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Introducing the Phono Cartridge Measurement Library

So 2020. Can you say colour of the damper and what is written on it? For my older V15Vx it was black with letters ”Stereo” my latest is red with letter ”VN5xMR”.
From what I can see, the damper appears to be white.

There is nothing written on the front of the stylus carrier nor the brush assembly on mine.
 
From what I can see, the damper appears to be white.

There is nothing written on the front of the stylus carrier nor the brush assembly on mine.
Damper white seems odd. To rephrase I refer to the brush assembly which usually is black or painted in a colour and having a text or not written. Hinge covers can be black or silver.
 
Damper white seems odd. To rephrase I refer to the brush assembly which usually is black or painted in a colour and having a text or not written. Hinge covers can be black or silver.
Oh, I thought you were talking about the suspension which the cantilever connects to.

The brush assembly is black with no lettering and the hinge covers are silver.
 
True! I forget which of all the different 999's that is, but of the more commons ones, one of the 2000E's could work, and pretty sure there are also high inductance versions of the 66's. There's a thread with just inductance and resistance measurements of Empire carts over on Audiokarma.
If it is correct from what I read the 2000 measures at 650 mH. With a load R=15-25k + cantilever resonance I would guess ≈700-800 pF would be needed to balance it. But it will mess up the frequency response >18-20 kHz and no longer be up to "quadraphonic spec".
 
If it is correct from what I read the 2000 measures at 650 mH. With a load R=15-25k + cantilever resonance I would guess ≈700-800 pF would be needed to balance it. But it will mess up the frequency response >18-20 kHz and no longer be up to "quadraphonic spec".
And judging by Luke's 15kOhm test, there'll be a drop from around 2 to 10kHz, which will result in a dull sound...
 
This cartridge with this stylus is very problematic.
The stylus is used, condition unknown, so we don't know if this is how these styluses are manufactured, or if this copy is, perhaps, in poor condition.
However, this is not the first case that buyers have reported problems after purchasing a stylus from Jico for this model.
Below are the measurements of this set published elsewhere.
As you can see, MI inserts are insensitive to the charging capacity, or at least it is not a critical parameter.

By the way, I don't know why this particular old series, from the mid-70s, is more popular than the newer series, EDR9, 600LAC, Empire 1080 cartridges, etc.

Ps: The creator of the script for measuring the frequency response of a turntable cartridge should be carried in a sedan chair like a Pharaoh. ;)

Empire 4000 Jico DIII_15kΩ_485pF_1.25g_AS=1.25_LR_norm1_CA-TRS-1007.png

Empire 4000 Jico DIII_48kΩ_95pF_1.25g_AS=1.25_LR_norm1_CA-TRS-1007.png
 
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And judging by Luke's 15kOhm test, there'll be a drop from around 2 to 10kHz, which will result in a dull sound...
My historical tests of the V15Vx showed that high capacitance lifted the upper midrange drop (resonance moved from about 12->7-8 kHz) at the expensive of too early drop above 10 kHz. But with that cantilever resonance of the Empire/JiCO it could be worth see what happens, but one need to adjust R to a bit higher levels probably.
 
My historical tests of the V15Vx showed that high capacitance lifted the upper midrange drop (resonance moved from about 12->7-8 kHz) at the expensive of too early drop above 10 kHz. But with that cantilever resonance of the Empire/JiCO it could be worth see what happens, but one need to adjust R to a bit higher levels probably.
Oh yes, true, there might be a golden middle way there. Likely not worth the effort, though, unless a Jico stylus falls into your lap.

As for being more popular, it's a lot easier to find 66/2000/4000 carts than any of the newer Empire models, and the Jico and Tonar styli options are plenty. For the EDR.9, there's not even anything available at all.
 
My historical tests of the V15Vx showed that high capacitance lifted the upper midrange drop (resonance moved from about 12->7-8 kHz) at the expensive of too early drop above 10 kHz. But with that cantilever resonance of the Empire/JiCO it could be worth see what happens, but one need to adjust R to a bit higher levels probably.
V15Vx - type MM
Empire 4000 - type MI
 
Ortofon SL 20E
I wanted to check how it plays, because I received it as a bonus for the purchased item.
Very low voltage 0.07 mV, requires high amplification.
It plays very nicely. Relief for the ears ;)
Ortofon SL-20E - Ortofon T-30 3 Ohm - 2.0 gr - AS-2.0 - CA-TSR-1007.png


sl20e.jpg


Sample:
 

