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Best cheap cart? Suggestion below 200$?


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Vinyl Engine will have the info that you need to match the cart. I tried a Denon DL160 on a P9 and i sounded aweful until I added the extra weight that came with the cart. Then it sounded good.

The Denon's are really hard to beat at their price point. The 103 is really good but needs a heavy arm.

Rega makes a cart that is designed for their arms.

I tried the AT440 and sold it.

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What arm or tt are you going to use it on? Could help with the suggestions.

Josh


Rega p9, but i don't believe in expensive cart with two youngsters at home! :)

A Rega P9 is the turntable. Is the tonearm an RB1000? It's the arm and cartridge synergy that matters most, and that mostly has to do with the tonearm's mass and the springiness (called compliance) of the cartridge's cantiliver/stylus. Think of it like springs on a car. Heavy car requires stiffer springs than a light car for a smooooooth ride. As has been stated, The Vinyl Engine has all the charts and calculators to assure a (theoretically ;^) perfect match.

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really difficult at that price point... (p5 here). I would probably go with the denon for the time being until you can spend more.do you have a pre amp or are you going to need to use a high output unit?

I believe Shu meant to ask if you have a step-up transformer on your phono stage. Without one, you'll need a high output cart which usually means a moving magnet, ruling out the Denon 103.

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One thing on the Regas. The VTA is adjusted by adding a shim. The Denon DL160 is a tall cart, not sure about the 110. The 103 is relatively short and should not need the spacer, if you have MC ability. You will need to add a weight to make it work with the Rega arms, but it is a great cart. Zu takes these and puts them in a much heavier aluminum housing and makes all sorts of claims as to what teh housing does. But basically, the housing is heavy and activates the suspension of the Denon 103 (it is a "low compliance" cart).

Denon's are strange as you can find suppliers that sell them cheap that normally do not sell stereo gear on the internet.

Another real bargain, if you can find them, is the old AT 14sa and 15sa (or was it 20 sa?). About $100 or so on ebay and then another $100 for a new stylus. Great carts on the cheap. I have both.

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One thing on the Regas. The VTA is adjusted by adding a shim. The Denon DL160 is a tall cart, not sure about the 110. The 103 is relatively short and should not need the spacer, if you have MC ability. You will need to add a weight to make it work with the Rega arms, but it is a great cart. Zu takes these and puts them in a much heavier aluminum housing and makes all sorts of claims as to what teh housing does. But basically, the housing is heavy and activates the suspension of the Denon 103 (it is a "low compliance" cart).

Denon's are strange as you can find suppliers that sell them cheap that normally do not sell stereo gear on the internet.

Another real bargain, if you can find them, is the old AT 14sa and 15sa (or was it 20 sa?). About $100 or so on ebay and then another $100 for a new stylus. Great carts on the cheap. I have both.

I have heard the same thing, weight is an issue. I currently am not using any additional weight on my p5 /103r/grovetracker... am I missing something?

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It is the mass of the tonearm which I guess is a function of weight. ( no I didnt major in physics ). So its not so much the weight because you still have it tracking at the same "weight" but the mass of the arm that triggers the suspension.

In the past I had a RB 300 arm that just adding a heavier counter weight made the Denon 103 sing. The "heavy weight" was and maybe still is a popular mod on the old rega arms. I am sure some lead tape which can be purchased at any golf or tennis shop ( its used to customize rackets and clubs) would work fine. I would just try adding some lead tape to the counter weight and see if it changes the "performance" of the Denon.

If the OP does not have the phono stage that will handle the low output of the Denon I would suggest looking at the Grado Prestige line.

Josh

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Schu,

I don't know. I put my DL160 on my Rega an dit did not sound good at all. Kind of thin. I added the weight that came with it and it sounded much better.

A friend uses a DL103 on a Jelco 750 arm and he loves it, but that is a really heavy arm.

OK, I dug up soem old calcs. Even the Jelco arm (about the same as the Sumiko Premiere) is not heavy enough. You want a resonate frequency of about 8 to 12 hz. This is all general and with errors (like the carts being measured at 100 hz instead of 10 hz).

Assuming that all the Rega arms are about 11.5 grams, it says that at least 20 grams should be added. The Dl103 has a complaince of 5 where most of the others are about 10. Get some two sided tape and put a nickel on the top of the headshell. Weigh it first, I don't know how much a nickel weighs, and rebalance your arm and try it.

Here is a good chart. Put in your arm mass and look up the mass of the cart and screws on the top and compliance on the side, you want to be in the green zone.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_resonance_evaluator.php?eff_mass=11.5&submit=Submit

I tried looking up the Rega Exact cart, but they do not have the compliance or mass listed. That would have given what Rega considers ideal.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_database.php?m=Rega&t=any&mod=&sort=2&Search=Search&sty=&ovlo=&ovhi=&can=&dclo=&dchi=&stid=&masslo=&masshi=&notes=&prlo=&prhi=

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Schu,

I don't know. I put my DL160 on my Rega an dit did not sound good at all. Kind of thin. I added the weight that came with it and it sounded much better.

A friend uses a DL103 on a Jelco 750 arm and he loves it, but that is a really heavy arm.

OK, I dug up soem old calcs. Even the Jelco arm (about the same as the Sumiko Premiere) is not heavy enough. You want a resonate frequency of about 8 to 12 hz. This is all general and with errors (like the carts being measured at 100 hz instead of 10 hz).

Assuming that all the Rega arms are about 11.5 grams, it says that at least 20 grams should be added. The Dl103 has a complaince of 5 where most of the others are about 10. Get some two sided tape and put a nickel on the top of the headshell. Weigh it first, I don't know how much a nickel weighs, and rebalance your arm and try it.

Here is a good chart. Put in your arm mass and look up the mass of the cart and screws on the top and compliance on the side, you want to be in the green zone.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_resonance_evaluator.php?eff_mass=11.5&submit=Submit

I tried looking up the Rega Exact cart, but they do not have the compliance or mass listed. That would have given what Rega considers ideal.

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_database.php?m=Rega&t=any&mod=&sort=2&Search=Search&sty=&ovlo=&ovhi=&can=&dclo=&dchi=&stid=&masslo=&masshi=&notes=&prlo=&prhi=

thanks... I appreciate it. what I dont get then is that the arm should be balance... so your saying to add addition weight AFTER the arm is balanced?

I am still learning, but the 130r I have sound good... not just every LP sounds good. I am wondering if this lite weight might be the issue.

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really difficult at that price point... (p5 here). I would probably go with the denon for the time being until you can spend more.do you have a pre amp or are you going to need to use a high output unit?

I have the rb1000 and croft preamp and amp with the belle very sweet sound

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really difficult at that price point... (p5 here). I would probably go with the denon for the time being until you can spend more.do you have a pre amp or are you going to need to use a high output unit?

I have the rb1000 and croft preamp and amp with the belle very sweet sound

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