MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested

I've had my StudioDeck + MasterTracker for about a year, and I'm noticing the stylus tension decreasing a bit. In the forum's experience, how long is your styli life? And has anyone sent their MasterTracker in for stylus refurbishing?

Also considering a new cartridge and it looks like the Hana SL is popular here, but I'm not sure if my preamp (Darlington MM6) will work with a moving coil cartridge. If I go with Hana, I'd have to go with the SH unless I want to also upgrade my phono stage, correct?
 
MacDonals said:
I've had my StudioDeck + MasterTracker for about a year, and I'm noticing the stylus tension decreasing a bit. In the forum's experience, how long is your styli life? And has anyone sent their MasterTracker in for stylus refurbishing?

Also considering a new cartridge and it looks like the Hana SL is popular here, but I'm not sure if my preamp (Darlington MM6) will work with a moving coil cartridge. If I go with Hana, I'd have to go with the SH unless I want to also upgrade my phono stage, correct?
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Correct. It’s a low output moving coil cartridge. The MM6 on its own only allows the gain and impedance for a standard moving magnet cartridge.

You could either get the SH, or, from Darlington labs the SU6 step up device which allows you to use an MM6 with a Low Output Moving Coil Cartridge such as the SL.

www.darlingtonlabs.com

SU-6: Active J-FET Head Amp +20dB Moving Coil SUT Step-Up for LOMC with Variable Loading — Darlington Labs

The SU-6 featuring 20dB of gain with four user-adjustable resistive loading options. It has eight current-matched low-noise high-transconductance Pure J-FETs in its input stage, operating in a single-ended mode (no Differential FET operation), paired with an extremely high-dynamic-range outpu
www.darlingtonlabs.com www.darlingtonlabs.com
 
Joe Mac said:
Correct. It’s a low output moving coil cartridge. The MM6 on its own only allows the gain and impedance for a standard moving magnet cartridge.

You could either get the SH, or, from Darlington labs the SU6 step up device which allows you to use an MM6 with a Low Output Moving Coil Cartridge such as the SL.

www.darlingtonlabs.com

SU-6: Active J-FET Head Amp +20dB Moving Coil SUT Step-Up for LOMC with Variable Loading — Darlington Labs

The SU-6 featuring 20dB of gain with four user-adjustable resistive loading options. It has eight current-matched low-noise high-transconductance Pure J-FETs in its input stage, operating in a single-ended mode (no Differential FET operation), paired with an extremely high-dynamic-range outpu
www.darlingtonlabs.com www.darlingtonlabs.com
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Personally, my bias would be to get the SH version instead of a head amp. The slight loss of mechanical responsiveness with more coil turns is preferable to me to adding another active gain stage which could introduce noise. I would consider a passive step-up transformer for my own MM preamp, but those things tend to be too damn expensive for my tastes.
 
Angsty said:
Personally, my bias would be to get the SH version instead of a head amp. The slight loss of mechanical responsiveness with more coil turns is preferable to me to adding another active gain stage which could introduce noise. I would consider a passive step-up transformer for my own MM preamp, but those things tend to be too damn expensive for my tastes.
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We've been asked this very question regarding the new breed of cartridges available in a 1.0mV LOMC and 4.0mV HOMC flavor from Hana and from Grado and others.

1.0mV is rather hot for an LOMC and so our SU-7 has a +12dB mode especially suited for this. In any case, if a qualified individual or reviewer has, or can source, the exact versions of a cartridge as described above, and otherwise has a suitable system and suitable aural delineation, then we could supply a demo MP7+SU7 combo to them wherein they can compare the two - the low output version using two stages of electronics (SU-6/SU-7 into an MM-6/MP-7 and the high output version using one (MM-6 or MP-7).
 
krichard2496 said:
We've been asked this very question regarding the new breed of cartridges available in a 1.0mV LOMC and 4.0mV HOMC flavor from Hana and from Grado and others.

