Can anyone identify what MC cartridge this is? I feel I have seen it before but can't recall what it might be.
All suggestions welcome!
Trade: Pure Sound
Location: South West England
Posts: 958
I'm Guy.
Mystery Cartridge
Can anyone identify what MC cartridge this is? I feel I have seen it before but can't recall what it might be.
All suggestions welcome!
Last edited by pure sound; 18-09-2009 at 14:02.
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,012
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
Hi Guy,
Possibly an old Supex of some description or an early Ortofon?
Why the interest - whose is it?
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Trade: Pure Sound
Location: South West England
Posts: 958
I'm Guy.
There was a chap speculatively auctioning an L07D on ebay last week. In the ad he mentioned a dead AudioNote cartridge so I pm'd him & asked him which one it was. He didn't know & sent these pics. Its not an AudioNote or any Ortofon I can recall seeing. Its the right sort of shape for a Supex and the mounting lugs look Koetsuish but they don't usually have that plastic or crystal looking plate fitted on top.
I think it probably is at least 15-20 years old & presumably is Japanese. I'm now wondering whether its one of the non strange looking Goldbug cartridges ie the Medusa or similar.
EDIT. No not the Medusa
Last edited by pure sound; 18-09-2009 at 14:22.
Senior Member
Location: A Strangely Isolated Place in Suffolk with Far Away Trains Passing By...
Posts: 14,535
I'm David.
Looks to me like a prototype of the Mission 773, due to the steep cantilever angle..
I'll try to scan a review for you to look at and see if it is similar..
P.S. I wish Ian Bolt (the Goldbug distributer) hadn't taken back Jimmy Hughes' review Mr Brier, as after a thousand or so hours of thrashing, it sounded amazing once set right and worked its magic on my Linn/"Glasgow Black Ittok."
Goldbugs were before their time IMO and would sound great on today's decks...
Last edited by DSJR; 18-09-2009 at 16:58.
Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
Crying out at the top of my voice; Tell me now if you can hear me
Trade: Pure Sound
Location: South West England
Posts: 958
I'm Guy.
I also had a Mr Brier. I thought it was good but a little lean. Having said that, I didn't have a decent transformer to try with it at that time.
Senior Member
Location: A Strangely Isolated Place in Suffolk with Far Away Trains Passing By...
Posts: 14,535
I'm David.
Mr Brier with a 1980's fruitbox and smoother-than-standard Ittok (or Jimmy's Zeta) and you have a very good combination IMO. The arm had to be set up *just so* as a slight mis-alignment in height or playing weight could upset it. I remember getting it spot on and when I did, it was superb.
Interestingly, Jimmy went on to a Mrs Brier (better IIRC) and didn't get on with it so well as I recall. I think his main cartridges at the time were Kiseki (Purpleheart Saphire and a Lapis Lazuli for a while) and his re-tuned Koetsu.
Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
Crying out at the top of my voice; Tell me now if you can hear me
Trade: Radlett Audio
Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex
Posts: 7,090
I'm Dave.
It's on the tip of my tongue. It's not a Goldbug or Mr Brier, they were big ol' lumps of wood. No, I think this might be a Kiseki but then again I'm not 100%. You will note that the mounting lugs etc are some sort of ceramic material.
See what you can find about Kiseki. I'll see what I have in the vaults.
Banned
Location: Lancaster(-ish), UK
Posts: 16,937
I'm ChrisB.
The Goldbugs were lumps of wood except for the Medusa.
The front end of it doesn't look like like a Kiseki to me.
I thought those lugs & the top plate were glass (!!!!) or some sort of plastic.
Also, the cantilever seems pretty ....well.......chunky. Almost like a budget cartridge. Or is it just a trick of the lens?
Senior Member
Location: A Strangely Isolated Place in Suffolk with Far Away Trains Passing By...
Posts: 14,535
I'm David.
A B&W photo at the wrong angle, but this is what I thought... The long edges were bevelled, the cantilever at quite a steep angle..
I still think the op one is a prototype on a "mounting plate."
Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
Crying out at the top of my voice; Tell me now if you can hear me
Trade: Radlett Audio
Location: Near Saffron Walden, Essex
Posts: 7,090
I'm Dave.
Don't think so. I actually had one of those with the ceramic base to try but I can't quite work out what it was after all these years and it was black. Obviously it was nothing sooper doop or else I would have remembered. Was it an Elite ?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
