Well, I finally got myself a decent turntable (Technics SL1200 MK2),
but my records all sound pretty crappy. Could it be the cartridge ?

It's a Shure M44G. I've set it up with a pressure gauge to the
recommended 1.5g and aligned it the best I can, but it's pretty
lacking for sound quality.

The main problem is high-end sybalence and distortion...hit-hats and
vocal sss's sound really awful.

Can someone recommend a good cartridge for this table ? I'm bummed.

Yeah, it's a crappy cartridge. If you are partial to Shures, buy a Shure
97E, for under a hundred bucks. It's a decent cartridge. Or better yet,
buy an Audio Technica 440 which is better at $100.

Then you'll have a "fair" vinyl system. If you really get into vinyl,
you'll probably eventually want to further upgrade both turntable and
cartridge.

"Russ Stedman" wrote in message
...
Well, I finally got myself a decent turntable (Technics SL1200 MK2),
but my records all sound pretty crappy. Could it be the cartridge ?

It's a Shure M44G. I've set it up with a pressure gauge to the
recommended 1.5g and aligned it the best I can, but it's pretty
lacking for sound quality.

The main problem is high-end sybalence and distortion...hit-hats and
vocal sss's sound really awful.

Can someone recommend a good cartridge for this table ? I'm bummed.

Russ Stedman wrote:

Well, I finally got myself a decent turntable (Technics SL1200 MK2),
but my records all sound pretty crappy. Could it be the cartridge ?

It's a Shure M44G. I've set it up with a pressure gauge to the
recommended 1.5g and aligned it the best I can, but it's pretty
lacking for sound quality.

The main problem is high-end sybalence and distortion...hit-hats and
vocal sss's sound really awful.

Can someone recommend a good cartridge for this table ? I'm bummed.
================================================== ===

If your records are in decent condition, you BET it could be the cartridge.

The Shure M44G was a low/mid-fi cartridge even when it was brand new,
over 30 years ago. It was never a champion at tracking the groove and
in most systems, due to its rather high coil inductance, had a peaked
mid-hi response followed by a high frequency rolloff because the
inductance wasn't properly matched with most the capacitance of most
output wiring and preamp inputs. Then, some people would graft in an
aftermarket magic-wire interconnect to replace the one that came with
the turntable; if it had a higher cable capacitance, as most did, the
situation only got worse (Yes...a "better" wire, causing poorer sound.
They forgot the cardinal rule: get it linear first; then tweak, but
don't lose the linearity in doing so).

Anyway, the result of all the above: the worst of all worlds,
mistracking and a nonlinear response making that mistracking more
audible; and if yours is a used cartridge with an original stylus, the
elastomer damping in the stylus assembly is probably shot, too,
degrading both tracking and damping.

A REAL warning: some aftermarket styli have an elastomer suspension that
loses its elasticity with age, hardening into a cement-like material.
No need to tell you what those will do to your precious vinyl in just
one play.

If you want a decent cartridge at a low price for your SL-1200 Mk2, look
into the Grado line. The Grado Black is about $40, the Grado Green is
about $60. They sound good, track well enough, won't kill your records,
and you have to admit they are affordable. Their only weakness is that
they are sensitive to radiated hum, which is NOT a problem in the
Technics SL-1200 Mk II.

Unless, of course, you're into scratching and other such
obscenities...but this is a high-end group, after all.

-GP

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. The M44G is out ! On to better things.