1.0mV is rather hot for an LOMC and so our SU-7 has a +12dB mode especially suited for this. In any case, if a qualified individual or reviewer has, or can source, the exact versions of a cartridge as described above, and otherwise has a suitable system and suitable aural delineation, then we could supply a demo MP7+SU7 combo to them wherein they can compare the two - the low output version using two stages of electronics (SU-6/SU-7 into an MM-6/MP-7 and the high output version using one (MM-6 or MP-7).
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Sounds like a challenge for @HiFi Guy to me!
 
MacDonals said:
I've had my StudioDeck + MasterTracker for about a year, and I'm noticing the stylus tension decreasing a bit. In the forum's experience, how long is your styli life? And has anyone sent their MasterTracker in for stylus refurbishing?
Click to expand...
I'm new to this forum but had an Ultradeck with Ultratracker for awhile - it will be two years in November. Still running the same cart on it and don't seem to notice much difference in sound (though I wouldn't be surprised if highs are now a bit more rolled off.) I doubt you should have any serious issue until after 1500-2000 hour mark. Considering that I listen to my deck at least a couple of hours daily, I'm not expecting to upgrade until at some point next year. Then it will be the Mastertracker and I'll use the MoFi trade-in program (if they still have it) - I haven't heard anyone retipping MoFi carts. The trade-in should shave a few hundred dollars (Music Direct customer service should fill you in on how it works).
 
romany said:
I'm new to this forum but had an Ultradeck with C for awhile - it will be two years in November. Still running the same cart on it and don't seem to notice much difference in sound (though I wouldn't be surprised if highs are now a bit more rolled off.) I doubt you should have any serious issue until after 1500-2000 hour mark. Considering that I listen to my deck at least a couple of hours daily, I'm not expecting to upgrade until at some point next year. Then it will be the Mastertracker and I'll use the MoFi trade-in program (if they still have it) - I haven't heard anyone retipping MoFi carts. The trade-in should shave a few hundred dollars (Music Direct customer service should fill you in on how it works).
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Welcome, @romany! With a competent tech, almost any cartridge can be re-tipped or re-built. A nude elliptical MM re-tip with an aluminum cantilever would probably set you back $200-$250, for comparison purposes. You could upgrade the stylus for a little more, although there's nothing wrong with getting the trade-in for the Mastertracker!
 
Angsty said:
Welcome, @romany! With a competent tech, almost any cartridge can be re-tipped or re-built. A nude elliptical MM re-tip with an aluminum cantilever would probably set you back $200-$250, for comparison purposes. You could upgrade the stylus for a little more, although there's nothing wrong with getting the trade-in for the Mastertracker!
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Thanks! I read MoFi doesn't offer or recommend re-tipping (no surprise there.) LMK if you know anyone competent. Good to have that option when the time comes.
 
I don't think I recall this brought up anywhere and that may be due to no need for it...anyhow, has anyone done or considered rewiring the tonearm? I have no intent to do so, the question is more of a curiosity if it has been done and any results.
 
scorpio333 said:
I don't think I recall this brought up anywhere and that may be due to no need for it...anyhow, has anyone done or considered rewiring the tonearm? I have no intent to do so, the question is more of a curiosity if it has been done and any results.
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Unless the tonearm wiring was broken somehow, I am skeptical of why anyone would do this anyway.
 
scorpio333 said:
I don't think I recall this brought up anywhere and that may be due to no need for it...anyhow, has anyone done or considered rewiring the tonearm? I have no intent to do so, the question is more of a curiosity if it has been done and any results.
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It’s already got pretty high-quality wiring, afaik.
 
Angsty said:
I am skeptical of why anyone would do this anyway.
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As a former software tester, that was what I had to plan for!

The only legit answer I have is upgrade-itis. Someone had mentioned rewriting their table, not Mofi, with silver wire and loving it. I rewired a Dual 721 yrs ago and honestly, tonearm wires are the devil! Too tiny for my hands.
 
