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Roxbrough 
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Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
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 Topic: Advice on Cartridge
Posted: January 13 2015 at 13:38 |
I have a rega RP1 and it has the give away Ortofon cartridge in it. I'm ready to upgrade, so my question is, do I go for the Carbon or the Bias 2? Or would you recommend something else entirely?
Thank you in anticipation of your help.
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Catcher10
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Posted: January 13 2015 at 14:46 |
Hi Roxbrough Depends on what sound you prefer and budget, I have no experience with either and don't read much about them on audio forums, that's not to say they are bad or anything. In the price range of US$100 I would highly recommend a Nagaoka MP-110. A warm sounding cartridge, very analog sounding and also is the best tracking cartridge I have ever owned in that price range.
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Roxbrough
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Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 04:32 |
 Catcher10 wrote:
Hi RoxbroughDepends on what sound you prefer and budget, I have no experience with either and don't read much about them on audio forums, that's not to say they are bad or anything. In the price range of US$100 I would highly recommend a Nagaoka MP-110. A warm sounding cartridge, very analog sounding and also is the best tracking cartridge I have ever owned in that price range. |
That's useful, thank you. Would the sound be too polite with an MF A3 feeding MA RS8's?
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Catcher10
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Posted: January 14 2015 at 10:42 |
Roxbrough wrote:
Catcher10 wrote:
Hi RoxbroughDepends on what sound you prefer and budget, I have no experience with either and don't read much about them on audio forums, that's not to say they are bad or anything. In the price range of US$100 I would highly recommend a Nagaoka MP-110. A warm sounding cartridge, very analog sounding and also is the best tracking cartridge I have ever owned in that price range. |
That's useful, thank you. Would the sound be too polite with an MF A3 feeding MA RS8's? |
Not sure what you mean by polite......the MP110 is a warm cartridge, not bright at all and has a very good low end sound. The A3 and RS8s look like a good match, what I am not familiar with is the phono stage of the A3...how does that work with your Ortofon cart now? My only experience with an Ortofon was with a 2M Red, which I did not like.
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Roxbrough
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Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
Points: 100
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 06:10 |
The current sound is slightly thin. Would a cartridge of this price make sense given the modest price of the turntable?
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Argonaught
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Joined: June 04 2012
Location: Virginia
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 07:01 |
Roxbrough wrote:
The current sound is slightly thin.Would a cartridge of this price make sense given the modest price of the turntable? |
In the past I had cartridges that would sound too bright (if not tinny) with one receiver and perfectly balanced with the other one. You'd think that all MM cartridges would be universally compatible impedance-wise with all MM phono stages, but this is apparently not the case. What do you feed your signal into?
It could be a smart thing to do if you try to read up on your existing cartridge; do people in general describe it as "thin"?
Another quick & cheap fix maybe cranking the bass up a little :)
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Catcher10
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 09:35 |
Roxbrough wrote:
The current sound is slightly thin.Would a cartridge of this price make sense given the modest price of the turntable? |
The RP1 should handle a cartridge of higher quality easily, the effective mass of the tonearm should be a good match with the Nagaoka. The MP110 will solve your thin sound, it is what I would call a beefy sound, thicker than Ortofon carts. Anything higher than a MP200 @ US$325 is probably too much for the RP1, you will not hear the benefits of a higher cartridge. Then at that point you might begin to think about TT upgrade, but that is more money.....Again, I am not into telling you to spend more because I have no clue what your budgets are or your desire for higher end sound, that is your decisions. Some people swear to the AT95 carts that run sub $100, but AT carts can be on the bright side....
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Roxbrough
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
Points: 100
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 12:55 |
Argonaught wrote:
Roxbrough wrote:
The current sound is slightly thin.Would a cartridge of this price make sense given the modest price of the turntable? |
In the past I had cartridges that would sound too bright (if not tinny) with one receiver and perfectly balanced with the other one. You'd think that all MM cartridges would be universally compatible impedance-wise with all MM phono stages, but this is apparently not the case. What do you feed your signal into?
It could be a smart thing to do if you try to read up on your existing cartridge; do people in general describe it as "thin"?
Another quick & cheap fix maybe cranking the bass up a little :)
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I feed the turntable into the amplifier rega RP1 to MF A3. I do not use tone controls, there are none on the amplifier. I don't know anyone else who uses the ortofon.
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Live Long and Prosper
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Roxbrough
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
Points: 100
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 13:00 |
Catcher10 wrote:
Roxbrough wrote:
The current sound is slightly thin.Would a cartridge of this price make sense given the modest price of the turntable? |
The RP1 should handle a cartridge of higher quality easily, the effective mass of the tonearm should be a good match with the Nagaoka. The MP110 will solve your thin sound, it is what I would call a beefy sound, thicker than Ortofon carts. Anything higher than a MP200 @ US$325 is probably too much for the RP1, you will not hear the benefits of a higher cartridge. Then at that point you might begin to think about TT upgrade, but that is more money.....Again, I am not into telling you to spend more because I have no clue what your budgets are or your desire for higher end sound, that is your decisions. Some people swear to the AT95 carts that run sub $100, but AT carts can be on the bright side.... |
I have never heard a turntable that sounds better than a rega. A cousin had a Sondeck and the rega was demonstratably superior, he was very upset when we played the two side by side. I have done the same test with a Pink Triangle and an Elite Rock and the rega beat the lot and the owners of the other turntables were forced to agree. The rega has the best dynamics, against dearer turntables it possesses the ability to rock. Thank you for the advice the Nagoaka sounds like the best option to me. if I do it, I'll be sure to post back on here.
