Cartridges !

I've still got one and agree the OC30 is a flippin' good cartridge by any measure.

I quite like AT cartridges on the whole, but I think that's because they pair well with my usual flavour of gear (turntable, tonearm, phono stage). I am very surprised at the OC9xml being described as thin - it's capable of rearranging furniture in my system. Not that rearranging furniture is the only good measure of a cartridge.
The AT moving magnets have been good here too, when tried, and the old AT95E was a great test of a turntable. I used to use one religiously when setting up a new or rebuilt 'table.

I had thought the thin/etched descriptor of AT cartridges is largely legacy these days, and hugely dependent upon cartridge loading and having a tonearm of the right effective mass.

Steph

Glad to read your OC30 comment.

I seem to remember paying north of £500 for mine - around £535 I seem to remember.

So not cheap back in the early 90s. Lusted for an ART-1 but could never get myself to spend the money.

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas you lot.

I now have 220pf loading plugs connected and although it has rolled off some of the high frequencies, the sound is still way superior to the Audio Technica. If I had the funds to throw away on something I think I would have a Dynavector DV10X5 II or similar. I remember my old Ultimo 10X at 65 quid back in '79. Fabulous sound. Full and bold. Loved it but maybe not at today's prices.

According to Google AI, an item that cost £65 in 1979 would today cost around £426.88. If only...

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Originally Posted by Enossification

According to Google AI, an item that cost £65 in 1979 would today cost around £426.88. If only...

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I paid £80 for a Nagaoka MP30 back in 1993.

Now they cost around £650. According to the BOE inflation calculator they should be around £180.

You can't simply apply an inflation calculator. High quality pickup cartridges are a niche product now, despite the resurgence in vinyl playback.

I love all cartridge types and for different reasons, I have a growing collection of vintage 70's MI and MM cartridges. I also love my MC's, I have SPU's. and several higher end Ortofons. I've ran AT's before bust found them too strident, I do confess that I did not try them with variable loading so my experience could have been different.

'High end' carts are a total rip off, with audiophools literally straining to hear the improvement in SQ in a cart costing 10X their last, and interpreting any difference in SQ as an improvement, when it's just different and possibly worse. All I use now is the AT-95 series, the EN - because the much vaunted microline is too thin for my ears, and the shibata, both are lush, and don't cost the price of a small moped, just imagine the difference in production costs!!! And of course, it's not heart attack time if you accidentally snap one too.

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Originally Posted by Mikeandvan

'High end' carts are a total rip off, with audiophools literally straining to hear the improvement in SQ in a cart costing 10X their last, and interpreting any difference in SQ as an improvement, when it's just different and possibly worse. All I use now is the AT-95 series, the EN - because the much vaunted microline is too thin for my ears, and the shibata, both are lush, and don't cost the price of a small moped.

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In your opinion.