Phono Cartridges - Your favorites and least favorites?

Ghost said:
Yeah its the latter. Last 30 seconds to a minute of a half of a record with little deadwax feel like theres a little sizzle/fuzz up top, some are worse than others.

Well spaced out records have no IGD whatsoever and sound phenomenal. I think I've been assuming that IGD is something that shouldn't exist if your system is set up right, now I'm realizing that may not be the case. Although my guy @HiFi Guy may have a silver bullet
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I think realistically speaking it's a thing on some pressings whether it's from previous play on a cheap cart or on a misaligned system that damaged the grooves, or just a pressing thats got it baked in. I've got pressings with nearly zero deadwax that play fine right to the end, I've got others where you start to notice it halfway through side A. I've got pretty much none on any AP/MOFI/SC/PP pressings, I think you just get it as good as you can where you're confident that if you play a good pressing that it's going to be clean, and leave it at that, personally...
 
Do phono cartridges get quieter as they age? Does the mV output decrease with age? Say a cart is rated with an output of 5.0mV. After 1000 hours of playback, would that drop to 4.8 mV or some lower value?


I'm curious because sometimes it feels like I have to play my records louder than normal to obtain the same volume. Could just be my hearing declining with age. But my cartridge is also aging as well. Could be the specific record and volume dictated by sidelength and mastering.
 
Jbraswell said:
Pretty simple but basics I followed.
Got an excellent protractor from The Vinyl Source and set my anti skate to match the VTF.
Could be other variables too but I made sure those two factors were as precise as possible.
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Hmm, getting the VTF matched to Antiskate on the MoFi wouldn't seem to be as straight forward as other decks as its done on a notch based system with a hanging counterweight.

Anyone know how you can quantitate the tracking force on the MoFi? They recommend a certain notch based off cartridge weight and not tracking force.
 
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zdkaiser said:
Do phono cartridges get quieter as they age? Does the mV output decrease with age? Say a cart is rated with an output of 5.0mV. After 1000 hours of playback, would that drop to 4.8 mV or some lower value?


I'm curious because sometimes it feels like I have to play my records louder than normal to obtain the same volume. Could just be my hearing declining with age. But my cartridge is also aging as well. Could be the specific record and volume dictated by sidelength and mastering.
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I’ve found that the better a system sounds, the louder I can play it without it bothering me. I’ve also found that styli sound best right before they are shot.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I’ve found that the better a system sounds, the louder I can play it without it bothering me. I’ve also found that styli sound best right before they are shot.
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Yeah, the sweet spot on my system used to be -32 db, now it is around -28 db. Now when I want to crank it, it is ~-10 db, when it used to be about -15db or so. As I get closer to the 0db threshold, I get closer to the noise floor/distortion, as expected.

Just curious if the mechanics within a cartridge causes it to "lose" volume or output strength as it ages. I'm probably overthinking it and should just enjoy my records.
 
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zdkaiser said:
Yeah, the sweet spot on my system used to be -32 db, now it is around -28 db. Now when I want to crank it, it is ~-10 db, when it used to be about -15db or so. As I get closer to the 0db threshold, I get closer to the noise floor/distortion, as expected.

Just curious if the mechanics within a cartridge causes it to "lose" volume or output strength as it ages. I'm probably overthinking it and should just enjoy my records.
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Magnets do lose magnetism, but it takes years as I understand it.
 
Ghost said:
How can I understand "resonance peak"? What would that sound like?
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For a MC cart, the electrical resonance is in the radio frequency range, so you should not be able to hear it at all. However, some phonostages perform poorly when presented with RF at the inputs and may do squirrelly things that will impact the sound output.

That said, you can still experiment with 47K loading and not damage your system, but it may create odd artifacts in playback if the phono is not designed to be stable into megahertz frequencies. There is no electrical advantage to high loading a MC; lower resistive loading is what damps the RF.

That’s different from the electrical resonance in a MM cart which may impact audible frequencies. Both types of electrical resonance are distinct from the mechanical resonance between the tonearm mass and the cartridge compliance.

Whew!
 
zdkaiser said:
Just curious if the mechanics within a cartridge causes it to "lose" volume or output strength as it ages.
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Things do happen as a cartridge ages. First is the stylus, of course. As it wears, its contact patch changes and can degrade to a point where high distortion and groove damage are possible. Not sure that amounts to a lower volume, though.

