Do I Have the Wrong Cartridge?

45 dB of gain in the phono stage is a HUGE amount of gain for typical moving magnet cartridges, let alone one that outputs 6.8-7.2 mV. It's no wonder it sounds harsh and strident.

With that amount of gain I'd be looking to drop the output on the cartridge way down into the 2-2.5 mV range. So high output MC's such as the Denon DL 110 and Dynavector 10 x 5 would be appropriate. The Dyna would be pricey but the DL 110 would come in way under budget and both should match up reasonably well with the arm.

Do you have the wrong cartridge? Yes.

I see these kind of posts often regarding the Elys and it reminds me of when i first moved up from a Technics auto linear tracker in the late 90s to what i considered my first quality turntable when i bought a Rega Planer 2. I asked the dealer to fit an Elys cartridge as it sat in the middle of their range and thought it would be ideal as a starter. I found nothing to recommend the Elys apart from its prodigious output which meant it would go loud and it wasn't until i moved on to other cartridges that i realised how poor the Elys is. I'm no Rega hater. I loved the Planer 2 and kept it for nigh on 12 years, buying a P25 along the way but i've never heard a Rega cartridge that impressed.

Significantly better on the Planer 2 was Denon DL160, better again was a DL304. A Nagoaka MP11 outperformed the Elys in every way as did a Goldring 1012gx and a Garrot Brothers P77.

Like many others i also bought a Rega cartridge because of the ease of the 3 screw alignment. The cartridge was a poor tracker though until i bought the HIFi News test record and using their alignment protractors with the test record found that the cartridge needed to be a couple of millimetres forward to get the overhang and hence alignment correct so the 3 screw set up was no help in the scheme of things.

My suggestion would be to try another cartridge from another manufacturer, there is plenty of choice in the same price bracket.

Zavato, I set VTF on my Axis with a ruler and it is horizontal to platter; I was told this is correct position.

VTF = Vertical Tracking Force (aka, downforce): the vertical force applied by the stylus to the record suface. It is measured with a balance or a scale, the same way you measure your body weight. One doesn't measure stylus downforce with a ruler, nor body weight with a yardstick.

Adjusting VTF by making the tonearm or cartridge horizontal to the platter could result in downforce that's much higher or lower than the internal suspension of the cartridge was designed for. Whoever gave you this advice was wrong (or you misunderstood it).

One makes the tonearm or cartridge horizontal to the platter by adjusting the mounting height of the tonearm at its base. One adjusts downforce (VTF) by moving the counterweights on the arm stub and/or adjusting the VTF dial (if the arm has one). These adjustments are separate, although their effects are interactive.

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FWIW... I have no personal experience with Rega cartridges but I've seen umpteen posts like Diggory's over the years. I've never seen anyone rave about how much better an Elys sounds than whatever it replaced, but I've seen many posts raving about improvements when an Elys was replaced with something else.

Ebm's post also makes sense to me. The fact that rock recordings sound okay means little. Rock music is *supposed* to sound distorted. Guitar amplifiers have adjustable distortion built in and more is often added during mixing and mastering. No one but the sound engineers actually know what any particular rock record should sound like.

OTOH, classical and other acoustic music provide some sort of absolute standard (depending on one's hearing of course). Anyone who attends live performances has some idea of what violins actually sound like. Distortions introduced during playback are a departure from one's internalized ideal and are more readily audible as "wrong" than the same distortions in music which is *meant* to sound distorted.

Try a different cartridge and have it set up properly (or, better yet, learn to do it yourself). The suggestions on Raul's lengthy MM vs. MC thread may be helpful.

I am using a Grado Reference Platinum 1 on an old Thorens 150mkII and my classical records sound wonderful. No hum near the center on my system. Midrange is particularly sweet with this cartridge. If it is a good match with your tone arm, I think it would be a big improvement over the Rega which has never impressed me for listening to unamplified music.

kn

Thank you all for the replies and such valuable information.

It seems that a high output MC is what I need to match my phono stage. I think my local HiFi shop just wanted to sell me a Rega w/o asking any pertinent questions. I will be making a visit to a different dealer who carries Denon.
And the distortions in Rock music confirm why the cart sounds so different when playing classical.
Once again, I thank you.

And to Dougdeacon...very good explanation. I misunderstood the term VTA. I balanced my tonearm using downloaded instructions on how to balance a Linn tonearm. I experimented by moving the counterweight and could see the different angle of the stylus in the groove and set the tonearm balance by the best sound to my ear.