Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Tips For Choosing The Right Turntable Cartridges

By Scott Cooper


Ever since in the history, music was already being loved by many people. The most common recordings that are listened to before was on the vinyl records. These are similar to shellac records which are being used earlier. Until now, the vinyl has still remained popular that is available in both DJ community and high fidelity audiophile community.

One very important part that need to be considered in a process of listening to music is building the stereo system from speakers, amplifier, turntable, and component. These may also include some small accessories including wire and stylus. To choose for turntable cartridges would be very important because these small components are required for holding the stylus. And thus, see to it that you can purchase one with the best quality.

Determine the budget. Phono cartridges are types of stereo systems but are much larger when it comes to their sizes. Make sure that when you allocate the budget, the entire system must be considered. Audiophile cartridges may have expensive prices, especially those that are of high end models. One good suggestion for proper budgeting is to allocate 10 percent of the total expenditures to a cartridge.

Selecting the appropriate cartridge for a tonearm mount. There are four classifications or categories of a tonearm. These would include the P, integrated, standard, and convertible mounts. See to it that the cartridge you have chosen will be suited to the mount type.

Standard or half inch mounts are the most commonly used types. These are large and flat headshells wherein cartridges sit under them. While the P mounts are low end types of turntables. Convertible mounts are not that very common compared to the others. And lastly, the integrated mounts are making use of propriety cartridges which cannot be swapped with other models. These are used for DJ turntables.

Moving magnets and moving coils are the two main and most common cartridge types. Magnetic types are now very common in modern cartridges. The devices are composed of magnets and of small metal coils and these are moving with relation to each other for producing electrical signal. The moving magnet is the commonly used type and is allowed to move while fixing coil. While most of the audio enthusiasts prefer the moving coil.

Compare the shapes of stylus of different cartridge types. A stylus is a needle that has the purpose of touching the vinyl record. Styluses nowadays are often made from diamonds and they are available in different sizes and shapes and are often expensive. However, there may also be some cheaper types made in spherical shapes, offering low quality of sounds.

The spherical shapes may still be useful for scratching and for back cuing DJ turntables. Another type are elliptical styluses that can offer greater areas for contact, and for this reason, there will be lesser amount for tracking force required in order to retrieve recorded information. Thus, resulting to lesser record wear and to high fidelity.

Elliptical styluses may also be available for the audiophile DJs. However, scratching may not be recommended. Examples of these styluses are micro lines, linear contacts, and biradials.




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