08-06-15: Schubert
Does the AT-150 MLX perform on symphonic music or is it for rockers only like every AT used to be ?
Boy does it ever! I have had an AT150MLX for seven years. It's on its second stylus. I listen to more classical, especially symphonic, than I do pop or rock. I listen frequently to very dynamic pressings of The Planets, Grand Canyon Suite (Ormandy--always on a grand scale), Strauss waltzes (also by Ormandy), opera, Rimsky-Korsakov, Beethoven's Eroica symphony, various renditions of Pictures at an Exhibition, canatas such as Mendelssohn's "Elijah," Mahler, Copland, and the Living Stereo/Analogue Productions' Scherazade by Reiner & Chicago Symphony.
The AT150MLX conveys dynamics that will kick you around the room, yet resolves a surprising amount of subtle detail, especially the inner vocal harmonies in opera and cantata works, "Neptune" of The Planets, the 8-part harmonies in Elijah, tympani whacks, you name it.
It's a bit picky in setup. You do need to know the capacitance of your tonearm and interconnect cable; it wants to see a capacitive load between 100-200 pF. Also, for VTA the headshell should be level.
I use this cart to great satisfaction for everything. I also listen to big band, acoustic jazz, and rock and pop mostly from the '60s to the '80s. For me the AT150MLX does not disappoint.
