Phono Cartridges

Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by JK47, Jan 12, 2016.

  1. Wfojas

    Wfojas Friend

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    You should return it and ask for another one, if you can.
     
  2. Chris F

    Chris F Boyz 4 Now Fanatic - Friend

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    Don't bend it back that is just as likely to cause more damage. Compensate by twisting the cart in the headshell so it lines up straight.

    If it doesn't mistrack or sound awful you are OK. It probably has some minor sonic degradation (channel imbalance or freq response imbalance between channels) but nothing that will prevent you from using it till it wears out and you can replace the stylus.
     
  3. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Thank you so much. I will try to adjust on headshell. :)
     
  4. Wfojas

    Wfojas Friend

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    Just curious, how did it get bent while trying to adjust vta? Inwoukd have thought it woukd snap or mis align frm the base, rather than your bend on what shoukd be a really stiff and brittle cantilever?
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2017
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Wondering if it came like that from the factory. Normally a bend will be at the base / suspension, where the cantilever can usuallly be adjusted back.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2017
  6. shaizada

    shaizada Friend

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    I have to say, that is the first time in my life that I've seen a bend like that on a cantilever. Like the others have mentioned already, I would suggest that you simply align the actual stylus itself when doing setup. If it sounds right, then just use the cartridge and not worry about the bend.

    Don't worry, shit happens. Enjoy it for what it is and when you feel like it, move on to another cartridge. The Ortofon Quintet or Cadenza series would be the natural upgrade path. I love Ortofons...especially the SPU's, but I digress.
     
  7. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    No idea myself either. I usually quite careful but my hand got slipped and I smacked the headshell then i see the cantilever got bent. :(
     
  8. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    I wish.. :) Then I will get free replacement but it was good when I got it.
     
  9. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    Thank you very much four your suggestion. At least it is playable and still produce good sound. I am still hate myself for the mistake since it is very expensive item for me. Good thing is that I just got 100 x 2nd hand classical LPs at good priceI will try to make good use of it with those LPs and replace stylus to 2M Orange or upgrade to Quintet later. Thank you......
     
  10. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    Do you mean 2M bronze? I thought there might be a new release from ortofon and googled a bit but found nothing about a 2M oranje
     
  11. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    My bad. Yes, Bronze.. :)
     
  12. Wfojas

    Wfojas Friend

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    Yeah, some of us have done far worse, it’s part of the adventure. What classical series did you get, Shaded dogs, blueback, lyritas?
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2017
  13. Decomo

    Decomo Almost "Made"

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    I did not even know what they are until you mentioned it. I just googled those labels and noted that those are audiophile grade LP recordings.
    Those ones that I got are mixture of Decca, Living Stereo, Telarc, RCA, Philips, Capitol and EMI... I do not think that they are Shaded Dogs, BlueBack and Lyrita...
    Great to know that there are better recording LPs even if they are same label (RCA, Shaded Dogs). Next time, I will look out for those.
     
  14. Chris F

    Chris F Boyz 4 Now Fanatic - Friend

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    Here is a sample from my Zyx Omega Premium:
    https://www.sendspace.com/file/s8ks2c

    The rest of the chain is Kronos Pro with SCPS, Trulife Argo phono and TASCAM DA-3000 (DSD128 converted to 24/96)

    For the sake of comparison (and to avoid copyright issues) I used the same track (Cecile McLorin Salvant - Never Will I Marry) Fremer did for his his comparo of Hana SL vs Ortofon Quintet Black here:
    https://www.analogplanet.com/content/hana-sl-mc-750-versus-ortofon-quintet-black-s-mc-999

    The channels are backwards (blame Fremer) so if you want to hear it as it should be swap them back to the correct way. The Cecile McLorin Salvant record is killer BTW. Highly recommended.
     
  15. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    I will agree with the OP.

    I had the Red...three of them. My 2 year old wrecked them. I could not take it anymore and taped the lid shut, and started removing the stylus and keeping it in a safe place. She is 7 now, but I still have to do that with my youngest who is now 1.

    The Red is actually pretty lively. With my warmer KEF C75's, they can still sound very plesant, although a bit harsh on the top end. If you look at the EQ and distortion curve, they do have a slight lift after about 10k.

    The Blue seemed just have more detail, espcially in the mids. There is still some high end shrillness, but not quite as bad.

    My guess is that it it is not just the solid shank, but there is probably a better higher quality cut diamond on the Blue's as well. It kind of sounds like the Red's also might can vary a bit more.
     
