Going from MM to MC

Weighing in here since I have a Linn LP12/Ekos/Lingo and two MC Cart’s to play with.

The Linn came with a Benz Micro wood body MC with an MR type stylus. Great combination and sounds lovely regardless of what type of music I play with. Not bad for a 33 yr. old Cart. that hasn’t been played in the last 20 yrs.

I used to have the MoFi StudioDeck with an Ortofon Quintet Black (500hrs. max.) that’d bought brand new last year. I’d sold the MoFi with it’s original Studiotracker Cart. but kept the Quintet Black w/ Shibata stylus.

Honestly, I couldn’t hear any difference between the two setups and never did a Video on a "showdown" of sorts.

I recently put away the Benz Micro & installed the Quintet Black onto the LP12. It’s actually a bit more revealing than the Benz but you’d have to listen for it. The Benz may be a tad more laid back (some call that "musical" I guess).

I’ve carefully electrosonically cleaned the stylus tip of the Benz before putting it away but not the Quintet Black since Ortofon doesn’t recommend ever using any fluid/sticky gels onto their styluses. But I’ve heard people say the opposite to me.

Vinyl Attack did an excellent review on the Cart.

Dear @rajugsw  : Good for you. Now your Ekos is way better than the OP Akito and this fact is something to take in count about.

R.

@mal11963 

there are couple of technical differences btw MM and MC

1) MM cart is high output impedance driver, vs low output impedance MC. MM cart will sound better with most tonearms and phono higher resistance cables, while MC will require low as possible interconnects. You may check your end of phono cable to arm connector (headshell pin) to check if resistance is below /above1 Ohm. If resistance is high, arm wiring and better connectors are needed for MC.

2) MM carts typically require less tracking needle pressure for similar performance comparing to MC, typ 1g for MM vs 2g for MC (MC coils have wires with more moving resistance).

I compared sound of Audio Technica ART9 to AT-ML170/180, I found as MM ML170/180 sound more airy, warmer on many records (not all). 

Soundsmith has some of the best and are well grounded from vibration and interference! 

With all due respect to all of you very knowledgeable analog persons, I think you’ve succeeded once again in driving another analog novice into the weeds with too much information and scaring him off. That’s why I suggested the Linn cartridge so he could have a simple, comfortable solution without overloading him with so many choices that he gets paralyzed with indecision. I don’t think a glut of information is helpful in the beginning. I’m willing to be wrong, but when someone is starting out it’s better to just present the easiest path. At least that’s what I think. Be well.