Introducing the Phono Cartridge Measurement Library

[narud]

Shure v15 type 4 micro ridge

-Shure V15 type iv micro ridge at 1.75 grams w/ brush down (1.25 net)
-Technics slq2
-stock artdjpre at 200pf setting
-cable capacitance 120pf
-diamond appears unused under the scope

 

[USER]

Dynavector Karat re-tipped with microline diamond from AT-OC9ML/II

Diamond together with a piece of boron cantilever is installed in an aluminum tube
Dynavector Karat was originally without a cantilever, but with working coils.
The AT-OC9ML/II generator was filled with glue and could not be restored,
the console was broken.
The length of the new cantilever is approximately 2.3 mm, the diamond looks little used,
contact patch width is approximately 3.5 microns
(the diamond that was installed on the new AT-540ML had approximately the same contact patch width)
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Really interesting to see such a dramatic repair.

AT95-ML
View attachment 328882
-this is an at95-e generator using a vm95-ml stylus and mount.
-Technics sl-q2
-2 grams
-artdjpre with capacitance switch modded to 0pf/100pf
-sl-q2's cable capacitance is around 120pf (measured with a cheap meter)
-stylus has maybe 100 hours tops
-interface is a tascam 1x2

Adjusted to CA TRS-1007 (and perhaps with a slight azimuth adjustment) we can see remarkable consistency with Audio-Technica's cartrdiges when compared to the others on this thread.

For future measurements would you mind "turning on" the file0norm option ("file0norm = 1") so that we can get a better sense of channel balance?

Shure v15 type 4 micro ridge
View attachment 328912
-Shure V15 type iv micro ridge at 1.75 grams w/ brush down (1.25 net)
-Technics slq2
-stock artdjpre at 200pf setting
-cable capacitance 120pf
-diamond appears unused under the scope

It looks like 250pF total would be ideal for this cartridge. Nice to see a working example as the dampener for that stylus is notorious for being prone to failure. (Or is it just the HEs?)

A reminder to everyone that if you are setting up your cartridge with the CBS STR-100 Issue 3 test record that you want to have 5-10kHz be around -0.5 dB if you are looking for flat.

This is likely what flat looks like on that record. (See the first measurement of the Shure V15 V-MR)

Thanks for these great measurements! I'll add them to the index.

 

[narud]

Really interesting to see such a dramatic repair.



Adjusted to CA TRS-1007 (and perhaps with a slight azimuth adjustment) we can see remarkable consistency with Audio-Technica's cartrdiges when compared to the others on this thread.

For future measurements would you mind "turning on" the file0norm option ("file0norm = 1") so that we can get a better sense of channel balance?



It looks like 250pF total would be ideal for this cartridge. Nice to see a working example as the dampener for that stylus is notorious for being prone to failure. (Or is it just the HEs?)

A reminder to everyone that if you are setting up your cartridge with the CBS STR-100 Issue 3 test record that you want to have 5-10kHz be around -0.5 dB if you are looking for flat.

This is likely what flat looks like on that record. (See the first measurement of the Shure V15 V-MR)
View attachment 329090

Thanks for these great measurements! I'll add them to the index.

will do on the filenorm setting. i think the issue is with the type iv and type v hyper ellipticals. i had another type iv micro ridge that had no suspension issues. ive also got 7 vnvmr's which are all fine as well. however, the only vnvhe i ever picked up has a hardened suspension. the diamond is still nearly new so ive been thinking about sending it out to joseph long to see if he can swap the damper.

i took some measurements of my at33ptg2 and v15vmr but they dont add anything since they look like everything thats been posted already. ill post a v15rs with stock stylus here shortly.

 

[JP]

i took some measurements of my at33ptg2 and v15vmr but they dont add anything since they look like everything thats been posted already.

It's nice to have multiple for a view on consistency.

 

[narud]

AT33ptg/2

-AT33ptg/2 at 2 grams. 72 logged hours
-technics sl-1300 mk2
-emotiva xps-1 with fixed 220pf capacitance 470 ohm setting selected
-cable capacitance 80pf

 

[narud]

Shure V15VMR standard load pre vs parks audio puffin

-Shure V15VMR at 1.6 grams brush down (1.1 net)
-stylus has 120 of my own hours on it but i received it lightly used. it probably has a few hundred hours on it total. it didnt look like it changed much if at all under the scope with 100 of my own hours compared to how i received it.
-technics sl-1700 mk2 w/ silicone damper (puffin) and technics sl-1300 mk2 (emotiva)
-puffin has a fixed 50pf of capacitance so with the 80 pf of cable capacitance, its under loaded. youre supposed to use the eq settings to compensate. i included a measurement of how i normally listen to this cart which is with the magic setting on and the air setting at +2 to compensate for the loss off high end with the low capacitance.
-the emotiva has 220pf of capacitance and the cables on the 1300mk2 are also 80pf so it has a closer to recommended load of 300pf.

 

[narud]

Really interesting to see such a dramatic repair.



Adjusted to CA TRS-1007 (and perhaps with a slight azimuth adjustment) we can see remarkable consistency with Audio-Technica's cartrdiges when compared to the others on this thread.

For future measurements would you mind "turning on" the file0norm option ("file0norm = 1") so that we can get a better sense of channel balance?



It looks like 250pF total would be ideal for this cartridge. Nice to see a working example as the dampener for that stylus is notorious for being prone to failure. (Or is it just the HEs?)

A reminder to everyone that if you are setting up your cartridge with the CBS STR-100 Issue 3 test record that you want to have 5-10kHz be around -0.5 dB if you are looking for flat.

