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Boring tales of moving magnets

Tigerjones

Bagpuss
Good evening and welcome to my boring tale of moving magnet cartridges, please feel free to add your own.

I have recently moved my turntable - Technics SL-1200 MK2 - away from her normal partner - JVC AX Z1010 - in the lounge and set her up in the dining room. My kids make it difficult to remember what my lounge even looks like. So, she now has some new partners in the dining room, a Sugden A21 (the proper A21, the one with the wooden sides) and a pair of Royd Minstrels.

But first let’s rewind a quite a few years. I contacted Patrick at Sugden around six years’ ago enquiring which MM carts were a good match for the A21. His recommendations were the GR 1042 and the Ortofon 2M range. I bought a 1042 and loved this cart, possibly the best cart I have owned apart from the Denon DL-110.

When the time came to replace the 1042 I was using the JVC amplifier. I went out and bought an Orfoton 2M Red, I instantly hated this cart, I’ve described it on here as a ‘screechy dog of a cartridge’ (don’t worry readers, if you’ve not given up yet, there’s a twist in this particular tale) Off it went, in to the box of random hifi rubbish.

What replaced it? You all ask. After some deliberation I bought a Nagoaka MP-110. I have enjoyed this cart, a nice match with the JVC and have used it for a couple of years. A very pleasing sound, if a little soft at times.

However, moving the Technics and Nagoaka to the Sugden hasn’t proven to be a particularly good partnership, lacks high energy and sounds rather shut in. Maybe the cart has run out of batteries.

So - and here comes the twist, ladies and gentlemen - I, In desperation, got the 2M Red out, stuck it in the arm and off we go. Well, blow me down with a feather. It sounds pretty good, couldn’t quite believe it was the same cart I had tried with the JVC a few years ago. It’s still got a lot of energy going on up top and I don’t think it tracks that well on the inside, but it has a lot of drive to it and decent bass. Well I never.

I now find myself thinking about a suitable MM cartridge for the Technics that has some of the drive the 2M Red has but with a more refined sound and less of the top end.

If I had the money I’d buy another GR1042 or the DL-110 but that’s not quite the bargain it once was.

What MM carts below £150 do people recommend?

Cheers
Tiger
 
Not much of an answer here I'm afraid. I used to have a 1042, in fact I s5i'll do. It's well used. I now run a denon 110. Both are really good. As for an alternative, I'm a bit out of touch these days. A wanted ad might turn up a few gems for less than half your budget.
 
Didnt realise how good the 1042 was until I part exed it against an expensive moving coil. The coil was better... but not by much and lacked the Goldring's rockin' bass.
 
I’ve never set foot inside a hifi magazine in my entire life.
That's a very good policy. I used to in the 90s, used HFW as my source of used stuff and did very well. The articles though were worth a light apart from, you guessed it, Old World. These days I never pick one up, a mate recently gave me one aftef he'd bought the same one twice, I had it kicking about but every time I tried to read it I disliked it so much I threw it away.
 
Not much of an answer here I'm afraid. I used to have a 1042, in fact I s5i'll do. It's well used. I now run a denon 110. Both are really good. As for an alternative, I'm a bit out of touch these days. A wanted ad might turn up a few gems for less than half your budget.

Afraid budget wouldn't even buy a G1042 stylus nowadays, maybe a 1012.
 
Hi All

As other have said, the 2M red is best avoided, it’s stylus is a bonded rondel type of very basic geometry. It has issues tracking the groove wall particularly as you get toward the inner portion of the groove, it's built to a cost. The Blue has a proper Nude Elliptical stylus with much lower tip mass, this will track the groove much better, It also fits onto the Body of the Red.

I have a 2M Bronze in my SL1210 II and it absolutely sings and tracks like a trooper.

The Ortofon 2M range seems to focus on neutrality and accuracy. The other Cartridges mentioned are more noted for the Musicality or Verve rather than “Accurate Rendering” of the groove, Its all about taste. It’s your system and your ears, use what you enjoy.


LPSpinner
 
Using a AT 95 ML on a Technics SL1210 with stock arm and no mods.
Its a superb mm.Can't fault it.Great musicality.A real sweet spot in the AT mm range and superb VFM.
 
AT VM95ML or 540ML (if you can stretch to a bit more) all the way !
These carts were made for the Technics IMO.

I did try the 2M bronze for a bit and while it sounded good, the AT carts seem to groove better with better HF extension and separation- without sounding screechy.
 
In agreement that the red, for all its faults, has a type of bombast, drive and coarseness that's fun with rock etc.

The bronze forsakes this but gains on refinement and tracking. It really is a decent cart.
 


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