So let's back up to the basics for a moment. Arms don't track, a stylus, suspended in the cartridge does. the arm supplies a platform on which a cartridge is mounted. That platform is faced with two conflicting requirements: infinite mass relative to the motion of the stylus in the groove, and zero friction relative to the spiral motion of the groove. The arm/ cartridge geometry must also provide minimal tracing error across the arc of the playing surface, and no 'slop' from the arm bearings, or resonances from the entire arm/mount/platter/bearing system, any of which, when triggered, cloud the detail available from the record.
Finally, the we arrive at the cartridge. The magic in cartridge design is the minimizing the impact of the tradeoffs inherent in the design decisions. Stylus shape - conical styli are very 'forgiving' of alignments and tracing errors, but leave a lot of higher frequency detail unrecovered. Shibata and microline designs, with their sharper edge profile and deeper groove penetration recover that detail, but are very sensitive to setup alignment and tracing error, often sounding harsh or 'glaring'. They work best in longer tonearms (e.g. >10") with inherently lower tracing error.
The cantilever in which the stylus is mounted is subject to any number of resonances setup by the combination of tip mass, material selection and construction (aluminum, boron, straight, tapered, etc.) and the cantilever suspension material. At the end of the cantilever is either a magnet, a coil, or an iron which when wiggled by the stylus tracking a record groove generates an electric current. The strength of that current is determined by the strength of the magnetic field generated by system. With most moving magnet and moving iron cartridges, that's on the order of a couple millivolts, with moving coils, it's much less. High output moving coil cartridges use higher powered magnets (adding mass) or more coils (adding inductance and resistance) or some of each. Inductance is probably the most misunderstood and least discussed physical parameter in phono cartridges, but in my experience, one of the most impactful on dynamics, focus, and the other 'ephemeral' characteristics.
In electromagnetism and electronics, inductance is the tendency of an electrical conductor to oppose a change in the electric current flowing through it. measured in Henrys or milliHenrys for cartridges. Here the math gets pretty complex, (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductance#Self-inductance_of_a_wire_loop ) so I'll simplify it this way: high inductance cartridges resist changes in current more than low inductance. They also have greater hysteresis. Hysteresis in this case is `defined as a dynamic lag between an input and an output which disappears if the input is varied more slowly. In other words complex details from the groove, even if tracked by the cartridge, are lost because of the delay in changes of output due to hysteresis in the magnetic signal generator. In a word or two, this results in smear or lack of focus. This is not high frequency response, that's a static measurement. This is the ability of the cartridge output to vary rapidly irrespective of frequency. Much harder to measure.
So, consider the Ortofon 2M Red - very forgiving stylus profile, relatively high inductance, and thus high output moving magnet cartridge for a very reasonable cost. A collection of well conceived and executed design, engineering, economic decisions and mitigations. Well done. Who doesn't appreciate what Ortofon has delivered for $100? But not the last word in resolution, dynamics, detail, focus, etc, etc.
So now let's consider the Hana SL and SH moving coils. also well-regarded, they should, and do, have a better tracing stylus, lower moving mass, lower inductance, and thus greater resolution, dynamics, detail, focus, etc, etc. The SH variant necessarily gives up some of that for higher output. How much - that depends on the system as a whole, including setup and all the other physical considerations I mentioned.
Finally, let me mention the two cartridge manufacturers known for their moving iron (MI) designs - Grado and Soundsmith. If you are tracking (pun intended) with what I've been saying, low mass generators and low inductance electrical designs combined with reasonable compliance, should yield an optimal combination of all the dynamic elements. If you read the reviews of the Grado Timbre Series or any Soundsmith cartridge, the case for the MI technology is well made. Combine that with the fact that Joe Grado invented, and holds patents on ,the moving coil cartridge, yet Grado doesn't make MC cartridges is telling.
The bottom line, as always, use your ears first. But when you are looking for specific performance elements, understanding the enabling physics sure helps shortlist those items most likely to deliver.
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