Cartridge recommendations for a Mission 774 on a 401 please.

[speedracer]

Hi all, I have been pontificating on changing the Jelco SA750D on my 401 in favour of a low mass arm, & to that end have been convinced to try a Mission 774. Using a Highphonic MC-R5 cartridge the results are superb, so I am looking for cartridge recommendations please, both MM & MC. I am prepared to spend around a grand on a used MC & about half that for MM but have no idea how flexible the 774 arm is, my knowledge of vintage carts that might suit is sadly lacking however. I am trying to rectify that by reading as much as I can, but am hampered by my historical ignorance of how low & high mass arms work with low & high compliance carts.
I anyone can point me to some good reading material & or to carts that could fit the bill I would be very grateful.

[Patrick Dixon]

Decca (S)C4E. Secondhand, but John Wright can rebuild and retip them as new.

(Neither MC or MM, but MM phono compatible)

[dwhistance]

Interesting that your budget for MC is twice that for MM? Don't forget that for most MC's you may also need to budget for a SUT or is that the reason for the difference?

My suggestions would be for a Cartridge Man Music Maker III or a Decca Gold/Super Gold (with an extra headshell weight) or the previously mentioned C4E for MM/MI on that arm. One of the Soundsmith cartridges might also work well.

I can't really help with MC's as although I have owned quite a few they are all lower compliance and therefore work best on heavier arms.

All the best

David Whistance

[walpurgis]

The Mission 774 is designed to work with high or low compliance cartridges. I have a ZYX R100 02H in my 774 arm at the moment. It has worked just fine with every cartridge I've used MC or MM, you just vary the fluid damping to suit the compliance.

[struth]

There was an zyx 50 on pe. quite an attractive price too.

[mikeyb]

Give me a shout if you want a 774 as I have one to sell [emoji6]

I also have a cartridge going spare too, Shure 55em with Jico SAS stylus and original stylus all boxed.

[Bigman80]

Hi all, I have been pontificating on changing the Jelco SA750D on my 401 in favour of a low mass arm, & to that end have been convinced to try a Mission 774. Using a Highphonic MC-R5 cartridge the results are superb, so I am looking for cartridge recommendations please, both MM & MC. I am prepared to spend around a grand on a used MC & about half that for MM but have no idea how flexible the 774 arm is, my knowledge of vintage carts that might suit is sadly lacking however. I am trying to rectify that by reading as much as I can, but am hampered by my historical ignorance of how low & high mass arms work with low & high compliance carts.
I anyone can point me to some good reading material & or to carts that could fit the bill I would be very grateful.You've had a couple of recommendations for Deccas, which would make me question people's sanity (only my opinion) and after having three and a Mission 774 arm, I'd totally recommend avoidance of Deccas. And yes, I'm aware "so and so" and "XYZ" rate them as well as "Joe blogs will only use Deccas!"

I don't like what they do.

As for Zyx 50 & 100, they were both easily manoeuvred by an AT33PTGII and a Lyra Claris, Ortofon Kontrapunkt B, ATART7 and Denon 301mk2

Didn't look at your budget so my recommendation is to get out and hear as many carts as you can before you spend any money.

I put a AT33PTGII on my Mission 774 and it was ridiculously good for the minute outlay.

Good luck.

[speedracer]

Thanks so far guys, I will address all points in this one post, hope you don't mind.

1. Patrick, I do like Decca's & have had one, a Gold which I loved, but for some reason I didn't think they would be a good match, happy to be proven wrong though.

2. David, reason for the price differential is simply due to not wanting to spend more than £500 on a MM cart, I use a Welborne Labs hybrid phono stage with a Denon HA500 head amp, so I am already equipped for pretty much any cart really. I have never heard a Music Maker but I will try to.

3. Grant, what or where is "pe"? If a Zyx is a good match again that would interest me.

4. Mike, I already have the 774 but thanks anyway, unless you are practically giving it away! (You could pm me a price & try me).

5. Oliver, the differing opinions on what works with what is always personal, it makes taking the path tricky but at the same time fun. I will try my AT33PTG mkii on the 774 when I get home & see what I think, it certainly sounded fab on the Jelco, but I am after a good step up in quality on that despite how good it was. A Denon 301 & A Kontrapunkt would interest me, less so a Lyra or ART7.

I perhaps paid a little over the odds for the Mission, but it is immaculate & has all the paddles, literature, tools & damping fluid etc, & was going to try one of XTC's (?) arm wands, anyone have an opinion on whether they are as good/better than the original ones?

[walpurgis]

The "pe" Grant refers to, is our Private Exhibitions sales section and yes, there is a nice ZYX MC for sale there.

You may be interested in this post I made a few days ago.

http://i64.tinypic.com/908sqa.png

[speedracer]

Thanks for that Geoff, I tried to message you with a question but your inbox is full, anyhow no harm in putting it here.

Hi Geoff, thanks for your response to my thread, it is mainly thanks to you that I have ended up with the the 774 actually, you might remember we spoke about one some time ago & that helped me make up my mind.
With regards to the Zyx Bloom in the classifieds, do you rate it or even have you heard one?
I have been reading & have seen it mentioned that carts with a tracking force of around 2g are not really high compliance, but I guess there is a lot more to it than that. If I were to go for it, could you advise on which size paddle would be most likely to work well with it?

Cheers,

Brook.

[p147]

Brook,
There's a Koetsu Red T Moving Coil Cartridge up for sale on here which seems quite nice. I recently bought a new Audio Technica Art-9 once I had sold my Kiseki and it really sounds superior to the Kiseki, Theirs plenty of good reviews on the web on the Art-9.

[speedracer]

Thanks for that Paul, I had seen it but it is a little bit of a stretch if I am honest, although I could be tempted if it was a good match.

[Patrick Dixon]

I have two 774s and use Deccas with both of them. One is an older one (with the different style arm base) and the other has all the paddles etc. The paddles are fairly easy to make or you can splash out £35 and buy a reproduction set from xaudio.

I have considered the xaudio wands too: the geometry is a bit different to the standard wands I believe, and although they look interesting the 12" would be a bit of a pain to fit on any of my existing decks, so I haven't tried one yet. If you fit Deccas to a 774 you will definitely need a heavier CW.

I had a AT33PTG (original one) and it was great for the money, but a bit thin sounding. Haven't heard anything else that matches the dynamics of a Decca but appreciate that not everyone likes the same things.