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romany said:
I'm new to this forum but had an Ultradeck with Ultratracker for awhile - it will be two years in November. Still running the same cart on it and don't seem to notice much difference in sound (though I wouldn't be surprised if highs are now a bit more rolled off.) I doubt you should have any serious issue until after 1500-2000 hour mark. Considering that I listen to my deck at least a couple of hours daily, I'm not expecting to upgrade until at some point next year. Then it will be the Mastertracker and I'll use the MoFi trade-in program (if they still have it) - I haven't heard anyone retipping MoFi carts. The trade-in should shave a few hundred dollars (Music Direct customer service should fill you in on how it works).
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No way will you hit 1500-2000 hours with any stylus, much less an elliptical. A/T (who manufactures the MoFi cartridges) says 500 hours for an elliptical, 800 for a Shibata, and 1000 hours for a MicroLine. This will also depend on proper setup and stylus and record cleanliness.

You should be able to have your stylus replaced for about $200. Check “Groove Tickler” on eBay.
 
HiFi Guy said:
No way will you hit 1500-2000 hours with any stylus, much less an elliptical. A/T (who manufactures the MoFi cartridges) says 500 hours for an elliptical, 800 for a Shibata, and 1000 hours for a MicroLine.
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Thanks for the tip on tip replacement. I'll check it out.

As for my cart "longevity" I rechecked the purchase date (it's actually in December 2020.) At two hours a day (on average... sometime I don't use it, sometime I run it all day), it must have passed 1000 hours recently. I haven't noticed any audible issues yet and my analog setup still bests the digital (Mac Mini > Audirvana > Zen Dac Signature) connected to the same pre/power amps. All this aside, I won't be surprised if I heard an improvement when I put in a new cart, so maybe it's time to upgrade to the Mastertracker.

BTW, I found the number of hours listed by AT here is even worse: 300 for elliptical. Microline's 1000 hours sounds better.
 
romany said:
Thanks for the tip on tip replacement. I'll check it out.

As for my cart "longevity" I rechecked the purchase date (it's actually in December 2020.) At two hours a day (on average... sometime I don't use it, sometime I run it all day), it must have passed 1000 hours recently. I haven't noticed any audible issues yet and my analog setup still bests the digital (Mac Mini > Audirvana > Zen Dac Signature) connected to the same pre/power amps. All this aside, I won't be surprised if I heard an improvement when I put in a new cart, so maybe it's time to upgrade to the Mastertracker.

BTW, I found the number of hours listed by AT here is even worse: 300 for elliptical. Microline's 1000 hours sounds better.
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I'm currently using an elliptical Nagaoka MP-300; their guideline is 500 hours, too. You may not hear all of the effects of a worn stylus until it's past time to replace it.

I'm very curious about your Mini Mac set-up as I'm contemplating one now for dedicated music to move off of my shared family iMac. How would you recommend I get started? Since this is the MoFi turntable thread, let's carry the convo over to the digital thread:

 
Angsty said:
I'm very curious about your Mini Mac set-up as I'm contemplating one now for dedicated music to move off of my shared family iMac. How would you recommend I get started? Since this is the MoFi turntable thread, let's carry the convo over to the digital thread
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Sure. Please post your question there. I'd be happy to respond with personal observations.
 
Hello. I'm curious if anyone had tried Nagaoka MP-200 (or MP-300) with the Ultradeck? Especially curious if you also run Ultratracker cart previously (which is what I'm using now) and could compare the sound of the two carts?

My preamp is Slee Accession which has a highly resolved, detailed sound but a bit on a lean side. With Slee, Ultratracker always sounded a little analytical and from what I heard, Mastertracker is more musical, so this could be a no-brainer upgrade. But I'm also thinking about Nagaoka because of its relatively low compliance and because I heard that it tends to sound slightly on a warm side (which may complement the Accession nicely.) In terms of price, I expect both carts to cost about the same (Mastertracker is more expensive but I expect its ML needle should also last twice as long vs. the elliptical one on MP-200/300).

Appreciate your input.
 
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