LazyHammer
pfm Member
Hi everyone! So, I'm a bit at a loss here...
I just acquired a minty Denon DP-59L and it comes preinstalled with a 30€ Ortofon OM5e which we all know is not good. Therefore, I need a new one, and it's going to be my first time trying a MC cartridge! I plan to buy this no later than this week.
The phono stage used will be an iFi Phono Zen which has gotten really good reviews and is capable of handling MC cartridges with no problem. The rest of the system will be headphones, but mainly my 1989 AKG K1000 powered by my Pioneer Exclusive M4A.
These are my three choices:
With a budget of an absolute maximum (really I mean it!) 600 euro, that's all I can afford. These 3 seem to be the best candidates.
However this is complicated since, for example, the ML stylus is more refined than the more expensive Shibata, however some people prefer one or the other. Technically a more fine stylus is better since it reveals more of what's in the groove, but... you know how it goes.
And then the AT33 PTG/II is a middle ground choice that I'm very unsure of how it even compares to the OC9X.
Things to keep in consideration:
-I am aiming for the most accurate reproduction I can possibly achieve, not trying to get that "sweet" flavor of vinyl or anything. Just, accurate. It's going to be used for digitizing, therefore, it should be as close as possible to the digital version of the albums provided they have the exact same mastering.
-I will only listen to pure analog records from the 70's and 80's, mainly rare releases, tons of japanese stuff. Many of those rare albums sound horrible on digital (because of crappy remasterings) so the vinyl is the way to go. I love dynamic range and I hate when my music gets brickwalled.
-I *hate* surface noise, clicks and pops. Like I said I'm aiming for the most accurate reproduction I can achieve as if it was digital, since I will be digitizing most of my records. I have a very thorough wet cleaning method to achieve this and I've had great success with my now defunct Ortofon OM30. However I've read that the ML stylus or the Shibata stylus could increase the perceived amount of clicks and pops so I'm worried about this too. This is very important.
This is all. Hopefully we'll get to a conclusion. I appreciate it guys Cheers
I just acquired a minty Denon DP-59L and it comes preinstalled with a 30€ Ortofon OM5e which we all know is not good. Therefore, I need a new one, and it's going to be my first time trying a MC cartridge! I plan to buy this no later than this week.
The phono stage used will be an iFi Phono Zen which has gotten really good reviews and is capable of handling MC cartridges with no problem. The rest of the system will be headphones, but mainly my 1989 AKG K1000 powered by my Pioneer Exclusive M4A.
These are my three choices:
With a budget of an absolute maximum (really I mean it!) 600 euro, that's all I can afford. These 3 seem to be the best candidates.
However this is complicated since, for example, the ML stylus is more refined than the more expensive Shibata, however some people prefer one or the other. Technically a more fine stylus is better since it reveals more of what's in the groove, but... you know how it goes.
And then the AT33 PTG/II is a middle ground choice that I'm very unsure of how it even compares to the OC9X.
Things to keep in consideration:
-I am aiming for the most accurate reproduction I can possibly achieve, not trying to get that "sweet" flavor of vinyl or anything. Just, accurate. It's going to be used for digitizing, therefore, it should be as close as possible to the digital version of the albums provided they have the exact same mastering.
-I will only listen to pure analog records from the 70's and 80's, mainly rare releases, tons of japanese stuff. Many of those rare albums sound horrible on digital (because of crappy remasterings) so the vinyl is the way to go. I love dynamic range and I hate when my music gets brickwalled.
-I *hate* surface noise, clicks and pops. Like I said I'm aiming for the most accurate reproduction I can achieve as if it was digital, since I will be digitizing most of my records. I have a very thorough wet cleaning method to achieve this and I've had great success with my now defunct Ortofon OM30. However I've read that the ML stylus or the Shibata stylus could increase the perceived amount of clicks and pops so I'm worried about this too. This is very important.
This is all. Hopefully we'll get to a conclusion. I appreciate it guys Cheers