Their pricing model is quite unique - they charge a lot for the cart body, but quite a bit less than others for the replacement styli. US prices for their stuff if very high so most people buy out of Japan.
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Not loving my AT740MLx
- Thread starter rwortman
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Their pricing model is quite unique - they charge a lot for the cart body, but quite a bit less than others for the replacement styli. US prices for their stuff if very high so most people buy out of Japan.
DSJR
Major Contributor
What frequency, do you know? ATs tend to have a lower than usual output (3mV @ 5cm/s I believe) but the hf peak may increase output, especially when excited by ticks, pops and so on...
P.S. Granny sucking eggs I'm sure, but have you tried dropping the tonearm pillar slightly while keeping the 2g downforce? Have you also tried confirmation the 2g downforce actually IS 2g, as so many arms can be up to 10% out. Just a thought, as some Japanese pickups used to have a steep rake angle of up to 29 degrees which usually adds to hf distortion (AT may well not, but it's a thought)
The peak is in the audible range. Due to self-inductance (it's an MM) there is no ultrasonic peak. WYSIWYG, and if he's right about his Cl it's about 2.5dB at around 12kHz.
Fixable with loading (or EQ)
Sad that you have to fix it hough, especially when they have a cheaper cart (VM95ML), same stylus, that does not have this problem.
ban25
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How do you like the C49 in general? It's on my shortlist...
- Thread Starter
- #27
I just spent the last 45 minutes listening to it with the AT7V stylus ( .2 x .7 mil) on it. I like it better. Still has some of that “sparkle” but not the spittiness. I did make up some cables that have about 20pf less capacitance. Not a big difference. Put the now cleaned ML stylus back on. Still seems just a bit more sort of shrill in the highs. Maybe that ML traces some ultrasonic cutting stylus chatter that causes some unpleasantness. Beats me. A lot of people love them. I’m used to being the weirdo.
- Thread Starter
- #28
I love it. I think you can certainly get something that sounds as good for less but not with all the convenience features. If, like some here, you use one DAC as a source, it’s a waste. If you have multiple sources and/or amps, it’s great. It has multiple trigger outs and an HT passthru trigger in. My AVR trigger turns it on and puts it in pass through mode. Trigger one is set to turn on my solid state amp whenever output one is enabled. Output 2 goes to my tube amp. Trigger “main” turns on my sub. Trigger 2 turns on EQ for all sources except my Roon server. All the inputs are named what they are ( Roon, Radio, Disk, Art Usb, etc) and all unused inputs are marked off. Enough output voltage to drive anything, great sounding DAC and phono preamps. Cartridge loading can be changed while sitting on the couch. And if you like the look, you like the look. The only thing I don’t like is that you have to take it to a service center for any firmware upgrades. That’s kind of backward. Some people don’t like the lack of a subwoofer output or a high pass filter for the main speakers. You can use an external crossover if you like but I don’t. The natural roll off of a speaker can be matched to a sub with the sub crossover if you want/need to run a sub. Each output has balanced and unbalanced connections. Since I use a sub, i run the unused output pairs into a rack mount mixer/splitter to mix down to one mono channel for a sub send. Looking at the minster amps they sell, Mac probably figures everyone will be using some big full range speakers with no need for a sub.
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The only cartridge that I know of that has a truly flat F/R and is in current production is the Dynavector Karat.
It achieves this by having the cantilever resonance at around 50kHz - leaving the audible spectrum ruler flat.
Every MM's performance is a sum of a non flat cantilever response and a non flat electrical response.... getting the two to match perfectly to provide a truly flat F/R is as much black art as it is science.... in most cases the best you can achieve is a compromise.
At the peak of vinyl technology, a number of manufacturers managed to get their effective tip masses low enough to push the cantilever resonance out beyond 50kHz - Technics even managed to get it to 100kHz - once you achieve that, then getting a flat f/r is quite viable.
