Introducing the Phono Cartridge Measurement Library

[Balle Clorin]

Liqui Moly on Stanton 680SL
Post in thread 'Fun with vinyl measurements'
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...un-with-vinyl-measurements.20278/post-2568516

 

[sqrl]

Ortofon 530 MKII

As far as I can tell, this is essentially an OM 30 or Super OM 30 in a different style body.

View attachment 524338
View attachment 524339
View attachment 524340

Here are the measurements:

View attachment 524341View attachment 524342
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This is a good example of how crosstalk can differ significantly across test records!

Ortofon 510 Cartridge - 520 MkII Stylus

This version has the elliptical stylus

R = 1,190/1,200 kOhm
L = 580/580 mH
7° shims to get ~25° cantilever angle and ~91° SRA at best






With more similar capacitance to your 530 MkII results below, there's >5 dB worse channel separation.



From the manufacturer



Specifications for the original 520 - more information from Ortofon's historical pages.

• Frequency range 20-23.000 Hz
• Compliance, dynamic, lateral 25 µm/mN
• Stylus type Nude Elliptical
• Stylus tip radius r/R 8/18 µm
• Equivalent stylus tip mass 0,3 mg
• Tracking force range 1,25-1,75 g (12,5-17,5 mN)
• Tracking force, recommended 1,5 g (15 mN)
• Tracking angle 20°

 

[mackat]

Ortofon 510 Cartridge - 520 MkII Stylus

This version has the elliptical stylus

R = 1,190/1,200 kOhm
L = 580/580 mH
7° shims to get ~25° cantilever angle and ~91° SRA at best

View attachment 524972View attachment 524973


View attachment 524990View attachment 524991

With more similar capacitance to your 530 MkII results below, there's >5° worse channel separation.

View attachment 524978View attachment 524979

From the manufacturer

View attachment 524986

Specifications for the original 520 - more information from Ortofon's historical pages

• Frequency range 20-23.000 Hz
• Compliance, dynamic, lateral 25 µm/mN
• Stylus type Nude Elliptical
• Stylus tip radius r/R 8/18 µm
• Equivalent stylus tip mass 0,3 mg
• Tracking force range 1,25-1,75 g (12,5-17,5 mN)
• Tracking force, recommended 1,5 g (15 mN)
• Tracking angle 20°

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

Wow, that's quite the shim! It's not bottoming out? Mine already rides quite low.

I did the trackability test and it passes 60 μm at 1.5 g and 70 μm at 1.8 g.

 

[sqrl]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

Wow, that's quite the shim! It's not bottoming out? Mine already rides quite low.

I did the trackability test and it passes 60 μm at 1.5 g and 70 μm at 1.8 g.

A couple of mm spare. I don't know where the 20° tracking angle comes from. I did try posting a link to the Ortofon pages, but it came out as a dead link. They come up if you search for 'ortofon 520 mk1' or 'ortofon 500 series' and 'read more'.

 

[Thomas_A]

Ortofon 510 Cartridge - 520 MkII Stylus

This version has the elliptical stylus

R = 1,190/1,200 kOhm
L = 580/580 mH
7° shims to get ~25° cantilever angle and ~91° SRA at best

View attachment 524972View attachment 524973


View attachment 524990View attachment 524991

With more similar capacitance to your 530 MkII results below, there's >5° worse channel separation.

View attachment 524978View attachment 524979

From the manufacturer

View attachment 524986

Specifications for the original 520 - more information from Ortofon's historical pages.

• Frequency range 20-23.000 Hz
• Compliance, dynamic, lateral 25 µm/mN
• Stylus type Nude Elliptical
• Stylus tip radius r/R 8/18 µm
• Equivalent stylus tip mass 0,3 mg
• Tracking force range 1,25-1,75 g (12,5-17,5 mN)
• Tracking force, recommended 1,5 g (15 mN)
• Tracking angle 20°

Quite unusual to see such a VTA from an Ortofon MM. Nice to see the shims working!

 

[mirek3814]

Dynavector Kaitora Rua

Turntable: SME Model 20/2, arm: SME series V

• Tracking force: 1.95g
• Catridge has currently 500 playing hours on it
• Cartridge is from 2024
• Phono stage: Phasemation EA-550
  • Internal SUT
• Cable capacitance: 85pF
• ADC: Tascam DA-3000
• Test record: CA TRS-1007 #2 Side A

 

[Balle Clorin]

Nice to see a cartridge without the typical MC bump.

Maybe the 500hrs is the cause for distortion creaping to -15dB.. A new one would hopefully be lower

 

[mirek3814]

Nice to see a cartridge without the typical MC bump.

