MM or MC ?

[rollo]

   Which do you prefer and why ?

[Carlman]

MC, because it sounds better.
No really, (to me) MC just sounds more like real music that's alive and breathes and MM sounds more like hifi... My friend Allen turned me on to high-output MC and the 2 I've tried (an old Adcom and new Dynavector 10x5) have faired much better than the half dozen or so MM's I've compared them to.  I specifically remember comparing 2 Goldring cart's and an Ortofon... not for me.
-C

[Rocket]

Hi,

Just bought a benz micro mc20e2 hi output mc cartridge and it sounds pretty good.  About the same sound quality as my denon dl103 that I was using.  Most importantly I don't have to listen to any hum in my system.

I don't know a lot about cartridges but I do know that a good quality phonostage makes a difference as well.

Good luck.

Regards

Rod

[allenzachary]

I've yet to hear any MM cartridge that sounds as good any MC cartridge. 

I've had direct experience with MC's by Adcom, Audioquest (both defunct in terms of cartridges), Denon, Sumiko, and Ortofon, among others. 

I've heard and used MMs from just about everybody, Audio Technica/Signet, Micro Acoustics, Grado, Sumiko, Shure, Pickering/Stanton, Ortofon, Micro Seiki and many more.

MCs have always proven better.

[bobrex]

My first MC was an Ortofon MC20 with an Ortofon head amp back in the late '70s.  Since then I've only strayed a couple of times - with Grado Signatures.  Prior to the MC20 I had used a Shure V15III, a Stanton 6181EEE, a top of the line Pickering, an ADC, and an Audio Technica (AT-15??, the early Shibata cart.)  I also sold Signets, B&Os, Grados, the Grace F9E, and I forget what else.  On the MC side I had the privelege of selling and hence hearing most of the top MCs of the '80s (Denons, Argent, GAS, Koetsu, Fidelity Research, Talisman, Supex,...)

What sold me was playing the War of the Worlds lp (Jeff Wayne).  When the Martians landed and the capsule opened, the opening sound (made with cymbals) sounded like metal for the first time.  Nothing else that I had heard to that point of time resolved the sound as well.