blood, at least yet.

Madavid: You should have all the answers to your important questions by now and can make informed and rational decisions regarding vinyl playback, and, you're welcome.

Everyone else: KUDOS! 


inna
5,245 posts
 
Cartridge alignment is like cleaning records. Whatever you do it will never be perfect. No wonder people always upgrade cartridges instead of aligning the old ones properly. Many report that Mint protractor is currently the most accurate tool. So whatever you used before it gave you misalighned cartridges. Mint also gives you cartidges that are off the alignment, you simply don't know it yet and maybe even cannot accept that it might be the case. Good luck, anyway. 
arkanya
8 posts
 
I owned many different cartridges from Madrigal Carnegie (by Mark Levinson), Linn "Troika" to my latest Lyra Etna and Dynavector TE Kaitora Rua. The newer ones are much better sounding cartridges. It's like you'll compare old amps to a newer ones, or old speakers to a todays technology, i.e. IMHO new (same class) Naim or McIntosh Amps sound much better than the old ones, or the latest Sonus Faber Amati speakers sounds much better that the 10-15 years old ones. I believe it's all about what people can afford these days and partially nostalgia is to be blaimed.
madavid0 OP
127 posts
 
@arkanya Thanks for real info.

Okay guys, I ended up hedging my bets with a AT-OC9ML/II which appears to be a very well-regarded, and also not cheap, cartridge with a boron and Micro-Line stylus. I used a $10 mirrored protractor to dial it in and a $10 scale to set the tracking force. I have a magnified visor with LED headlamp that was invaluable for doing this -- it's almost impossible to to see the stylus tip without the aid of magnification.

Guys, it doesn't sound good. Lean, congested, and basically rolled off -- for example, missing trailing "T"s in vocals. But honestly not that much different from my Studio Tracker bundler. I've read people say that MCs take a lot of break-in -- is that true? Or are cartridges really are a scam? Can I expect the AT to eventually open up, stop rolling off mid-range vocals, and actually pull out more detail and texture?
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