advertisement


Mission 774 Arm and Moving Coil Cartridges

The "confusion" here is that effective mass is really nothing directly to do with mass, at all. It is moment of inertia - the higher the number, the higher the inertia, so the arm is more resistant to movement. Adding the damping trough is EXACTLY the same as increasing effective mass (moment of inertia) - it increases the arms resistance to movement.
There will undoubtedly be maths available to convert the effect of the paddle in oil to an inertia/effective mass value, but you'd need numbers for viscous drag on the different paddles in whatever viscosity oil(s) is/are used.

Be wary of adding extra weight to the counter-balance - that REDUCES effective mass.

Given that there is unlikely to be any conversion figures available for the change in effective mass achieved by the paddles, the whole thing is bit "suck it and see".

Yes that makes sense, it's a flexible arm using the paddles, I've tried all sorts from Acutex to 103r to Benz.
 
Robert,

I've noticed that there are two different arm clamps one a little wider than the other. I've never found anything on line to say which is preferred, nor which is the early model.

I think the wider mount is later - assuming you mean the base plate. One looks exactly like the plate you'd see on a SME2 in terms of shape, the other has enlarged and rounded corners and I think came a little later.
I wouldn't worry though as both are fine for the job, as is the collar clamp.

There was a version sold without the collar base designed to fit directly into the short lived Mission 775 turntable.
 
I always thought the one with the base plate with ears on the corners was earlier as was the one with the narrower tube clamp.:confused:
 
I always thought the one with the base plate with ears on the corners was earlier as was the one with the narrower tube clamp.:confused:

Could be - it came out in 1978/9 so it's all a loooong time ago :)
I wouldn't worry about the plate version, buy on overall condition.
 
Have been looking at my records and it looks like I bought my first one in late 2004,went onto a Systemdek 11X900AP,numerous arms since but never without one and none of the others did everything the 774 did so right
 
Thought I might drop in on the tail end of this thread...rather than start a new one!!
Having just tarted up my 80's Heybrook TT2....new power supply, and 'upgrading' to an equally aged Mission 774 arm....find attention now turning towards cartridge!!
Not saying I'm ready to spend £100's here....but wondering what's 'out there'....bargains...2nd hand even??
(...also...what's to be avoided!!)
Hoping to get myself a short list of stuff to look out for?
Pretty out of touch in this respect....last one I bought was a Linn K9 MM back in '88....to go on an LV-X arm
Will be connecting by phono into an Exposure VII pre......

...am I in the right place here?? :)
 
The arm and deck are good enough for a very nice cart, so really depends on budget. If you liked the K9 then the better Audio Technica MMs are likely very similar (the K9 was a custom AT), if you want something a bit warmer and fuller consider Nagaoka. If you fancy going all out on an MC then I’d personally stick to the higher compliance of that genre, I’ll let others recommended stuff as I’m not sure what is around these days. A DL-110 or 160 would have been a good contender, but I’m not sure if it still exists.

PS Some modern carts such as the Ortofon 2M range are obviously non-starters due to threaded bolt-holes!
 
Thanks fellas!!
The Exposure has MC/MM inputs....so am tempted by an MC.
Budget-wise....initially say £250....ish???
 
£250 will get you a DL-160 (Amazon), and I’m with Rob that it’s a great cart and would match the arm well. It’s a high-output MC so works with an MM phono input.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
....Found DL-110 at £219......great....but in no hurry today!
Notice that this connects to the MM inputs...
Daft question....but I'll give it a go....
How does sound differ between MM/MC.....is it immediately ....Night and Day....or more subtle??
 
Quite subtle at this price point, both technologies have a lot more to give. I’d argue it was a matter of opinion under about £800-£1k, and above that MCs become hugely dominant. As ever we are talking about a system synergy here; the deck, arm, cart and phono stage all have a huge part to play and context is everything. There are seldom binary better/worse generalisations to be made.
 
Update....
'swapped' my old LV-X arm for a Linn Karma....and have now installed this in the 774 (original)!
The Karma has (mass 7.0g according to spec)

I understand that 7.0g is 'high'....so should I be trying to get hold of an extra mass 'ring' to attach to my C/W?
....am I correct there?
....and is there a source for such a ring....or is it a DIY solution.??

Any thoughts on this most welcome!!
 
Last edited:
Add mass to any CBW using Blutak as an experiment - do not assume anything - it costs nowt.

A 7g cart' is on the light side
 
Update....
'swapped' my old LV-X arm for a Linn Karma....and have now installed this in the 774 (original)!
The Karma has (mass 7.0g according to spec)

I understand that 7.0g is 'high'....so should I be trying to get hold of an extra mass 'ring' to attach to my C/W?
....am I correct there?
....and is there a source for such a ring....or is it a DIY solution.

Any thoughts on this most welcome!!

No, 7g is quite standard for a cart - if anything a little on the low side.
Use the 774 with stock weight and experiment with the medium and large damper paddle.

The Karma is a low compliance MC so in a 774 the LF resonant frequency will be a little high - likely up around 14-15 Hz instead of the target 10Hz but that's not a problem.
Should be a nice combo - richness and solidity of a Karma paired with the speed and agility of the 774. Back in the day, many used the older Linn Azak in the 774 to good effect.
 
Thanks both!
Am trying the larger paddle....the Karma spec has compliance as 10cu....so will also give the medium a go too.
TBH.... not sure exactly what I'm listening for here. How might I understand if there is over/under damping? Are we talking purely subjectively here?
 


advertisement


Back
Top