Notice That There Are Not Many Survivors of the MC from the early 19080's or so?


Every once in awhile I will see an odd Audioquest 404 for sale. But otherwise not too many cartridges from this generation. I have always wondered about whatever happened to the Sumiko SHO cartridges. Were they the predecessor to the Blue Point or the Blackbird? Always wondered how they sounded, never got to hear one. 

I wonder if it is the use of the hollow rod cantilevers that caused them to become lost cartridges. I don't think you could retip them, but the best you could do is trade them in for a discount. 

The other cartridge I see from time to time are the Shinon, and every once in a great while I will see one come up for sale. Oh an odd Ortofon or two, and that is about all I remember for this era of moving coils ever coming available. 

neonknight

Crazy that I just mounted a Sumiko, Talisman Alchemist S. These were supposed to be 80's gold standard HO MC cartridges. I use a Van den Hull MC ONE which is fantastic but looking forward to spending time with this new & interesting find

@elliottbnewcombjr kinda driving in parallel audio lanes, lol

@elliottbnewcombjr   

yea, I thought that may be the case, but I dont have the energy to dismount it yet, so long as it's working.  One of these days it will be time for a cartridge swap.

thanks

@bgross 

It’s the same, just low or high output, which would change the weight of the coils a speck, your’s having more copper to get up to 2.0 mv..

AI quickie

"The Sumiko Talisman Alchemist S (specifically the IIIS or III S model) is a High Output Moving Coil (HOMC) phono cartridge distinguished by its Sapphire tube cantilever and line contact diamond stylus, contrasting with the lower-output Talisman S which uses a Sapphire cantilever but is a LOMC. Introduced as part of Sumiko’s premium "Alchemist" line, the Talisman Alchemist III S typically features an output voltage around 1.8 mV"

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Sumiko says 2.0mv output, still that is not a lot of signal output, my mx110z preamp’s MM phono’s sensitivity is 3.0 mv.

https://akdatabase.org/AKview/albums/userpics/10007/Sumiko%20Talisman%20Alchemist%20Cartridges%20Brochure.pdf

my lomc version has 0.26 mv output (into my SUT; 5.38 mv out of my SUT), and 9.2 coil impedance, so it uses the same gain and impedance setting as my AT33PTG/II which has 10 ohm coil.

Sometimes it says ’line contact’ but they are Van Den Hul which is a variation of line contact.

It’s a hard shape to align with the null points, I use the protractor lines and a mirror, any thing out of alignment is reflected ’opposite’, which helps refine ’straight’, both vertical for stylus azimuth and tapered body ’equally parallel’ horizontally to the null point lines

 

@bdgregory 

I need to be more in control, I couldn’t stand not knowing, and I would probably move it to a headshell with azimuth adjustability, i.e. get some advantage of moving it.

I would write and ask what kind of metal it is made of, when you don’t have sides, which I like, you want no flexibility, but not too much weight.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/196348219458?mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338381866&toolid=10001&customid=0516e0f4-38de-11f1-a406-626538393035

 

this, 1 pin, silver wires, aluminum/magnesium

https://www.ebay.com/itm/298224282252?mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338381866&toolid=10001&customid=fe4f2852-38df-11f1-b5de-666361356435

same seller, 2 pins, he could change it to silver wires if you asked

https://www.ebay.com/itm/297029257876?mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338381866&toolid=10001&customid=ab37f5fe-38de-11f1-b41d-356135633464

 

@elliottbnewcombjr, that appears to be a good choice.  But the ad does not list the weight.  Do you have that?