Finding Vinyl hard to fall in love with

Don't need an MC. Got good digital

 

One thing I've never really got along with is high output MC. Give me MM at half the cost or a normal MC at twice the cost any day.

 

Rega's (MM) Exact was their flagship cart until they discovered the superior performance of MC which was borne out by the Apheta. Superb as the Exact was the Apheta bettered it in every way in a Cursa3 pre-amp (swapping the on board phono input from MM to MC). Further improvements came later with Rega's Ios phono stage.

 

Just get rid of it and stick to digital. Save yourself the cost and misery of getting it right.

 

I noticed Vertere recently launched a £845 MM cartridge so I guess they must feel there's some mileage in the technology.

https://www.hifipig.com/vertere-sabre-moving-magnet-cartridge/

 

Funnily enough I was just thinking about my ancient DL-110 and wondering if I should spend the money to get it retipped as they're £250 new now. I remember rather liking it at the time.

 

I think you should. Denon do HOMC better than Dynavector, for example, IMO, and I’m a DV fan.

My only caveat would be who does the retipping. I went through a retipped Troika phase and none of them sounded like the original (in a bad way).

 

I think the point is that there is significant overlap in performance between MM and MC and how they sound depends on the context. A lot of people buy relatively expensive MC carts when they could get better sound by upgrading their arms for instance. I regularly see people using expensive MC carts in an Akito for instance when a cheaper MM cart in a better arm would beat it.

 

I tried a DL110 against a Rega Exact last year expecting each cart to have strengths and weaknesses. To my surprise the Exact just hammered the 110 into the ground. It was better in every respect, much better in some.

 

I get that and agree. However there are limits to what even the best MM carts can achieve, albeit in a transparent system set up to enable you to appreciate the difference.

 

You'd love my setup: DV xx2 on a shitty Technics arm (and deck).

 

The main reason people buy a technics is because it's a good base. I know someone who runs an SME IV on a 1210

Sold his clearaudio because it was a faff

 

The main reason I bought a Technics is I genuinely preferred it to the Well Tempered and made some money. The main reason I bought a Well Tempered is I genuinely preferred it to the LP12 and made some money. The main reason I bought the LP12 is because people told me to and I didn't have a record player.

 

Never buy an lp12 because people tell you to

 

I was only 20 and easily swayed.

 

Main reason I bought mine about 20 years ago was because it's a design classic and it'll likely still be running long after I've stopped functioning...

 

Stick it on the bonfire and have a wazz on it.

 

A chum with ATCs and rather impressive headphones brought round his Merging NADAC, which turned out to be seriously good. If I didn't already own NDX2 +XPSDR, a second-hand NADAC might give me pause for thought.

He borrowed an LP12, his first turntable, after 25+ years of digital ownership. He listened carefully and (like the album says) 'without prejudice'. Slightly to his surprise, he is now buying vinyl and wondering what turntable to get. Without prompting, he is also reporting back on several albums (not all recent) that sound as good or better from Qobuz, and a similar number (not all 50 years old) where there is simply more music in the grooves.

Simple answers to complex questions don't seem very enlightening, though they can give a warm feeling to the person delivering them. I think that applies to LP versus CD, CD versus streaming, MM versus MC, solid state versus valves, ported versus un-ported, stand-mounts versus floor-standers - and most of the other A versus B debates that take up so much space here. Of course, that may just show that I and those I know are all deaf or secretly being paid by a man called Tiefenbrun...