Maybe the 500hrs is the cause for distortion creaping to -15dB.. A new one would hopefully be lower

After making small adjustments, I added more damping oil and the distortion decreased slightly. Regards

 

[sqrl]

Quite unusual to see such a VTA from an Ortofon MM. Nice to see the shims working!

They work fine: perhaps I should have asked you for the whole range!

 

[Thomas_A]

They work fine: perhaps I should have asked you for the whole range!

Yea, but I would say it depends on how many cartridges or turntables that are in actual use.

 

[Balle Clorin]

After making small adjustments, I added more damping oil and the distortion decreased slightly. Regards

That is really interesting! Almost halved the peak distortion…hard to say if it was adjustment or oil that did the trick maybe?

I have a SME V too , but have been reluctant to add damping fluid- I heard it is a mess, and my fluid is 15+ years old, probably wait til after I have upgraded the platter with a screw down clamp I will go for it.

 

[Thomas_A]

That is really interesting! Almost halved the peak distortion…hard to say if it was adjustment or oil that did the trick maybe?

I have a SME V too , but have been reluctant to add damping fluid- I heard it is a mess, and my fluid is 15+ years old, probably wait til after I have upgraded the platter with a screw down clamp I will go for it.

Some lateral damping at arm pivot is ok, but vertical damping at pivot can impair tracking over warps.

 

[mirek3814]

Some lateral damping at arm pivot is ok, but vertical damping at pivot can impair tracking over warps.

Looking at the damper design in the SME V, in my opinion it only affects horizontal damping. Regards.

 

[Balle Clorin]

Yes, and SME confirmed to me since I thought so too, minimal effect vertically, where it is needed more…warps seem to trigger vertical movement more, i rarely see sideways resonance

 

[Thomas_A]

Yes, and SME confirmed to me since I thought so too, minimal effect vertically, where it is needed more…warps seem to trigger vertical movement more, i rarely see sideways resonance

That is not entirely true... resonance is mainly induced by varying friction...

Billie Jean dance

many others have quite a steep filter in the bass Good point. Just looked at my waxwing settings. Derumble filter is on which sets

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Balle Clorin]

I should get that record I would have 2 disco records , one Donna Summer and that Michael Jackson , not sure my musical self esteem could bear that.:

 

[Thomas_A]

I should get that record I would have 2 disco records , one Donna Summer and that Michael Jackson , not sure my musical self esteem could bear that.:

See the record as a test record...

 

[SigmaR1]

Ortofon 510 Cartridge - 520 MkII Stylus

This version has the elliptical stylus

R = 1,190/1,200 kOhm
L = 580/580 mH
7° shims to get ~25° cantilever angle and ~91° SRA at best

View attachment 524972View attachment 524973


View attachment 524990View attachment 524991

With more similar capacitance to your 530 MkII results below, there's >5 dB worse channel separation.

View attachment 524978View attachment 524979

From the manufacturer

View attachment 524986

Specifications for the original 520 - more information from Ortofon's historical pages.

• Frequency range 20-23.000 Hz
• Compliance, dynamic, lateral 25 µm/mN
• Stylus type Nude Elliptical
• Stylus tip radius r/R 8/18 µm
• Equivalent stylus tip mass 0,3 mg
• Tracking force range 1,25-1,75 g (12,5-17,5 mN)
• Tracking force, recommended 1,5 g (15 mN)
• Tracking angle 20°

Sorry for the naive question: I thought the base (or top) of the cart had to be parallel to the plane of the disc (this is what is adviced in the user manual of an Ortofon MC1 Turbo I have, with more or less the same body): I'm surprised by the angle created by the wedges in this photo.

 

[Thomas_A]

Sorry for the naive question: I thought the base (or top) of the cell had to be parallel to the plane of the disc (this is what is adviced in the user manual of an Ortofon MC1 Turbo I have, with more or less the same body): I'm surprised by the angle created by the wedges in this photo.

This is usually so. But many of today's cartridges do not perform at its optimum due to varying VTA. You can lower distortion significantly by setting VTA closer to 20° with shims. That said the Ortofon MM cartridges usually do not deviate so much from the ideal, but there seem to be exceptions.

For more reading see e.g. posts:

Fun with vinyl measurements

One idea: not sure if it is possible or not, but is there a way to have Chat GPT come up with an "auto-centering" mechanism based on the polar plot? I'm wondering if that would make more test records usable.

www.audiosciencereview.com

Fun with vinyl measurements

One idea: not sure if it is possible or not, but is there a way to have Chat GPT come up with an "auto-centering" mechanism based on the polar plot? I'm wondering if that would make more test records usable.

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[sqrl]

If I'd been measuring things when I first bought it, I'd have asked to exchange it. The performance specifications are for a vertical tracking angle of 20°, which this can never reach. Channel separation improves as VTA gets closer to the specification, which may be why this one is 3 dB below spec.