Which Cartrudge For My Upcoming Technics 1200 GR 2 Turnable - Looking at Ortofon 2m Black
Note: Sorry about the misspelled Cartridge in title. Wish I could update that.
I have a Luxman 595 Class A amplifier with Focal N1 speakers. Depending on the recording, it can be on the bright side. I own about 20 records. 80% of them are electronic mixes from the 90s. The rest are dinosaur jr, mazzy star, and so on.
I have found memories of playing my grandfathers fisher turntable (with Mitsubushi stereo system) which looked similar to the Technics 1200GR2, so that is the turntable I am going to get. I also have found memories of going to the record store in the 90s (sound warehouse) and they had a Bose 901 VI system (I think... they were very large hung from the cieling) with a turtable that sounded so good.
The sound I am looking for is *not a audiophile high resolving sound. Instead, I am looking for a energetic sound with power. I do want good audio quality though.
What I am looking at is the Ortofon 2m Black LVB 250 or the 2m black. I never hear them in person. What is everyones thoughts?
Higher output in a MC is typically generated using more turns = higher mass with the issues that come with that. A search on high output moving coil advantage and performance tradeoffs this forum should keep you buried for days. Daze. My comment about juice is slang for output of the cartridge and gain relates to everything down stream of the cartridge. again wishing you well on the journey | ||||||||||||
I also think HOMC defeats the advantage of LOMC. HO requires more windings of the coil which makes it heavier, approaching the weight of moving magnet. Primary advantage of HOMC is that it can go straight into a MM Phono Input. MM the magnet moves inside a fixed coil MC the coil moves inside a fixed magnet. The original ’idea’ of MC is: moving a lightweight coil can be more precise than moving a heavier magnet. IF the coil is lighter, that opens up the options for different cantilever and suspension designs. Especially a LOMC with only a few windings, keeping it physically lighter. Few windings leads to smaller signal strength, and that low signal strength needs pre-pre boost, to get up to MM signal strength. Originally, all the ones I heard were noisy, no longer true. SUTs, step up transformers can be virtually noise free, mine is. then RIAA Equalization Occurs, along with further signal boost up to Line Level, when the preamp takes over to control as it is equipped (tone, balance, stereo/mono ....), always an attenuator to control the signal strength that will be sent to the amp. HOMC requires more windings for stronger signal strength, that makes the coil heavier. The Hana MH HOMC, is a compromise, in my mind MOMC, only enough extra windings to get up to 2 mV signal strength, SO, it’s weight, cantilever, suspension options are different than a HOMC producing 3.5; 4.0 mV. It’s a middle ground, as I have said, I think 2.0 mv is too low for an MM input.
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Some of the relevant specs of the Luxman 595 Integrated Amp https://luxman.com/product/detail.php?id=38 Spec
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dman, I am happy to learn that I was incorrect in thinking you are going to drive an inexpensive Focal bookshelf speaker with the Luxman 595. I apologize for my error. I have always been a fan of the better Focal speakers, so I am sure you will have a lovely analog system once you decide upon a cartridge to go with the Technics TT/tonearm. In deciding about the adequacy of your system gain in order to determine what cartridge output is suitable, you need to know the following: (1) The output of the cartridge in millivolts (mV) and the criterion for determining the output voltage. There are two standards; in the older case the signal V is measured at a stylus velocity of 3.54cm/sec and in the current era, the signal V is measured at 5cm/sec. In both cases, the measurement is made at a frequency of 1kHz. (2) The gain of the phono stage. I searched the internet to find the MM phono gain for your 595, and all I found was that bit about "input sensitivity", 2.5mV. One really needs to know the gain in db. Someone here, I think, mentioned "48 or 50db" for the MM section. If it’s really 50db, then you have a lot of freedom to choose cartridges with output as low as 2mV. The typical MM stage has 39 to 42db gain. For comparison, 40db means the signal voltage is amplified by 100X, whereas 50db means the signal voltage is amplified by 300X. An MM stage with 40db gain will output 0.5V from a cartridge with the typical output of 5mV. 50db gain gives you an 0.6V phono stage output from a cartridge with only 2mV to drive that stage. (2mV*300 = 600mV = 0.6V). I don’t know the MC gain of the Luxman, but it sounds like you have a wide choice of cartridges from which to use owing to its flexibility. If you are obsessed with moving mass, MI type cartridges have lower moving mass than MC types. In addition, (3) the linestage of the Luxman will add more gain to the signal that has to drive the amplifier. And (4) you will need to know the input sensitivity of the amplifier section. That is defined as the signal voltage needed to drive it to full output. The typical modern amplifier exhibits an input sensitivity of between 0.8V and 2V. (5) Then speaker impedance and efficiency enter the picture. All 5 of these factors plus room size and acoustics finally determine how happy you will be, SPL-wise. | ||||||||||||
LOMC The 595's MC Option, Like my Luxman SQ-N150, is for LOMC, and has a single fixed impedance of 100 ohms PHONO (MC) : 0.3mV / 100Ω Based on the guidance formula: coil output x 10 that input is best for an MC cartridge close to 10 ohms My lucky pick for my 1st LOMC cartridge was AT33PTG/II (stupid name, sounds great) which has 0.3mv signal strength, 10 ohm coil. My Mono LOMC is AT33PTG Mono (modified with Line Contact on Boron) is 0.35 mv, also 10 ohm coil ///////////////////////////////////////// What LOMC cartridges can others recommend with a coil impedance close to 10 ohms? |
