turntable yamaha px-3 cartridge type advice

[dequincey]

hi, keeping my love for the vintage analog systems (70-ies and 80-ies) i recently bought this yamaha px-3 in very good condition,

i am fascinated by the tracking technology of this turntable, i owned a sony pl77 biotracker, but the yamaha is superior, see here

https://youtu.be/MNIEjq_aGak

seller sold it without headshell or cartridge

situation:

i presently have a beogram 1202 with propietary stylus sp-12 elliptical
i have never tried MC cartridges
my amplifier is a sansui au555a it does not have an MC input, and the MM inputs are rated 2mV
unless there is a potent reason for it i would not add an MC preamp for low output cartridges

[dequincey]

obviously there are budget constrains, max 400/500€ for the cartridge

the turntable can handle a headshell of 8gr and a cartridge between 5 and 11 grams

i bought a headshell orsonic that weighs 9gr

so cartridge can weigh between 4 and 10 grams

should i go MM ? may i try MC high output ?
what about the interesting Audio technica double magnet ?
is a shibata shape preferred over an elliptical ? if so how much important is this ?
other ideas ?

thank you

[Beobloke]

Beautiful turntable! I had one and sold it a year or so back, which I still regret.

Cartridge wise, I personally wouldn’t bother with a high output MC - I’ve yet to hear one that convincingly combines the best of MM and MC. You can’t go wrong with any of the Ortofon 2M, Goldring 1000 or Nagaoka MP series and all should work nicely in the PX-3.

[dequincey]

thank you so much for your kind response Adam,

i have taken a look to your recommendations, sound good love the goldring

[dequincey]

i have three cartridges in this last fight and i wonder if someone can shed some light,

one is a dual moving magnet, to me seems that it copies the cutting process very well, and it is a shibata shape, and it is a replaceable stylus, here you are the auditechnica




specs:
Type VM Type
Mounting 1/2” centres
Frequency Response 20 - 27,000Hz
Channel Separation 30dB (1kHz)
Output Channel Balance 1.0dB (1kHz)
Output Voltage 4.0mV (1kHz, 5cm/sec.)
Vertical Tracking Angle 23˚
Vertical Tracking Force Range 1.8 – 2.2g (2.0g standard)
Stylus Shape Shibata
Stylus Size 0.26 x 2.7 mil
Stylus Construction Nude Square Shank
Cantilever Aluminium Tapered Pipe
Coil Impedance 2,700Ω (1kHz)
Static Compliance 40 x 10-6 cm/dyne
Dynamic Compliance 10 x 10-6 cm/dyne (100Hz)
Recommended Load Impedance 47,000Ω
Recommended Load Capacitance 100 – 200pF
Weight 8.0g
Dimensions 17.3 (H) x 17.0 (W) x 28.2 (L) mm
Replacement Stylus VMN50SH

then we have two MC cartridges, the sumiko blue



specs

High output moving coil phono cartridge

0.3mm by 0.7 mm elliptical diamond stylus

Cartridge Type MC

Frequency Response 15Hz-35KHz

Output Voltage/Channel 2.5mV

Channel Separation 32dB

Channel Balance 0.5dB

Compliance (x10-6 cm/dyne) 15

Stylus Size/Shape .3x.7/Elliptical

Load Impedance 47k Ohms

Tracking Force Range 1.6-2.0 grams

Recommended Force 1.8 grams

Cartridge Weight 6.3 grams


and the hana





specs,

Stylus Profile: Elliptical
Cantilever: Aluminum
Output Level @ 1kHz: 2.0mV
Output Balance @ 1kHz: Less Than 2dB
Vertical Tracking Force: 2 grams
Trackability: 70 um/2 grams
Separation @ 1kHz: 25 dB
Frequency Response: 15-25,000 Hz
Impedance @ 1 kHz: 130 Ohms
Suggested Load: 47 K Omms
Cartridge Weight: 5 Grams
Body Color: Moss Green


reading the specs the sumiko seems a bit superior, as frec range, channel separation and output level, both are elliptical

[dequincey]

ended up with a double magnet AT with shibata stylus at 200 euro price with an orsonic headshell
very nice in my opinion