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View Full Version : Seeking advice on AT150MLX on my 1210 M5G - with Phonomena II



Vocalpoint
11-05-2015, 19:30
Hello,

Long time no post. I recently added an AT150MLX to my stable of carts to use with my Techie 1210 M5G. When I got the cart in - I went to easy route and mounted it on a genuine Audio Technica MG-10 headshell direct from Japan. This headshell takes the hassle out of mounting since the holes are predrilled and you can only mount the cart in four locations. I picked the one closest to the Technics spec of 52MM and have had it like that for a few weeks.

While the cart is far from it's standard break-in period (100 hrs?)- I am now starting to feel like I may have a few mismatches in play here.

First is the MG-10 headshell. Even tho is seems it should be an awesome match for a cart made by the same company - is it really a good choice weight-wise with the 1210M5G? Seems like this heavy headshell (10g at least), coupled with the heaviness (8.3g) of the 150MLx might be making for a bad match overall.

I have a bunch of other options ranging from a Zupreme to Ortofons and of course a series of stock techie shells. Just wondering about the optimum shell to match this cart with this for this arm.

Secondly - I have been reading a lot about the AT150 capacitance loading and how the entire load for this cart "should" be somewhere around 150pf. I managed to glean that between my minimum possible Phonomena II load of a 200pf coupled with my Techie cabling adding another 100pf to the mix - I may just be running this thing wayyyy outside the proper capacitance zone and this may be why I am feeling like this thing is way too bright?

Would appreciate any thoughts from the field on either of these two items - because I feel I should be getting better out of this cart.

Cheers!

VP

Marco
29-05-2015, 21:25
Surprised that no-one has been able to help Bruce with this matter.....

Marco.

Vocalpoint
29-05-2015, 21:38
Surprised that no-one has been able to help Bruce with this matter.....

Marco.

Me too. You would think this would be a reasonable combo in here :)

VP

6L6
30-05-2015, 03:57
It's pretty easy to try a lighter headshell. That, and the bonus of actually getting it aligned properly will be amazing.

Most people I've talked to with this cartridge like the capacitance somewhere around 100pF total. Too much capacitance on a MM can make a huge difference to it's detriment.

daytona600
30-05-2015, 08:26
For phono stage loading 100 to 400pf - choice of plug loading plugs
http://www.dbsystemsaudio.com/dbp6spec.jpg

to change headshell mass - AT150mlx unlike most MM catridges likes a rigid/med mass arm to suit Cu more akin to a MC
http://www.sound-smith.com/screwset/index.html

AT150 used with arms/phono stages @ 2/5 times its cost is a real Giant Killer

Vocalpoint
31-05-2015, 16:41
It's pretty easy to try a lighter headshell. That, and the bonus of actually getting it aligned properly will be amazing.

Most people I've talked to with this cartridge like the capacitance somewhere around 100pF total. Too much capacitance on a MM can make a huge difference to it's detriment.

The headshell part is easy. The capacitance - not so much. That would involve another journey into yet another phono preamp - this time one with massive flexibility in the capacitance area.

Might be easier just to find another cart that works better with what I already have then trying to spend my way into making this cart sound great.

VP

6L6
31-05-2015, 23:05
Cartridge is more important than phonostage...

walpurgis
31-05-2015, 23:08
Cartridge is more important than phonostage...

:scratch:

struth
31-05-2015, 23:11
one hand washes the other


Cartridge is more important than phonostage...

6L6
31-05-2015, 23:13
If the phonostage isn't going to load it right, then it's logical to try another phonostage. The AT150 is an incredible cart, and a minimum 200pF load isn't likely going to work well with it.

walpurgis
31-05-2015, 23:13
one hand washes the other

Yup. 'Weakest link' etc.

6L6
31-05-2015, 23:28
Weakest link? Phonostage, if it's not going to load the cart properly. That's certain.

montesquieu
01-06-2015, 08:49
What is it you don't like about the sound? Is it distorting? Dull or overly bright? Lacking dynamics? What weight are you tracking at? (should be about 1.2-1.3g).

I got pretty good results with one of these into a standard (valve) MM phono stage without worrying about capacitance (was using a short audio note silver litz arm cable if that makes any difference).

With headshells I would just experiment, I was using this on a Jelco 750 (a medium mass arm) and a 10g headshell, I didn't run the maths as from memory the specs are calculated at 100hz rather than 10hz, so you can't just plug them in to the standard resonance calculators. But it worked fine.