Cartridge and phono amp choice

[admin_exported]

Hi Guys,

Got a mint condition Linn Axis for £113 off a well known auction site which I picked up this morning. I put an old cartridge I had on it for a quick test and I am very very happy man! It sounds excellent. Now I need a decent cartridge to do the deck justice! I was thinking along the lines of a denon DL160?

The rest of my setup consists of, Naim Nait 5i and B&W CM2's. I am currently using the pre amp and phono stage section of a Onkyo 875 and just the power amp section of the naim. To that end I also want a decent phono amp to by pass the onkyo! I was thinking about the MF V-LPS as I already have a V-dac and like it a lot. Any one any exprience of the MF?

Cheers

Keith

 

[Anonymous]

I am now thinking 2M blue or G1042.

Any views on the above?

Thanks

Keith

 

[chebby]

keweller:
I am now thinking 2M blue or G1042.

Any views on the above?

Thanks

Keith

Here is a 'view' of my 2M Blue...

(You can see from the '2M' writing on the body that I upgraded from Red)

I also used to run a G1042 on my last Rega Planar 3 a few years back. Very 'dark', deep bass, and a big dramatic sound. TBH, as good as it was, I could find it a little tiring for a long listen.

The 2M Blue is a little less 'operatic' in scale but is more rhythmic and calls no attention to itself. Disappears nicely and you just end playing record after record...

The G1042 is very impressive. But in a 'hifi' sense. The perfect MM to use if demonstrating what vinyl can do or convincing someone to buy your turntable. The 2M Blue is more likely to have you dancing.

 

[Anonymous]

What chebby said about the 2M Blue sounded like exactly what i was after, so a bought one that arrived today.

All I can say is WOW! Love the sound, most musical I've heard! Listening to Pink Floyd 'The Wall' what an awesome record!

It was not all plain sailing though! The 2M range really does not fit on the Linn Basik Plus arm! I had to bend the plugs of my cartridge leads (arm end) at right angles to allow the cartridge to come back far enough. It only just comes back far enough for good alignment but it is well worth the hassle!

I also went for the Musical Fidelity V-LPS which seems to complement the rest of my system nicely! Still loads of running in to be done on both though!

Thanks for the recommendation chebby!

 

[the record spot]

I'd check out the Audio Technica AT440-MLa: £130 and a very open, detailed and clear sound delivery. Excellent bass and a great tracker. Highly musical cartridge. Can also detach the stylus from the cartridge body, so reducing the replacement cost further down the line.

 

[Anonymous]

It was on my list but it was very quickly removed as a lot of people described it as bright and my setup is on the edge, I think the AT would have been to much. My Dad has an AT 120 and it is very detailed but he has a very warm sounding amp.