MM / MC with C220 preamp

[Jerome W]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to change my TT.
My old LP12 sounds to me better than the MDA 1000 ( which I recognize to be excellent ) ! So I' m a serious vinyl guy....
I will audition the Project Xtension, the Clearaudio Champion level II, and of course the LP12 SE.
I currently use a Goldring 1042 MM with my 220.
I think this cartridge will be underqualified for these TT.
For the Project or the Clearaudio, which MM cartridge would you recommend ? Do some of use "high level " MC cartridge with the 220 ?
Do you know what is the minimal output level for a MC to be used with the phono preamp of the 220 ?

With the LP12 SE, it will be very different : I would use the Eurika inboard phono preamp and could use an Akiva MC cartridge. But the price is about 3 times the one of the Pro-ject or the Clearaudio : 14600 euros for LP12 / KEEL / EKOS SE / AKIVA / RADIKAL / URIKA.

Any thoughts will be highly appreciated !
Many thanks in advance
Best wishes
Jérôme

[gregswaim]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Hi guys,

I'm planning to change my TT.
My old LP12 sounds to me better than the MDA 1000 ( which I recognize to be excellent ) ! So I' m a serious vinyl guy....
I will audition the Project Xtension, the Clearaudio Champion level II, and of course the LP12 SE.
I currently use a Goldring 1042 MM with my 220.
I think this cartridge will be underqualified for these TT.
For the Project or the Clearaudio, which MM cartridge would you recommend ? Do some of use "high level " MC cartridge with the 220 ?
Do you know what is the minimal output level for a MC to be used with the phono preamp of the 220 ?

With the LP12 SE, it will be very different : I would use the Eurika inboard phono preamp and could use an Akiva MC cartridge. But the price is about 3 times the one of the Pro-ject or the Clearaudio : 14600 euros for LP12 / KEEL / EKOS SE / AKIVA / RADIKAL / URIKA.

Any thoughts will be highly appreciated !
Many thanks in advance
Best wishes
Jérôme

Might as well go for a vinyl reference setup and get the LP12 SE with Ekos SE,Akiva,Radikal, Urika, & Keel. If you're mainly a vinyl guy, then this should keep you very happy for a long time.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by gregswaim

Might as well go for a vinyl reference setup and get the LP12 SE with Ekos SE,Akiva,Radikal, Urika, & Keel. If you're mainly a vinyl guy, then this should keep you very happy for a long time.

Hi,

Yes, I know the LP12SE is maybe the best TT I ever heard.
Not many TT's, no matter the price, can match that sound.
The only point is : 15000 euros vs about 5000 euros for the Clearaudio.
The difference between the two could not be as big as a 10000 euros check ! By these times, this is serious money.
An other main advantage would be a more peaceful relation with my wife !
My best friend has a LP12 SE with Lingo and Linto ( not the last Radikal and Urika ). It is truly amazing. I cannot even imagine what could be the performance with these new PS and Phono stage....

[gregswaim]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Hi,

Yes, I know the LP12SE is maybe the best TT I ever heard.
Not many TT's, no matter the price, can match that sound.
The only point is : 15000 euros vs about 5000 euros for the Clearaudio.
The difference between the two could not be as big as a 10000 euros check ! By these times, this is serious money.
An other main advantage would be a more peaceful relation with my wife !
My best friend has a LP12 SE with Lingo and Linto ( not the last Radikal and Urika ). It is truly amazing. I cannot even imagine what could be the performance with these new PS and Phono stage....

Check out: Linn,Naim Audio(SS)/Audio Research(tubes) for phono stages-it's the SS vs tubes thing and is a matter of preference. For pickups: check out some of the upper level ones from Lyra. At this price point it becomes a matter of taste. Keep in mind that the Linn Akiva is a very low output MC( probabaly among the lowest currently being made) so you'll really have to crank the volume to get a reasonable volume. The new Linto is impressive and if it were me I'd go with this as a phono stage over anything from Naim.
Have fun shopping.

[Alberto]

Originally Posted by C220MC275

Do some of use "high level " MC cartridge with the 220 ?
Do you know what is the minimal output level for a MC to be used with the phono preamp of the 220 ?

Hi Jerome,

I don't know what the minimum level output for an MC would be, but I would definitely try to stay above 1mV - you don't want to use up too much gain or you'll pick up a lot of noise in the process.

I haven't tried an MC with the C220. There's something about most MCs (a bit of an edge, discontinuity ... can't really describe it well, and it has been a while) that I don't like.

Fortunately, I found an MM that I like a lot - I don't feel I am missing much, if anything. It's the Clearaudio Maestro. It's the most expensive MM I know of, but worth every penny IMO. Fremer liked it a lot as well.

If you are keeping the C220, you should consider a high-output MC. But, frankly, if you are going to get a serious 'table, you should consider a phono stage or, perhaps, upgrading to the C2300.

I hope this helps.

Alberto

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by Alberto

Hi Jerome,

I don't know what the minimum level output for an MC would be, but I would definitely try to stay above 1mV - you don't want to use up too much gain or you'll pick up a lot of noise in the process.

I haven't tried an MC with the C220. There's something about most MCs (a bit of an edge, discontinuity ... can't really describe it well, and it has been a while) that I don't like.

Fortunately, I found an MM that I like a lot - I don't feel I am missing much, if anything. It's the Clearaudio Maestro. It's the most expensive MM I know of, but worth every penny IMO. Fremer liked it a lot as well.

If you are keeping the C220, you should consider a high-output MC. But, frankly, if you are going to get a serious 'table, you should consider a phono stage or, perhaps, upgrading to the C2300.

I hope this helps.

Alberto

Hi Alberto,

Thank you very much for your remarks.
The MM Maestro could be a perfect match to the Clearaudio Champion level II, and I would keep the 220.
I listened to the 2300 and found it "colder" and less musical for CD's than our beloved 220. But I never heard the phono stage of the 2300, which is supposed to be very good, especially because of the adjustable impedance....
Thanks again !
Jérôme

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by gregswaim

Check out: Linn,Naim Audio(SS)/Audio Research(tubes) for phono stages-it's the SS vs tubes thing and is a matter of preference. For pickups: check out some of the upper level ones from Lyra. At this price point it becomes a matter of taste. Keep in mind that the Linn Akiva is a very low output MC( probabaly among the lowest currently being made) so you'll really have to crank the volume to get a reasonable volume. The new Linto is impressive and if it were me I'd go with this as a phono stage over anything from Naim.
Have fun shopping.

Hi again,
Thanks for your remarks,
Yes, if I use the Akiva, it will be with the new inboard Linn phono stage, Urika.

[EasyRiderNYC]

Pick up a step up. I've been thinking about getting one of these when the dust settles.

http://www.hifigear.co.uk/site/scrip...roduct_id=5380

http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/mc1.html

Please let me know what you do.

[markc2]

my ear 834p plays quite nicely with my c220 for moving coils. plus you get to roll three more tubes.

Mark

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by markc2

my ear 834p plays quite nicely with my c220 for moving coils. plus you get to roll three more tubes.

Mark

Hi Marc,

Don't know that one. I will have to make a search on it.
I know Ear makes great products.
Thanks
Jérôme