Introducing the Phono Cartridge Measurement Library

[Balle Clorin]

Grado Gold 1

Notes

• Cartridge: Grado Gold
• Stylus condition: used 2-4 years ca 2005
• Test record: ClearAudio TRS-1007 side A track 1&2 L/R stereo. One significant warp
• Turntable and arm: Sony SP-212 from junk sale,30USD but speed is correct Peak wow 0.11%
• Tracking force: 2.0g
• Phono stage and loading settings: Cambridge CP2 220pF 47k. DeLoc 63926 Usb ADC to PC
  • Capacitance and impedance: 220pF fixed + 125pF cables=345pF, 47k ohm
• Cable capacitance
  • 125pF cables
• Recording: no adjustment on balance, no Azimuth adjustment on cartridge, 16 bit 48kHz.Recording characteristic RIAA.

Comments:

• Good and even channel separation seldom to see 30/30 on this test record, but not the best channel balance (1db)
• Sound kind of dull and uninspiring, due to 1.5db drop at 5kHz? more than others I have, the top at 14Khz is too high for me to hear
• Used to hum on my Thorens TD125mkII, but not on my Sony which is known to be good against hum
• Warp on test record trigger resonance more then other cartridges

Spoiler: Stylus

 

[USER]

Grado Gold 1

View attachment 300224

View attachment 300226
Notes

• Cartridge: Grado Gold
• Stylus condition: used 2-4 years ca 2005
• Test record: ClearAudio TRS-1007 side A track 1&2 L/R stereo. One significant warp
• Turntable and arm: Sony SP-212 from junk sale,30USD but speed is correct Peak wow 0.11%
• Tracking force: 2.0g
• Phono stage and loading settings: Cambridge CP2 220pF 47k. DeLoc 63926 Usb ADC to PC
  • Capacitance and impedance: 220pF fixed + 125pF cables=345pF, 47k ohm
• Cable capacitance
  • 125pF cables
• Recording: no adjustment on balance, no Azimuth adjustment on cartridge, 16 bit 48kHz.Recording characteristic RIAA.

Comments:

• Good and even channel separation seldom to see 30/30 on this test record, but not the best channel balance (1db)
• Sound kind of dull and uninspiring, due to 1.5db drop at 5kHz? more than others I have, the top at 14Khz is too high for me to hear
• Used to hum on my Thorens TD125mkII, but not on my Sony which is known to be good against hum
• Warp on test record trigger resonance more then other cartridges

Spoiler: Stylus

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I would not run that again on your CA test record. The distortion between 5-10kHz is super high and could be a sign of significant wear.

 

[dlaloum]

Grado Gold 1

View attachment 300224

View attachment 300226
Notes

• Cartridge: Grado Gold
• Stylus condition: used 2-4 years ca 2005
• Test record: ClearAudio TRS-1007 side A track 1&2 L/R stereo. One significant warp
• Turntable and arm: Sony SP-212 from junk sale,30USD but speed is correct Peak wow 0.11%
• Tracking force: 2.0g
• Phono stage and loading settings: Cambridge CP2 220pF 47k. DeLoc 63926 Usb ADC to PC
  • Capacitance and impedance: 220pF fixed + 125pF cables=345pF, 47k ohm
• Cable capacitance
  • 125pF cables
• Recording: no adjustment on balance, no Azimuth adjustment on cartridge, 16 bit 48kHz.Recording characteristic RIAA.

Comments:

• Good and even channel separation seldom to see 30/30 on this test record, but not the best channel balance (1db)
• Sound kind of dull and uninspiring, due to 1.5db drop at 5kHz? more than others I have, the top at 14Khz is too high for me to hear
• Used to hum on my Thorens TD125mkII, but not on my Sony which is known to be good against hum
• Warp on test record trigger resonance more then other cartridges

Spoiler: Stylus

View attachment 300233
View attachment 300230
View attachment 300231

The grados have very little damping in the stylus suspension, so they need a well matched arm ( compliance to mass matching ) preferably with damping. Without that they can be unstable, and respond badly to warps.

Also the gold needle is at the low end of what is available for these bodies...