This is likely what flat looks like on that record. (See the first measurement of the Shure V15 V-MR)
View attachment 329090

Thanks for these great measurements! I'll add them to the index.

re ran the files with filenorm set to 1 and edited the previous posts. couldnt edit the at95ml post though since it was past 24 hours

 

[dlaloum]

Audio-Technica AT33PTG/II
Click to increase size
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Notes

• These are from @mackat
• The second set was corrected to my CA TRS-1007
• Nude microlinear stylus with a boron cantilever
• This shows one of the general Audio-Technica house curves, roughly -0.5/+2.0
  • Should sound fairly neutral as it is pretty much ±0.5 dB below 10kHz
• Excellent distortion results
• Azimuth needs further adjustment
  • The headshell was not the best match for the tonearm
• This has been a popular cartridge amongst rippers (along with the AT-OC9ML/II)
  • For very good reason I think
• My question is if it is worth the MC premium if you can load a comparable MM for similar results
  • Comparison samples and stress tests would be helpful
  • Does the boron cantilever afford noticeably better trackability than an aluminum one given same FR?

I have long asked the same question with regards to the MC premium - keeping in mind that in addition to the cartridge cost, there is a more expensive pre-amp, and if you skip on phono-pre quality, you end up with increased noise from the phono-pre....

But the answer is often down to current market availability of alternates - 10 years ago, with SAS styli at half their current price, my conclusion was 100% in favour of MM.... now I am not so sure. (but I already have a high quality MC phono....)

 

[aaaakkkk]

Ortofon MC-3 Turbo broken cantilever restored.

 

[JP]

Wow. Do they measure that way with the original cantilever?

 

[USER]

Ortofon MC-3 Turbo broken cantilever restored.

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Can you provide us with some more information regarding the cantilever issue? What was wrong with it? Was it professionally repaired or done so by you? (This will also help me index it.) My gut tells me something is off. +6 dB by 10kHz is not unimaginable but +2 dB by 5kHz is unique, at least compared to the near 100 samples posted here. (Or is that the "turbo," lol!) The resonance really dominates and that might be the brightest cartridge I have ever seen. I wonder if the super high distortion between 5-10kHz is a clue. How does it track? A sound sample would be interesting.

Nice pictures, by the way.

 

[aaaakkkk]

Can you provide us with some more information regarding the cantilever issue? What was wrong with it? Was it professionally repaired or done so by you? (This will also help me index it.) My gut tells me something is off. +6 dB by 10kHz is not unimaginable but +2 dB by 5kHz is unique, at least compared to the near 100 samples posted here. (Or is that the "turbo," lol!) The resonance really dominates and that might be the brightest cartridge I have ever seen. I wonder if the super high distortion between 5-10kHz is a clue. How does it track? A sound sample would be interesting.

Nice pictures, by the way.

The cantilever was not restored by me, it tracks normally 80mkm at 1.8g, the resonance may have been affected by the weight of the cantilever. The cantilever was broken in half, and as I can assume was restored by connecting the two parts through a tube, I do not hear any distortion by ear.

 

[aaaakkkk]

Wow. Do they measure that way with the original cantilever?

They don't measure ...

 

[JP]

They don't measure ...

No one has ever measured one?

 

[USER]

The cantilever was not restored by me, it tracks normally 80mkm at 1.8g, the resonance may have been affected by the weight of the cantilever. The cantilever was broken in half, and as I can assume was restored by connecting the two parts through a tube, I do not hear any distortion by ear.

I think they simply stuffed half a new cantilever into the old one. Did they stuff the new one in or is what we see a third material?

What's sort of amusing about this is that it reminds me of the telescoped stylus shanks Shure started using in the late 1970s. I am currently sorting though their marketing material announcing the M97HE for a big post and they boast about this innovation.

Unfortunately I think you are right and by not matching the cantilever material they seem to have added mass, magnifying the resonance. Thanks again for the super helpful post as we can see why it is important to ask good questions to gauge whether re-tippers are cognizant of or properly advise about the impact of the materials owners pick out for the work. A lot simply try to upsell specific cantilevers without considering how appropriate they are for the specific cartridge and diamond tip.

 

[JP]

Playing around with how good of a shot I can capture with a SEK-2:

 

[Thomas_A]

An

Playing around with how good of a shot I can capture with a SEK-2:

View attachment 329376

And SEK-2 is...?

 

[JP]

https://pubs.shure.com/guide/SEK-2/en-US.pdf

 

[aaaakkkk]

I think they simply stuffed half a new cantilever into the old one. Did they stuff the new one in or is what we see a third material?

View attachment 329369

What's sort of amusing about this is that it reminds me of the telescoped stylus shanks Shure started using in the late 1970s. I am currently sorting though their marketing material announcing the M97HE for a big post and they boast about this innovation.

View attachment 329370
Unfortunately I think you are right and by not matching the cantilever material they seem to have added mass, magnifying the resonance. Thanks again for the super helpful post as we can see why it is important to ask good questions to gauge whether re-tippers are cognizant of or properly advise about the impact of the materials owners pick out for the work. A lot simply try to upsell specific cantilevers without considering how appropriate they are for the specific cartridge and diamond tip.

The retipper is one of the best in the world. He did his job perfectly. He did what the customer asked him to do. Restored the cantilever with minimal financial investment. Another question. Are we satisfied with the result . It was a great experiment to show what could come of it.
This cartridge cannot be easily disassembled. And if you take it apart, the design does not allow you to configure anything there. Everything inside is glued together. And if you still unstick everything and set it up again. The cost of the work will exceed the cost of a new cartridge.


The stages of recovery as I imagine them.

 

[aaaakkkk]

Playing around with how good of a shot I can capture with a SEK-2:

View attachment 329376

Is this one frame or a stacking?