Second, suspensions can harden over time as the material properties change with age. A hardening suspension changes the compliance of a cart and can make it usable. Again, this is another form of distortion, not outputs reduction.

Magnets can age, too, but the other two factors are likely to be problematic earlier.

I’ve not heard of cartridge aging that only decreases the output without creating other forms of distortion. Even weakened magnets might cause other nonlinearities. Oxidation of the pins could conceivably do something like that, but I’ve not seen it documented. Wouldn’t hurt to remove the cartridge lead wires and replace them to scrape off oxidation.
 
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Angsty said:
For a MC cart, the electrical resonance is in the radio frequency range, so you should not be able to hear it at all. However, some phonostages perform poorly when presented with RF at the inputs and may do squirrelly things that will impact the sound output.

That said, you can still experiment with 47K loading and not damage your system, but it may create odd artifacts in playback if the phono is not designed to be stable into megahertz frequencies. There is no electrical advantage to high loading a MC; lower resistive loading is what damps the RF.

That’s different from the electrical resonance in a MM cart which may impact audible frequencies. Both types of electrical resonance are distinct from the mechanical resonance between the tonearm mass and the cartridge compliance.

Whew!
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I don't have any idea if it's garbage but the RTA analyzer app is free and kind of cool quick visual tool.
 
Jbraswell said:
Cleanliness is next to audio geek godliness or something like that 😊
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I’ve read for years that some folks like playing their records “moist”. Probably not as effective as @Mather’s new turntable clamp washer from Herbie’s. I use several Herbie’s products and find them to work as advertised and value oriented.
 
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OMC said:
I’ve read for years that some folks like playing their records “moist”. Probably not as effective as @Mather’s new turntable clamp washer from Herbie’s. I use several Herbie’s products and find them work as advertised and value oriented.
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ok, that seems kind of nuts (pun intended with washer talk) to expose copper with H2O.
 
Angsty said:
Things do happen as a cartridge ages. First is the stylus, of course. As it wears, its contact patch changes and can degrade to a point where high distortion and groove damage are possible. Not sure that amounts to a lower volume, though.

Second, suspensions can harden over time as the material properties change with age. A hardening suspension changes the compliance of a cart and can make it usable. Again, this is another form of distortion, not outputs reduction.

Magnets can age, too, but the other two factors are likely to be problematic earlier.

I’ve not heard of cartridge aging that only decreases the output without creating other forms of distortion. Even weakened magnets might cause other nonlinearities. Oxidation of the pins could conceivably do something like that, but I’ve not seen it documented. Wouldn’t hurt to remove the cartridge lead wires and replace them to scrape off oxidation.
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Thanks. Appreciate your detailed thoughts.
 
Ghost said:
Feel like I got a controversial question:

Is some degree of IGD unavoidable on crowded records with little deadwax, even with the best stylus/cart? Or do some of you guys live with absolutely zero IGD on 100% of your records?
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What is the trackability of your cart?
 
Ghost said:
Trackability: 70 um/2 grams
Separation @ 1kHz: 28dB.
Frequency Response: 15-32,000Hz.
Impedance @ 1 kHz: 30 Ohms.
Suggested Load: 400 Ohms

Whatever that means lol
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At 70 μm, the trackability of the cartridge is about average; you could get more mistracking and IGD at inner grooves than a cartridge with higher trackability. You might consider adding 0.1g of VTF to see if that helps.

Here’s a video with some useful hints.



Edit: I realized after looking at the full specs that you are running a Hana SL, which I also have on my office ‘table. I’m using a VPI Traveler and I don’t recall encountering any IGD on a repeated basis. I do run my VTF slightly high, as I recommended, per VPI’s advice. This also reminds me that we should all check VTF periodically, as it’s possible for it to slip over time with many tonearms.
 
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Angsty said:
Edit: I realized after looking at the full specs, you are running a Hana SL, which I also have on my office ‘table. I’m using a VPI Traveler and I don’t recall encountering any IGD on a repeated basis. I do run my VTF slightly high, as I recommended, per VPI’s advice. This also reminds me that we should all check VTF periodically, as it’s possible for it to slip over time with many tonearms.
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I notice I need to readjust more with my VPI than on my Rega, but absolutely a good tip to remember.
 
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