Problems with loaning out a cartridge

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Efforts....

Hey Panikos,

Nick is helping me out. I am going to audition an AT-440ML, which Nick is lending to me, to listen to in my system. This will give me the idea of what a Good AT MM sounds like. I have not heard any other MM in my system, besides a Grado, which we all know have their own unique sound. From all I have read thouigh, in general MM cartridges are supposedly More Warm sounding than MC Cartridges. MC= Zippy, Detailed, Airy, Bright... MM= Warm....Fuller Bass....More rich Midrange...but not as much extended High's or as fast paced as MC..

Am I right on this?? From what I gather though, the AT MM cartridges are not this way. But more close the a MC qualities, or behavior. As an example....what would you think of a Goldring 1012GX MM sound characteristics are???? And those of a Shure V15 MM??? Similar? And how would they differ from a HO MC like the OC9 or the Dynavector HOMC?? That is what I am experimenting with, thanks to Nick. I will let you know once it arrives. Thanks, Ray
 
AT440ML

Hi Panikos
I have sent Ray my low hours 440ML for him to audition which may enlighten him one way of the other.Thanks for the rundown on the Nagaokas.. I remember them from my student days and am happy to see the revamped range.. Nagaoka is definitely a brand i will consider next time and your insights into the various models is much appreciated. The reviews I have read in Hi Fi worl are cerianly favorable.
I respectfully would say that Rays preamp will be the determiner of sound.. The sp9 is a hybrid preamp using silicone and 6dj8s for amplification. I personally have never liked the sound of a 6dj8 but that said .. its only my personal opinion on that.
I will wait with baited breath on how ray finds the 440ML...
To all .. Have a peacefull 2009
Nick
 
Hello Nick,Ray and all:) It is true that the AT440ML has the best price of all cartridges with a good stylus,let's hope you like it.I haven't heard a Goldring for a long time,but some very good comments are said about them.If it has a sound close to the shure v15III it must be good.I am using a typeIII from time to time myself,with SAS stylus,and I like it.Ray,you are mostly right on your comments regarding mm/mc comparison,although with careful loading,mc's can be warm and musical too.I always like to load my mc's with not much higher load than their impedance,around 10-15 times higher,I find it usually sufficient.Very high loading,almost always make mc's sound thin and bright,and I wonder with all the reviewers that like their sound with loads of 1K even more.Very kind of you Nick to give Ray such a great help:)
 
Glad to help out

Hi Panikos.
These forums have been of great help to me through out the years and I have been able to learn about valves and get help to the point where I am OK at building stuff. Every now and then it is equally rewarding to help others. Share the love I say and help when you can
I certianly hope Ray answers his questions. Personally I think the 440 will be too bright even with messing with the capacitance and something warmer sound wise will balance out, with Rays preamp.
But we will see
Nick
 
Nicks AT-440ML

Hey guys,

I had alot of problems going on, by the time Nicks cartridge arrived in USA. And the USPS did not deliver it, and had no intentions on making a second attempt, since I wasn't home. I went to the PO and picked it up. But I have had alot of personal issues going on, in the meantime, most which I mad you aware of prior to sending the Cart, Nick. I just received your emails, in the past few days, 1 was today, the other was Sat, or Sun. Dont worry, I assured you that I wouldn'y rip you off, and I wont.

I didn't have the time I was hoping I would have had, due to personal problems. I did get load resistors, but didnt use them, I got alot of flack from Vinyl Forums, saying that my DB Systems Protractor, that I used from years ago, is no longer an accurate protractor. The one a guy emailed to me, didnt sound all that great....I didn't know there were so many alignment protractors nowadays.....I always thought that the ones that were sold, all achieved the same end result. But I will be sending the cartridge back to you as soon as I can, probably within 2 weeks. I appreciate your offering it to help me out, I didnt anticipate your AT150MLx breaking, as soon as you bought it, so this 440 never became after that, just a spare collecting dust, but something you needeed back more quickly. And it was all too rushed, so I will be sending it back the same way it came. Like I say, in a week or 2. Thank you Nick, for the offer, and help. Ray
I havent posted too often, only to ask questions regarding alignment protractors....things aren't so great here for me....poor timing I guess. Ray
 
Hey Ray

Hi Ray
It is good to know that you are alright.
I am sorry for the dark tone to your reply.. normally I hear from you quickly , so since I hadnt heard from you I was wondering if anyone else had. That is all
I am a bit mystified by the way you have interpreted the few lines I wrote here.. if you look at the emails I sent, I was merely wondering what you had found re the sound of the cart as I am keen to know. I had sent you a copy of the Ortofon protractor.. did you get it?
I dont think you are skippping off to cuba with the cartridge.
I wil send you a personal email once i finish work.
Nick
 
Ortofon Protractor

Hi Nick,

Im sorry, if I am coming off as dark, its just my whole mood is dark right now. Ive had alot of lets just say...bad luck, lately. You did me a nice favor, and I appreciate that. So, I dont want that to be misunderstood. I also, trying to do all of this hastily, because of other things.....got all kinds of wierd info regarding my protractors, and the analog world of the past say, 10 years since Ive been dealing with a phono cartridge. I do remember you saying something about you having very good luck with an Ortofon Protractor, and a mthod of printing it out, and setting up the cartridge....but no, I dont have the Protractor. Again, I appreciate all you have done...and I know that you dont think I was goona rip off the cartridge......but I really havent been online in awhile, and I had only responded to threads in here, that I get an email notification about. Thanks, Ray
 
Chill

Ray
As panikos said get the health thing right... I can wait longer if need be...
I will resend the email of the protractor..
Do what I do when it comes to all the theory regarding audiophilia..
Ignore IT!!!
the ortofon works for me and it should work for you.
So Ray, Please be easy on yourself and no one is thinking bad things about you..
Nick
 
AT440ML Sound

Hello Guys Nick, etc...

