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SHELTER 201 MM CARTRIDGE - Required run-in period???

SONDEKNZ

SONDEKNZ

Kiwi, now living in Hangzhou, CHINA
The sound of our brand-new SHELTER 201 has continued to evolve until about the 3-hour mark.

Thereafter, the sound seems to have remained constant.

We now have 7-hours playtime on the baby SHELTER.

Is this enough run-in time to justify critical listening and a full report?

What do the in-house Moving Magnet experts think please? 🧐
 
IME it takes a week to really understand what one is listening to with a component change. Maybe more. It is only if something is genuinely terrible one can make a quick judgement.
 
Agreed.

But is an hour of listening each day for a week - 7-hours playback in total - enough time for a new MM cartridge to run-in, in order for serious listening and evaluation to commence?
 
I’d just hate to waste time forming an opinion and have a wise-one subsequently reveal that these carts need at least 50-hours to come into their own…
 
Didn''t realise Shelter made MM cart's; I've only heard of MCs; oh well ! I've no idea about MMs but you'd need at least 20 hours on most MCs (and way above 50 on a Koetsu !!! (R.I.P.)
 
Mike Reed said:
Didn''t realise Shelter made MM cart's; I've only heard of MCs; oh well ! I've no idea about MMs but you'd need at least 20 hours on most MCs (and way above 50 on a Koetsu !!! (R.I.P.)
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I'm in the same boat, Mike. MM carts a bit of an unknown quantity for me, having been a MC fan for decades.

The SHELTER 201 is an OEM product. The info that I have unearthed suggests that this design has been around for many years. More on that later...

Let the SHELTER 201 critical listening begin! 🤔
 
Darren L said:
That sounds about right for all cartridges imho
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I know through experience, that 50-hours is a fair and reasonable run-in for a MC cartridge, but for MM, I simply don't know.

That's why I'm asking the panel... ;)
 
My guess is that this will vary based on the make of cartridge. So far I have not experienced any cartridge which hadn't definitely settled into it's final sound after about 20h of use.

Warm-up is also a factor, my advise is to play one album side before you start any critical evaluation. This was especially true for the Dynavector 20x2l
 
SONDEKNZ said:
I know through experience, that 50-hours is a fair and reasonable run-in for a MC cartridge, but for MM, I simply don't know.

That's why I'm asking the panel... ;)
Click to expand...
I view them as the same when it comes to running in.
In general most cartridges I've owned start off sounding OK if a little pinched, then they seem to be a bit hit or miss for the perhaps next 30 hrs and then finally they settle finally and open out. I've always put this down too their mechanical transducer workings and more often than not the suspension 'bedding' in.
I think it's only after extending listening period, say about 3 months that I can really know how something new sounds, though probably more true of cartridge & tonearm combos and loudspeakers than electronics.
If nothing else it takes me a fair time to explore various recordings to listen for the character and capabilities of any hardware.
 
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