kiesel@ncrcae.UUCP (Larry Kieselhorst) (09/26/84)
I would like to see some opinions/discussion from any interested audiophiles on the subject of moving coil vs moving magnet cartridges. I'm new to this net, so I'm unaware if this has been discussed previously.
greg@olivej.UUCP (Greg Paley) (09/28/84)
I'm a recent convert to moving coil. There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to both. Moving magnets are definitely still competitive, when at their best (such as the Grace and Grado Signature models). They have the advantages of requiring no step-up transformer. Those with a "classic" elliptical stylus are also immensely easier to set up, since a line-contact stylus is far more intolerant of slight deviations in azimuth, overhang, and VTA. Note, though, that some moving magnets also have line-contact type stylus designs (such as the Grace Ruby) which make them as much of a pain in the ass to set up as a moving coil. The real controversy is over the actual sound and deciding just what is musical "truth". Few of us ever get to directly compare a master tape with an LP, which would allow some means of knowing which cartridges were more accurate. Despite similar distortion specifications and frequency response graphs, moving coil cartridges definitely sound "different" in the upper midrange and treble than moving magnets. Certainly, each make and model of either type sounds different from the others, but there are characteristics common to most models I've heard of either category. Moving coils produce a sound which is more "live" in the upper octaves. This enhances reproduction of detail and clarifies presentation of ambience. I find that when reproducing operatic voices, the moving coils seem to be able to resolve more of the overtone structure and thereby reproduce more realistically the sounds I've heard from particular singers in an opera house. Proponents of the moving magnet design (such as Joe Grado) claim that this extra "liveness" in the top end is actually a distortion and an exaggeration of what one would hear live. I don't hear it that way myself, since, as I've said, I find that what I hear with a moving coil actually corresponds more precisely to the sound I've heard live in concert halls and opera houses. I also find the moving coils tend to be cleaner and "faster" in reproducing transients such as pizzicato strings and percussive attacks. On a recording I have of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, my Audioquest 404 (a high output moving coil, incidentally, which needs no step-up device) lets me hear the actual initial strike of the cymbals in the last movement as well as the ensuing "sizzle" of the instruments, whereas my Grace F9 Ruby only reproduced the later audibly. One important point, I would think, is that my Vandersteen 2C's have no trouble with this moving coil "sound" whereas other speakers might well have trouble with it, reproducing it as edge or stridency. Ultimately, I think that cartridge sound, like speakers, is something you have to listen to for yourself and decide on. - Greg Paley