Its Ray.....I have finally got things going after a rough start. I have the AT440ML mounted on my ZETA Arm, on the VPI HW19 MK.IV Turntable going into my AR SP9 Preamp...... OK, now I know that I have the cartridge mounted perfectly, and aligned, I checked this with several protractors, and high light and magnification. I am using a tracking force of 1.4 grams. One thing that I didnt realize that went a little wrong, and I have to tell this for Nick. I dont have much in the way of mounting hardware, mine are black allen heads screws, with washer and nut. I think they are from ZETA, or Sumiko. But they kept sliding out of the collar of thee 440ML, The I finally got everything situated, and the head on one of them started going inside the collar as I was tightening, I didnt realize this right away, but it doesn't look like it damaged anything, I never had a cartridge, without closed mounting holes. But I wanted to tell this, because I never kept any of the slot head screws, since they were always more awkward to work with.

I didnt remove the capacitance inside the SP9 as of yet, which is 560pf from factory. I dont know the capacitance of my ZETA Silver wired Vandenhul Tonearm wires....So, that would only be a guess on my part. The 440ML sounded extremely crisp, and bright, on my first few recordings...I checked my VTA, and the Arm is Raised Slightly High in the Rear, so its not Parallel with record, but High in Back of Arm. When I put on my 30th Anniv. Album of Pink Floyd, Dark Side, I played Brain Damage/Eclipse....that sounded extremely clean, crisp, and not as bright. The drums were tight, and vocals and highs very clean. I then tried a version of Route 66, that was from my Sharkey's Machine Soundtrack....That sounded excellent, but its Big Band Type....Piano was very clean, and symbals ets.... But the Title Song, Street Life.....sounded thin and bright. I am wondering if the Cartridge, 440ML is dependent of music, as to its Brightness, or Maybe I should go ahead, and remove that extra capacitance in the SP9 Preamp, so its only my Tonearm wiring as capacitance. Also, the VTA....Not Sure, maybe lower it, till its actually true parallel, with record . I didn't mess with resistive loading at all. How would the Sound of this Cartridge be in comparison to say, the New Versions of the ATOC9ML/II....or the AT150MLx?? I know they are much more expensive, so I would assume there is some kind of difference. I can tell you that on the Pink Floyd....the 440ML sounded better to me, than the Grado Signature did...but on other Music, the Grado sounded better, again, the Grado is one of their best cartridges to date, it was the Signature TLZ, and at least $500.00 when it was new. Sort of like the OC9 and the 150MLx...Appreciate any feedback. Thanks, Ray
 
Hey Ray

Hi Ray
Been unfortunately busy the last 7 days. My German Sheperd Vincent took ill this time last week and finally had to be euthenaised last nite. WHat a heart breaker.
Mate it will be bright without the right capacitance and vta.. If the zetas arm tube is up at the back it will only emphasise the brightness.. parallel if possible (can you stick a thicker platter mat on to achieve this without having to constantly adjust the arm?) and the capcitance needs to be adjusted... Remember Ray if you cant get the cart sounding good with vta at parallel and capacitance of around 100pF) then it probably is the wrong match ... disconnect one leg of the capacitors to give you just arm lead capacitance as a first mod but get that VTA right
Nick
 
440ML

Hi Nick,

Im very sorry to hear about your dog. i do know how you must feel. I did want to clarify, that some recordings do sound excellent....not all are bright....but there are bright batches of albums, and there are good sounding batches of albums....this is more apparent with the AT440ML than wiith my Grado Signature, but then again that was Grado's best for years. Also, it bwas extremely warm, so it sounded either muffled or good on re cordings....But I will try the capacitance.....I just wasn't sure what the ZETA is, since there is no data regarding capacitance of the arm wires...and VTA......Thanks, Ray
 
I have one of the old CBS test records that has a constant velocity 1KHz square wave cut into the groove for testing cartridge response (you connect the cartridge to a flat gain amp to evaluate the cartridge’s square wave performance into varying loads). The AT-440 is very sensitive to loading, especially capacitive, with over-shoot and ringing becoming more pronounced as the capacitance goes up (also lower in frequency). Best to minimize the C load with this one. It also does better in regards to over-shoot and ringing with a lower resistance, with 43K looking better than 47K, and 39K looking maybe a bit over-damped. In contrast, a cartridge like the V-15 shows a minimal sensitivity to load variations. I’m guessing that the V-15 uses some type of mechanical damping, as opposed to depending on the electrical load for damping.
 
Re my experience

Hi Panicos.
I sent Ray my at440 late January 2009.
I have asked for it back 4 times now and my last email to him was a month ago now..
It transpires that Ray managed to damage the cartridge body by putting the mounting screws in from the wrong way (the bolt head on the underside of the mounting lugs of cart and not in through the top of tonearm). By the emails he sent me he did this to both sides and consequently by overtightening pulled the bolt heads through the mounting lugs of the cartridge. He then tried to rectify this by using a soldering iron to remodell the damaged lugs.
I cant say I am happy about this but what really breaks my heart is that he has dissapeared.... I was told by him he would send the cartridge back over a month ago now.. no sign of it and anyway it has been damaged so it would be fair to replace it as it was a low hours example.
I understand that he may be ill, but an email couldnt be that hard to send could it?
I emailed a moderator re this and didnt hear back from them so I am just stating facts in this post as to my experience.
If you are out there Ray, firstly I hope you are at least well but I am quite saddened that you havent been good to your word. If you have been unwell, then perhaps an email would be prudent but that does not get me my cartridge back does it? Anyway it is damaged now so I think a new one would be good.
I dont think I will see it again now anyway.
Thanks
Nick
 
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