I have long been a fan of the Audio technica 500 series. They were a revelation when i heard them first which made me wonder why you would need a higher end MC at all?
In this particular case the VM540ML is the one which for me shines through in both clarity, separation and all round musicality and with up to 1000hours run time seems like a stone cold bargain to me. I have tried them mainly with a modded Technics and Rega decks for context, so outside of this may bring different results.
And now 4 years or more in i think proves the long term listenability of a cart when it doesn't just superficially impress but makes me listen 'into' familiar recordings and make me want to buy more records too.
For comparison I also tried the Linn Adikt, Ortofon 2M bronze and Black, Nagaoka MP500, as well as the VM750 Shibata version of the AT 500 series. I even stuck a Linn Troika on the Technics to hear a classic MC for comparison !
So far, nothing has knocked the ML off its perch.... I know this is not the full gamut of MM or MI carts but it was enought to convince me that the 540ML was king of the MM's and pretty much all carts up to the 800-1K mark.
But that nagging doubt in my mind said that i hadn't heard the VM760 SLC yet. The big price hike from the ML put me off - until now.
For reference this version is the 'RigB' metal bodied version and not the original plastic or metal body.
I managed to bag a very low hours one for a fair price and got excited to hear it. The great thing about this is that there's no need to realign the cart since i can just switch out from the ML version in seconds and get a fairly good A/B dem going. That said i prefer to listen a while before switching as it gives me a more accurate representation of what is important to me in listening.
So how did it sound ? Well first impressions were - not much. The top end felt smoother but i wasn't particularly impressed enough to say it was better than the ML.
TBH i was disappointed. But i left it and came back listen the next day and suddenly things started to change. I was aware that the top end again had a sweetness to it which i hadn't heard before (not that the ML is bad in this area at all). Then as i listened to more albums i could hear small acoustic details and sounds presented in a way which made me understand the recording with fresh insight. To check this wasn't just a one off i then switched back to the ML and realised that the SLC was better in many ways.
You might think well thats obvious - it should be for the money ! But i never use the cost of something as the reference point these days, look at the price differential between say the Nagaoka MP500 and the 540ML- its nearly £ 500 quid - but no way to my ears is the Nag even better than the 540, its just different in presentation.
So back to the SLC, the more i listen in it has something subtle but more powerful about what it brings to the recordings, the top end is obviously sweeter, but the separation is greater and the extra details are presented in an organic way, not in your face. So i realised, yes it does knock the ML off its perch ! Not massively, but for longer term musical satisfaction then yes. I can go back to the ML without losing too much but the question is do i want to ? I also now feel does that the running costs take it much higher than what i am used to with the ML so maybe i am disappointed in different ways now !!
Are there any downsides ? Sometimes i feel it maybe doesn't track as well as the ML, but maybe that is due to it revealing more in the recording or pressing quality so i am not sure what is it yet but its something to bear in mind, i would be interested to hear other SLC owners thoughts on this ?
It also confirms to me what a good platform the modest 1210 Technics deck is to reveal these differences even with the stock, rewired arm. I would love to hear if the 1200 G brings these differences out even more but thats for another time. I also wonder how the AT ART 9 MC cart sounds since it uses the same SLC tip ?
Anyhow, i don't know how useful these ramblings are but i thought i would post this here anyway to help anyone who is sitting on the fence or who has similar thoughts to what i did before about this cart or the AT 500 series. If you can stretch to it i would say do since it brings an insight into the music i haven't heard yet from other MM and some MC carts. Bear in mind all the comments are within the context of my system and tastes.
Thoughts please from other SLC users welcome esp on the tracking ability of the cart.
In this particular case the VM540ML is the one which for me shines through in both clarity, separation and all round musicality and with up to 1000hours run time seems like a stone cold bargain to me. I have tried them mainly with a modded Technics and Rega decks for context, so outside of this may bring different results.
And now 4 years or more in i think proves the long term listenability of a cart when it doesn't just superficially impress but makes me listen 'into' familiar recordings and make me want to buy more records too.
For comparison I also tried the Linn Adikt, Ortofon 2M bronze and Black, Nagaoka MP500, as well as the VM750 Shibata version of the AT 500 series. I even stuck a Linn Troika on the Technics to hear a classic MC for comparison !
So far, nothing has knocked the ML off its perch.... I know this is not the full gamut of MM or MI carts but it was enought to convince me that the 540ML was king of the MM's and pretty much all carts up to the 800-1K mark.
But that nagging doubt in my mind said that i hadn't heard the VM760 SLC yet. The big price hike from the ML put me off - until now.
For reference this version is the 'RigB' metal bodied version and not the original plastic or metal body.
I managed to bag a very low hours one for a fair price and got excited to hear it. The great thing about this is that there's no need to realign the cart since i can just switch out from the ML version in seconds and get a fairly good A/B dem going. That said i prefer to listen a while before switching as it gives me a more accurate representation of what is important to me in listening.
So how did it sound ? Well first impressions were - not much. The top end felt smoother but i wasn't particularly impressed enough to say it was better than the ML.
TBH i was disappointed. But i left it and came back listen the next day and suddenly things started to change. I was aware that the top end again had a sweetness to it which i hadn't heard before (not that the ML is bad in this area at all). Then as i listened to more albums i could hear small acoustic details and sounds presented in a way which made me understand the recording with fresh insight. To check this wasn't just a one off i then switched back to the ML and realised that the SLC was better in many ways.
You might think well thats obvious - it should be for the money ! But i never use the cost of something as the reference point these days, look at the price differential between say the Nagaoka MP500 and the 540ML- its nearly £ 500 quid - but no way to my ears is the Nag even better than the 540, its just different in presentation.
So back to the SLC, the more i listen in it has something subtle but more powerful about what it brings to the recordings, the top end is obviously sweeter, but the separation is greater and the extra details are presented in an organic way, not in your face. So i realised, yes it does knock the ML off its perch ! Not massively, but for longer term musical satisfaction then yes. I can go back to the ML without losing too much but the question is do i want to ? I also now feel does that the running costs take it much higher than what i am used to with the ML so maybe i am disappointed in different ways now !!
Are there any downsides ? Sometimes i feel it maybe doesn't track as well as the ML, but maybe that is due to it revealing more in the recording or pressing quality so i am not sure what is it yet but its something to bear in mind, i would be interested to hear other SLC owners thoughts on this ?
It also confirms to me what a good platform the modest 1210 Technics deck is to reveal these differences even with the stock, rewired arm. I would love to hear if the 1200 G brings these differences out even more but thats for another time. I also wonder how the AT ART 9 MC cart sounds since it uses the same SLC tip ?
Anyhow, i don't know how useful these ramblings are but i thought i would post this here anyway to help anyone who is sitting on the fence or who has similar thoughts to what i did before about this cart or the AT 500 series. If you can stretch to it i would say do since it brings an insight into the music i haven't heard yet from other MM and some MC carts. Bear in mind all the comments are within the context of my system and tastes.
Thoughts please from other SLC users welcome esp on the tracking ability of the cart.