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Catcher10
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 13:29 |
^ Nobody can tell you what sounds best, you have to hear it for yourself and perform A/B tests and go audition the gear you are interested in. Too many variables in the whole audio chain, nothing is ever apples to apples......Cables can make all the difference too, there is no standard or reference to judge against. Look forward to your impressions.
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Walton Street
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Joined: November 24 2014
Location: Canada
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 13:33 |
if I had the ears you guys have i'd have to eat dirt and leaves 3 meals a day
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"I know one thing: that I know nothing"
- SpongeBob Socrates
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Catcher10
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Joined: December 23 2009
Location: Emerald City
Status: Online
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Posted: January 15 2015 at 15:04 |
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^ Dude, I make a mean mudpie.......
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Roxbrough
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
Points: 100
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Posted: January 16 2015 at 03:09 |
Walton Street wrote:
if I had the ears you guys have i'd have to eat dirt and leaves 3 meals a day |
If you had my ears that would mean you had a total of four and would look rather strange. I wouldn't advise eating dirt, it would ruin the enamel on your teeth.
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Live Long and Prosper
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Roxbrough
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
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Posted: January 22 2015 at 09:09 |
I have been reading reviews of the Denon DL110 and it seems to have as many fans as the Nagoaka. I would be interested in your opinion. p.s. It takes me a while to decide to shell out near on £100!
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Live Long and Prosper
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Catcher10
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Posted: January 22 2015 at 09:37 |
The DL-110 is a moving coil cartridge, a high output version. Most moving coils are low output like 0.4-0.8mV, so you need a step up preamp or a phono preamp to boost the gain and handle the loading. This one though can be run into a MM input at 47Kohms. The Denon's output is listed at 1.6mV and normal MM carts are in the 4-5mV range, so you might find you are turning up the volume more with the Denon. Also the stylus is non user replaceable, so you have to send it to a re-tipper, not cheap. MM carts you can buy replacement stylus. But yes, it is highly regarded as a wonderful cartridge for the money, now recently that has changed as you could buy it for about US$100, it has almost doubled in price the past 6 months.
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Roxbrough
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
Points: 100
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Posted: January 23 2015 at 10:12 |
Catcher10 wrote:
The DL-110 is a moving coil cartridge, a high output version. Most moving coils are low output like 0.4-0.8mV, so you need a step up preamp or a phono preamp to boost the gain and handle the loading. This one though can be run into a MM input at 47Kohms. The Denon's output is listed at 1.6mV and normal MM carts are in the 4-5mV range, so you might find you are turning up the volume more with the Denon. Also the stylus is non user replaceable, so you have to send it to a re-tipper, not cheap. MM carts you can buy replacement stylus. But yes, it is highly regarded as a wonderful cartridge for the money, now recently that has changed as you could buy it for about US$100, it has almost doubled in price the past 6 months. |
Once again tip-top advice. thank you sir, you are a credit to the forum. I do think a more sensible avatar would make you look even more professional, but that is just a private opinion.
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Live Long and Prosper
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Catcher10
Forum Senior Member
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Joined: December 23 2009
Location: Emerald City
Status: Online
Points: 17845
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Posted: January 23 2015 at 11:04 |
Roxbrough wrote:
Catcher10 wrote:
The DL-110 is a moving coil cartridge, a high output version. Most moving coils are low output like 0.4-0.8mV, so you need a step up preamp or a phono preamp to boost the gain and handle the loading. This one though can be run into a MM input at 47Kohms. The Denon's output is listed at 1.6mV and normal MM carts are in the 4-5mV range, so you might find you are turning up the volume more with the Denon. Also the stylus is non user replaceable, so you have to send it to a re-tipper, not cheap. MM carts you can buy replacement stylus. But yes, it is highly regarded as a wonderful cartridge for the money, now recently that has changed as you could buy it for about US$100, it has almost doubled in price the past 6 months. |
Once again tip-top advice. thank you sir, you are a credit to the forum. I do think a more sensible avatar would make you look even more professional, but that is just a private opinion. |
Haha....prog is not sensible Cheers my friend!
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Roxbrough
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
Points: 100
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Posted: January 26 2015 at 11:16 |
[/QUOTE] Haha....prog is not sensible Cheers my friend! [/QUOTE]
What is your opinion of the AT100E cartridge, how does it compare to the Nagoaka, please?
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Live Long and Prosper
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Roxbrough
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Joined: December 02 2012
Location: Yorkshire
Status: Offline
Points: 100
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Posted: January 26 2015 at 11:19 |
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It represents a saving of 25%
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Live Long and Prosper
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Catcher10
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Joined: December 23 2009
Location: Emerald City
Status: Online
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Posted: January 26 2015 at 16:07 |
Roxbrough wrote:
It represents a saving of 25% |
Don't know, never had one of those. The house sound of AT is on the brighter side, Nagaoka has a beefier sound, thicker....
I use an AT moving coil right now and works good because my gear has that British designed sound in my amp and speakers, so it is on the warm side. The AT just livens things up a bit, but I can manipulate the sound since it is a MC and I have many loading options in my phono stage.
You originally stated your sound was thin...The Nagaoka will help that more than the AT will, either should give you a bump in quality sound.
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Advice on Cartridge