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  • Ortofon SL-20E - Ortofon T-30 3 Ohm - CA-TSR-1007.png
    Ortofon SL-20E - Ortofon T-30 3 Ohm - CA-TSR-1007.png
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Seems an ideal candidate for the old Quad 'slope' control .
Ortofon T-30 3 (Ohm) 44.6x = 3.12 mV
According to the specifications, this model has a resistance of 2.5 Ohms. The tested unit has a measured resistance of 4.1/4.2 Ohms
This is not a performance model, it was the lowest in the series at that time (1978?)
I would say that it plays classically in the old style. Lots of low tones, not intrusive mid tones, and a little, but not much, withdrawn high tones.
I really like how it plays.
The previous owner used this cartridge on an SME III tonearm. Judging by the condition of the wires, he did not use it for too long.
JPG_1.jpg


JPG_2.jpg


I mounted the Technics 1200GR2 on the tonearm


Foto.jpg
 
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Does anyone have AT33SA? Just to compare but can't find in the thread.
I got a quite disappointing results. Looks like brighter AT95E :facepalm:

AT33SA 2_100R_CA-TRS-1007.png
 
Does anyone have AT33SA? Just to compare but can't find in the thread.
I got a quite disappointing results. Looks like brighter AT95E :facepalm:

View attachment 422168

Yeah... Unfortunately some of their cartridges are tuned like that. A lot of people will like the extra "detail."

If you can, would you please title your post with:

Audio-Technica AT33Sa

That way it can be found via web search.

And please provide as much info as you can about the condition. For example, is the cartridge new?

Thanks.
 
And please provide as much info as you can about the condition. For example, is the cartridge new?

Please consider my post only as a question.
Just surprised that my 540ML and 95E measured better.
I'm going to check some settings and provide the final version posted by the thread rules.
 
Does anyone have AT33SA? Just to compare but can't find in the thread.
I got a quite disappointing results. Looks like brighter AT95E :facepalm:

View attachment 422168
It looks pretty similar to the AT33PTG/II that I purchased late last year:

I wonder if this really is just unit variation or if they changed the tuning at some point.

I got another AT33PTG/II as I think my first unit always had some suspension issues, and I believe I damaged it further by poking around more than I should have.

Anyway, I just measured the new one (which doesn't seem to have any of the old one's tracking issues), and I am seeing a much more highly pronounced resonance in the high frequencies. Unit variation, perhaps? This was really unexpected.

View attachment 403573
 
Audio-Technica AT33SA

AT33SA_100R_CA-TRS-1007_FR.png

AT33SA_100R_CA-TRS-1007.png

  • 2.0 g
  • 100 Ohm
  • I got it used but from a trusted seller. Declared approx. 100 hours in use.
  • Magnat MTT 990 -> Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL -> Scarlett 2i2 3 gen
  • Clearaudio CA-TRS-1007
  • 8 Hz lateral resonance by HFN test record with Magnat tonearm
Comparing to my VM540ML AT33SA is worse measured: more distortions, lower crosstalk, a bit brighter.
That's why I asked in the post above to compare. I believed that higher priced MC should be better than cheaper MM but...
Finally I've found the official measurements for AT33SA to align with my data. It was in the manual included into the box, so RTFM ;)
+3 dB HF is confirmed, crosstalk is much better.

20250119_224341.jpg


Re-checked with Ortofon Test Record 1 kHz sine.
I got 30 dB crosstalk, it's better than measured with CA TRS-1007.
THD is the same, about -42 dB for H2.

1737317163240.png
 
Audio-Technica AT33SA

View attachment 422413

View attachment 422414
  • 2.0 g
  • 100 Ohm
  • I got it used but from a trusted seller. Declared approx. 100 hours in use.
  • Magnat MTT 990 -> Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL -> Scarlett 2i2 3 gen
  • Clearaudio CA-TRS-1007
  • 8 Hz lateral resonance by HFN test record with Magnat tonearm
Comparing to my VM540ML AT33SA is worse measured: more distortions, lower crosstalk, a bit brighter.
That's why I asked in the post above to compare. I believed that higher priced MC should be better than cheaper MM but...
Finally I've found the official measurements for AT33SA to align with my data. It was in the manual included into the box, so RTFM ;)
+3 dB HF is confirmed, crosstalk is much better.

View attachment 422419

Re-checked with Ortofon Test Record 1 kHz sine.
I got 30 dB crosstalk, it's better than measured with CA TRS-1007.
THD is the same, about -42 dB for H2.

View attachment 422429
But it looks so much nicer :D
 
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