  16. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    Does anyone have experience with the Ortofon Quintet Black? I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a Spacedeck and I can’t quite decide what cart to get.

    The Quintet Black seems like a good starting point for entry into the high end, but I keep getting tempted by some of the higher end stuff from Soundsmith, Lyra, or Transfiguration.

    I suppose I could start out cheaper and build up, however I really want to avoid feeling the need to immediately upgrade. My priorities are dynamics, imaging, and clarity.

    I hate the veiled, grainy, and/or flat sound I have heard from some setups. It is tough to get a feel for a cart from auditions so any help would be appreciated.
     
  17. powermatic

    powermatic Friend

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    Are you just starting out with vinyl in general, or upping your game? If just starting, the advantage to buying a less expensive cart would be to give you a listening baseline to hear what you are liking and what you find lacking. Also, it's somewhat less soul crushing to trash the cantilever on a $250 cart as opposed to a $1k cart as you're dealing with setup for the first time.

    Speaking of the $250 price range, the old war horse Denon DL-103r is universally praised for it's first-do-no-harm sonics, it's conical stylus makes setup less demanding, and like the Ortofon you're looking at it is a LOMC, so it would test whatever phono pre you're running.

    All that to say that I've never heard the OQB though Fremer seems to like it. I doubt you'd go wrong with that selection. The $1k price point though is full of 'opportunities', the Hana SL for instance is getting a lot of positive press and is somewhat cheaper ($750). I use a Dynavector DV 20XL which I really like, to my ear it has all the qualities you're hoping for, but I'm a fan of the Dynavector sound. Oh, and don't forget to look at matching the cart resonance frequency to whatever arm you're running.
     
  18. Stapsy

    Stapsy Friend

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    First turntable that didn't come from Radio Shack ;)

    I know the DL-103r gets a lot of love, but based on my research it is not a good match with a 12.5g arm.

    As far as trashing a cantilever, I am more concerned about finding the right cart than I am about breaking one. I will have help setting up the table and basic use isn't that complicated.

    The closest to a budget cart I had the opportunity to hear was a Quintet Mono. I believe that cart is based on the Quintet Blue and I thought the sound was quite good. Perhaps a little grainy/unrefined, but that seemed to be fairly consistent even with the other carts in the systems I auditioned.

    Listening to Fremer's needledrop of the Quintet Black I was very impressed with the dynamics and clarity. The Hana SL had a slight warmth/veil I found distracting even though overall the tone was better. No idea how that relates to a true analog experience. I worry that Dynavector may have a similar warmth but lack the dynamics that bring music to life for me.

    I am basically trying to spend the least amount of money I can while still being satisfied with the sound while I build up some experience. The 103r is the obvious choice if it weren't for the compatibility issues. That leaves a 2m, Nagaoka, Quintet, or Dynavector. My guess is that the Quintet Black is a fairly safe choice. If I were going less than that I would rather stick closer to the $500 range unless there is something that will really knock my socks off.
     
  19. powermatic

    powermatic Friend

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    The 103r specs show a low-compliance rating of 5x10-6cm/dyne which would certainly require a high effective mass arm, but those calculations were done at 100hz as opposed to the more standard 10hz, which produces a much-more-medium compliance rating of 10-12x10-6cm/dyne. Your arm's 12.5g effective mass, along with say 9g cart and fastener weight, gives a pretty sweet resonance frequency of 11hz.
    https://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_resonance_evaluator.php?eff_mass=12.5&submit=Submit

    In the real world of personal experience, I have on hand (I think;)) 5 DL-103Rs in different iterations (stock, ZU. VDH re-tip, wood bodies, etc.) that I've had on different medium mass arms (JMW 9, JMW 12, JMW 10, JMW 10 3d, Rega, SAEC, SME etc.) and they've always performed well. YRMV.

    So at some point you might want to send the ebay guy 250 bucks and try one out. But at the end of the day? Yeah, that QB will kick it's ass.
     
  20. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Following @powermatic : assuming compliance of 1.5-2x the 5Hz quoted (see these posts) and looking at the resonance-evaluator link he gave and at this graph, I think the 103r would be just fine.

    Edit: The Denon carts reportedly do very well in combination with Rega arms, which are within a gram or so of the mass you gave for yours.

    Edit 2: Brainfart, compliance is not in Hz; 5 micrometer per millinewton or somesuch.
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2018

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