The very very well regarded Shure V15VMR, although an excellent cartridge, has a cantilever resonance at around 32kHz - the flat F/R is achieved through judicious balancing of electrical load. Yep if your R and C aren't spot on - neither will the f/r be! - and by the way, Shures specs provide a "range" for both loadings and not a specific value - so most setups don't achieve a flat f/r - even with one of the most Neutral cartridges available.
Most MC's are worse - a lot worse - because the cantilever response is exposed without any substantive EQ... and 99% of todays MC's have a cantilever resonance WITHIN THE AUDIBLE RANGE !!
To get the cantilever resonance outside the audible range (and WELL outside it) you need to either have a very very short cantilever (like the Kara) - or the cantilever needs to be an exotic ultra light material in tube form... either way the objective is to get the effective tip mass down to vanishingly low levels.
Current Boron/Ruby/Sapphire cantilevers are all rods rather than tubes, and that structure will at best get tip mass that matches the best of aluminium tubes ... with resonance around 19kHz - many such efforts have their resonances in the 14kHz to 16kHz range.
I can take any halfway decent cartridge/stylus and work through the process of tuning the EQ, thereby resulting in a flat (ish) frequency response- if you have a flat f/r without doing this - congratulations you hit the cartridge/stylus lottery jackpot.
Also keep in mind there is substantial variation in effective mass (and therefore resonant frequency) within styli of the same brand and model - I have 2 Jico SAS styli purchased only a few months appart, of identical spec, one measuring a disapointing 14kHz resf, and the other 16khz resf - both disapointing really, as I was hoping for something to match the golden age performance of the V15VMR.
But that is why I consider your claim that the VM95ML f/r is a "fixed problem" somewhat ridiculous.... which is not to say that you sample in your setup has coincidentally ended up with a flat f/r .... it is perfectly possible - after all people win the lottery every day!
Accepted. No probs, but the freq. response graphs I could find by searching around, all seemed to be missing that 10kHz peak, that most of the 540/740ML graphs seemed to exhibit, and the VM95ML I have sounds much better (I have had two of them) than the 440ML ever did.
Good explanation of the problem in greater depth though, so thanks.
Simply, the VM95 likes more capacitance.
Balle Clorin
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Not sure tone arms or compliance matter much on frequency response, at least in the light end, 6-12grams arm and 6-10gram cartridges gives the same response on my 4 turntables , res freq is 7-10 shows very little frequency response difference if any. The high quality arm (SME V) gives a response with minimal irregularities/ resonance in music range. The cheaper ones have more obvious peaks and bumps that indicate resonances in arm, but overall response is the same
ban25
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That's exactly how I'm looking to run it: with HT Bypass through my AVR to my MC302 to my mains, with additional inputs for the turntable and Roon bridge going straight into the C49. That is pretty annoying about the firmware upgrades. Do you have the DA1 or DA2 module by chance?
Balle Clorin
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Meh. The +2dB is noticeable, but not exceedingly bright. There are much worse out there.
Shall we say - to better match the current fashion in budget tonearms.... which is mid-low compliance
Budget tonearms in the 1980's and early 90's were all low mass requiring high compliance and budget tonearms in the 1970's were mid mass (1960's high mass)
What does "budget" mean? Should not be used as a synonym for cheap, or even less, badly made. For example the old SME3009 - which I still favour.
LOL the SME's were never "budget"...
But look at the arms fitted as standard on the turntables in the mass market lower price categories...
The Hanpin made TT's - mid mass arms roughly modelled on things like the Technics SL1200mkII arms.
In the late 1980's the mass market turntables had low mass arms with either T4p cartridges or something like the AT95 family (low mass arms, high compliance cartridge/stylus)
My first TT around 1981 was a Pioneer with a low mass straight arm - and based on a high schoolers income, it was definitely lower end! (but still decent quality)
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Folks think the VM95 can't sound good because it is cheap. That's what I thought before I bought one with the shibata stylus. After using it, I realized I would be okay with it as an "only" cartridge. I have several other more expensive cartridges, but compared to the VM95SH they don't sound any better. The Clearaudio Maestro 2 with the boron rod and shibata does not sound any better and it is based on the VM95 generator!