 

[Balle Clorin]

Audio Technica AT95E ,

Notes

• Cartridge: AT 95E
• Stylus condition: used ca 1985
• Test record: ClearAudio TRS-1007 side A track 1&2 L/R stereo. One significant warp
• Turntable and arm: Sony SP-212 from junk sale,30USD but speed is correct Peak wow 0.11%
• Tracking force: 2.0g
• Phono stage and loading settings: Cambridge CP2 220pF 47k. DeLoc 63926 Usb ADC to PC
  • Capacitance and impedance: 220pF fixed + 125pF cables=345pF, 47k ohm
• Cable capacitance
  • 125pF cables
• Recording: no adjustment on balance, no Azimuth adjustment on cartridge, 16 bit 48kHz.Recording characteristic RIAA.

Comments:

• Found in a box probably from my my student days. 81-86
• Poor separation/azimuth off?

Spoiler: Stylus

 

[USER]

Audio Technica AT95E ,
View attachment 300282


View attachment 300283


Notes

• Cartridge: AT 95E
• Stylus condition: used ca 1985
• Test record: ClearAudio TRS-1007 side A track 1&2 L/R stereo. One significant warp
• Turntable and arm: Sony SP-212 from junk sale,30USD but speed is correct Peak wow 0.11%
• Tracking force: 2.0g
• Phono stage and loading settings: Cambridge CP2 220pF 47k. DeLoc 63926 Usb ADC to PC
  • Capacitance and impedance: 220pF fixed + 125pF cables=345pF, 47k ohm
• Cable capacitance
  • 125pF cables
• Recording: no adjustment on balance, no Azimuth adjustment on cartridge, 16 bit 48kHz.Recording characteristic RIAA.

Comments:

• Found in a box probably from my my student days. 81-86
• Poor separation/azimuth off?

Spoiler: Stylus

View attachment 300284
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View attachment 300286

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"The Audio-Technica AT95E produced large, exuberant images, but lacked the solidity, detail resolution, macrodynamics, and bass extension of the more expensive Nagaoka MP-500" Michael Fremer, (Stereophile 2020 Vol.34 No.2)

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: I am thinking of purchasing one of these in case we decide to conduct a big blind comparison test. Perhaps it would be good to see if we can pool together many of the cartridges in Fremer's poorly done blind test. If someone has that MP-500, do let us know!

 

[djwkyoto]

"The Audio-Technica AT95E produced large, exuberant images, but lacked the solidity, detail resolution, macrodynamics, and bass extension of the more expensive Nagaoka MP-500" Michael Fremer, (Stereophile 2020 Vol.34 No.2)

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

Edit: I am thinking of purchasing one of these in case we decide to conduct a big blind comparison test. Perhaps it would be good to see if we can pool together many of the cartridges in Fremer's poorly done blind test. If someone has that MP-500, do let us know!

I have the MP-500 with reasonable hours of use - but I can't see myself doing these tests, for reasons of time and knowledge (and probably equipment). But I could provide my cartridge if someone in Europe (preferably in Germany) who is capable of doing it properly would want to measure it. I won't use it for the next couple weeks.

 

[Balle Clorin]

If you can make a recording of a test record and share it others here can make the frequency plot

 

[Balle Clorin]

None of Fremers YouTube comparisons of cartridges are level corrected , and therefore useless.

 

[USER]

Shure ML140HE
Click to increase size

High Fidelity, May 1984
Stereo Review, January 1984

Notes:

• I love its Galactic Empire aesthetic!
• Used, hyperelliptical stylus with beryllium cantilever
• Measurements match nicely with professional reviews
  • Adjust for CBS STR-100 dip in Stereo Review measurements
• Fantastic frequency response: ±0.5 dB (above 30Hz or so here, likely tonearm dependent)
  • Right channel difference likely related to wear and not improper azimuth adjustment
• I could not get distortion to match between 500-5kHz
  • Neither azimuth adjustment nor overhang adjustment helped
    • Stay tuned for a special set of related measurements and set-up tutorial!
• Does the elevated distortion above 10kHz indicate wear?
• The right channel may show more distortion because of improper azimuth adjustment (more wear)
• I agree: one of Shure's best cartridges

 

[USER]

