Budget MC Stage Recommendations
- Thread starter CTank
- Start date
foxwelljsly
Me too, I ate one sour too.
Project phono box.
freefallrob
pfm Member
Rega FONO MC
topoxforddoc
pfm Member
Tisbury Audio Domino is another you should look at - available brand new within your budget. Sounds excellent for the money.
CTank
pfm Member
No MM stage, so I’d still need to purchase one. This will be my first turntable in about 15 years, so starting from scratch. I’ve got a couple of hundred records here, so I’m dipping a toe in to see if I’m keeping or selling them.
Some great suggestions and offers above, will ponder today.
NickofWimbledon
pfm Member
gavreid
Pretty Words...
They changed a little over the years. I have a MK3 currently, and had a 1.2 until fairly recently (sold on here). The 4, and probably the 3, is beyond the budget, unfortunately.
The simple way to look at it is that MC is harder and more expensive to get right.
The cartridges are more expensive. Yes, you can get MC carts that cost less than some MM ones but they don't sound massively better, they are just different. If they were massively better everyone would be buying them. You need to spend a lot on a MC cart to get something special. But at the lower to mid range MM carts absolutely dominate.
The other reason for that is that MC carts are harder to get working right. You need a very good turntable and arm to get the best out of them. Yes, a MC cart will work on pretty much any Rega tonearm but if you invest the money in a better arm and cheaper MM cart you'll get better sound.
MM is also less aggravation. Manufacturers seem to have a hard time making a bad MM phono stage, I have one here that cost about £15 off eBay and it sounds fine, but making a good MC stage is trickier. You need to spend more before they'll really let you hear what MC is about. You can't replace the stylus on a MC, you need to replace the whole cartridge, and the much higher gain means you're far more likely to get issues with hum and noise. Overall, unless the rest of the kit is at a pretty high level already MC just doesn't make sense.
The other thing is that this cartridge is used. Unless you know the history, and not just what the seller is telling you, you more or less need to assume that a used cartridge is scrap. It'll certainly be worn and you don't know how much. So you buy a MC phono stage and hook it all up but it doesn't sound great and you don't know why? Is it supposed to sound harsh and edgy? Is the phono stage not very good? The only way you can eliminate the cartridge as a possible cause is to replace and the current version of that cart is £300.
If you want to go for it's up to you. Personally, I'd sell the cart and buy a decent MM. I'm sitting here just now with a Rega Exact on an RB3000 because...I prefer the way it sounds. And I've had a bunch of decent MC carts, I have an OC9-XSL here right now which is one of the best MC carts I've had, and not the most expensive. And I have a Rega Aria phono stage, which is not shite! But the Exact connects me with the music more. Yes, a MC can give you more detail and air etc but a good MM has benefits of its own. A more solid, punchy sound with believable weight. A lot of people run good MM carts by choice and not because they couldn't afford a MC.
What is the deck and tonearm?
serendipitydawg
Dag nabbit!
I can't fully express how much pleasure this little marvel has given me ! You can also buy an Audio Technica VM 95E cartridge & still be within budget !
Yes, good call. The current VM range is great and the VM95ML seems to be a star. It gives you most of what the VM540ML does but at a much lower cost. The biggest advantage of the more expensive body is that you've got better stylus options.
AT carts are also a good match for ProJect turntables. The only reason ProJect decks ship with Ortofon cartridges is that they are both distributed by the same company. The decks have a bit of a soft sound and AT carts are a better match. Pretty much any AT cart is going to sound good on it.
Not sure if you'd pick up a Trichord Dino for that budget or not, I'd usually suggest a P-75 but recent experience has soured that somewhat with older ones tending to get unreliable.
Slightly tatty looking, but very flexible with its loading options.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30483845...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
Slightly tatty looking, but very flexible with its loading options.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30483845...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
CTank
pfm Member
Trichord Dino is a great call. I had one that I used with a Kontrapunkt back in the day. Would also give the choice of MM or MC.
As an aside, I I have an AT95 body knocking around, so could get an ML stylus if needs be.
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
The ATF7 that you have is a fine cart at its price point, and you Pro-Ject Classic should drag the max from it. I fitted one to my friends 2Xperience SB DC and it sounded great through the mc stage of his Rotel 971 Pre, a decent budget PS should take things further as I suspect the mc setting in the 971 is just the mm 47K with additional gain so not exactly the ideal load which is 100 < 200 depending on taste.