Why are MC's usually more expensive than MM's?
- Thread starter RoA
- Start date
daytona600
Registered User
MM/MI Top Grado Epoch is $12,000
Why? (Had a look at their website)
Tony L
Administrator
Veblen goods mainly. I posted some prices on another thread recently from an ad picked at random from a 1967 copy of HiFi News:
Ortofon SPU-GTE £25.0.0
Decca Mk III £18.7.6
Shure M55E £17.10.0
Shure V15 £35.0.0
Move further into the 1970s and MMs got ever more exotic and expensive. Move into the ‘80s and the situation reverses. Analogue audio died in the ‘80s IMO. There has been hardly any real development since, just endless marketing. I can see an argument why MCs are expensive as winding coils so small and mounting them on the back of the cantilever is inherently more complex than mounting a little magnet or piece of iron in that position. That said the Veblen goods aspect is very real as there are clearly some people prepared to pay pretty much any imaginable figure for a phono cartridge. If the money is there the product will arrive!
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
Factor in the numbers sold, too. In the '70s and '80s, vinyl was mostly where it was at. Any number of manufacturers could justify tooling and production for significant numbers of cartridges, whether MM or MC.
Nowadays, MC has become the preserve of 'serious' users; ISTM most inbuilt stages are MM only whereas back in the day, they were switchable MM/MC. MC stages have got better (quieter) but more expensive, so the 'volume' (such as it is) is in MM carts.
Nowadays, MC has become the preserve of 'serious' users; ISTM most inbuilt stages are MM only whereas back in the day, they were switchable MM/MC. MC stages have got better (quieter) but more expensive, so the 'volume' (such as it is) is in MM carts.
crimsondonkey
pfm Member
Supply and demand, whichever perspective you choose to start from.
daytona600
Registered User
MM/MI Top Grado Epoch is $12,000
Grado , Decca , SPU , DS optical & Soundsmith strain gauge
much more to life than standard MC cartridges
The Epoch did things I hadn't heard any cartridge do…put on an LP of the right music, sit down…and you're done. It's remarkable.
Stereophile, Michael Fremer
If you have the money and are looking for an amazing cartridge for your record collection, the Grado Epoch is the one.
Steve Hoffman
Joe
pfm Member
daytona600
Registered User
Never charged me .
Decades of knowledge & owns one of the best systems on the planet
Still music 1st. Would love to spend a day looking at his record collection
Decades of knowledge & owns one of the best systems on the planet
Still music 1st. Would love to spend a day looking at his record collection
Like I said, I read the Epoch pitch. I just find it very difficult to see where the $12'000 went.
Perhaps a little unfair. You do get a wooden box with it.
HI All. From what I understand Moving coils are much more Labour intensive to manufacture.
Because of the way moving coil armatures / coils assy’s are made they are generally hand wound and hand assembled, skilled labour is expensive.
A moving magnet on the other hand is generally made using automated techniques that require little manual input. This also makes it very easy to “scale up” manufacture quantities of Moving magnets.
I remember seeing an article about Ortofon some time ago, the MM production line had a small number of people overseeing the whole production process while the MC production line had individuals hunched over workstations, looking through a microscope and busily working away making the MC cartridges we all aspire to own.
LPSpinner.
Because of the way moving coil armatures / coils assy’s are made they are generally hand wound and hand assembled, skilled labour is expensive.
A moving magnet on the other hand is generally made using automated techniques that require little manual input. This also makes it very easy to “scale up” manufacture quantities of Moving magnets.
I remember seeing an article about Ortofon some time ago, the MM production line had a small number of people overseeing the whole production process while the MC production line had individuals hunched over workstations, looking through a microscope and busily working away making the MC cartridges we all aspire to own.
LPSpinner.
Yeah. The guide at Ortofon, supposedly, challenges every visitor to wind their own MC coil. If they succeed they will get their own complete cart, for free! Hasn't happened yet...