Shure ML120HE
Click to increase size

Notes

• Lightly used hyperelliptical stylus with aluminum cantilever
• The ML140HE and ML120HE line was a step below Shure V15 V-MR during the mid-to-late 1980s
  • Cheaper to manufacture yet still provide excellent results
  • This one in particular was marketed as the more middle-class cartridge of the two
• Look again: pretty much ±0.5 dB!!! (Above 50Hz or so, tonearm dependent)
  • It feels a little different than ML140HE, no?
  • You can see the difference the beryllium cantilever makes with the resonance
  • Yet the resonance here is as controlled as can be!
• Two different approaches to ±0.5 dB
  • Shure engineers were flexing at this point
• Exceptional crosstalk
• To a certain extent, trackability was what separated class
• Shame about the channel balance difference of this particular body
  • I bought this used so I don't know if it was originally like this
  • Could have been nearly perfect
• Overall to me this exemplified the medium at its peak
• This is what the equivalent of around $400 today got you then (or around $300 pre-Covid)

 

[USER]

Realistic (Radio Shack) RXT4
Click to increase size

Notes

• NOS elliptical stylus
• I believe this is a rebranded Shure M97
• Another cartridge tuned with a downward sloping FR
  • A gentle slope
  • Based on cartridges with similar results I would bet this had big fans

 

[dlaloum]

Realistic (Radio Shack) RXT4
Click to increase size
View attachment 300781View attachment 300782
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Notes

• NOS elliptical stylus
• I believe this is a rebranded Shure M97
• Another cartridge tuned with a downward sloping FR
  • A gentle slope
  • Based on cartridges with similar results I would bet this had big fans

Yes its the same as the then current version of the M97... although M97 inductance has varied a bit over the years... (I think this was the RS version of the Era IV M97)

 

[Balle Clorin]

@USER , you make me want to buy more old cartridges…. !! Not only the Shure V15 IV I got last week
( yes I know an old cartridge with a new stulus is quite different from an original stylus response)

PS how do you make this “click to enlarge”?

 

[USER]

@USER , you make me want to buy more old cartridges…. !! Not only the Shure V15 IV I got last week
( yes I know an old cartridge with a new stulus is quite different from an original stylus response)

PS how do you make this “click to enlarge”?

I only really have all these cartridges to measure, lol. I want to document them while I can but aside from any crazy deals I am pretty much done collecting. They are getting much too expensive these days. And frankly many aren't worth the prices they are now going for, especially when condition is in question. I think as people got more desperate to make money after everything going on in the world there is more junk being sold than ever, even from places I used to have confidence in. As we discussed I hope one day sellers can provide proof of condition with measurements like these. I wouldn't mind paying a premium for that.

You can make the images smaller after placing them full size like normal and then grabbing an end and stretching it in or out to size.

 

[JP]

Who grabbed that sealed MC-4?

 

[Balle Clorin]

Well I bought all these tubes when they where 2USD a peace now they are 100-200 a pair. Wish I had done same with cartridges., O ` well my NOS ATOC9 ML /ii sound quite nice and my 33PTG/II too, I will never spent 1k+kUSD on the new mediocre fancy MC Cartridges . I only do this experimenting for fun and nostalgia. ,..

 

[USER]

I can also live vicariously through JP and his collection of the best cartridges ever made. Speaking of which, when are your measurements trickling in?

It'll be great when the library is big enough that we can better see different tuning strategies and will be able to pick the top performers. I need reference quality for my taste and, importantly, for my archival needs but I wouldn't judge anyone that prefers a certain coloration. I just want them to get the best possible cartridges of the kind.

 

[Balle Clorin]

I just wait for a rainy day , then I can spend time checking out two Technics 270c-II with the same Jico stylus.
That will be my final contribution here, and I will then retreat to music and drinking.

 

[DSJR]

Still hard to believe that this is essentially the cheapest MM cartridge made today. Don't settle for worse, folks!

I honestly don't think the Rega Carbon is the 3600l, but actually the slightly better and lower tracking force AT91 - the Carbon is happy at 2g..

As you were folks



P.S. The German Lowbeats site has responses, distortion and soundbites of popular AT, Ortofon and other pickups.

P.P.S. HiFi Choice measured many 80's cartridges and often got rather different results, especially on the Shures. The V15VMR was according to them, either flat to 10kHz with 5dB dive to 20kHz, or a straight downtilt of 5dB from 1kHz to 20kHz. The best Shure for them until '87 anyway was the ML140..

P.P.P.S. The Ortofon 2M's usually have a small bump-up bettern 10 and 20kHz I thought. I wonder if climate has something to do with it - B&O MMC models got rather dull in balance in European winters but get the things over 20 degrees C and they can flatten out nicely.

 

[Balle Clorin]

Please make aFR plot if it …