Comparing moving coil to moving magnet cartridges
After years of building an audiophile (a hi fi) system dedicated to digital reproduction (CD players and streaming digital files), I’ve…
After years of building an audiophile (a hi fi) system dedicated to digital reproduction (CD players and streaming digital files), I’ve decided to go back to analog sound reproduction. For some reason I just wasn’t able to assemble a good enough digital chain, despite spending a lot of money on CD players, digital transport systems, and digital-to-analog converters (DACs).
Eventually, after decades of struggling, I recalled pleasant memories from my childhood/early youth, when I spent a lot of time with my Thorens turntable. So, about seven years ago (in 2017), I made a 180 degrees turn. I ditched my digital sound equipment and switched wholesale to turntables, tonearms, cartridges, phono pre-amplifiers, step up transformers, etc.
Playing back vinyl records (LPs) is a widely diverse area. It involves many, many moving parts and demands a lot of attention from passionate music lovers. Today, I want to talk about my journey on the path of discovering one important element of the vinyl playback — turntable cartridges.
Moving magnet or moving coil?
When I was young, I’ve experimented with a number of turntable cartridges. All of those cartridges (Shure, Stanton, Audio-technica, Ortofon) were moving magnet cartridges. The reason was simple — price. Moving magnet cartridges tend to be much more affordable than moving coil ones.
On my return to vinyl (6 years ago), I decided to finally treat myself to a moving coil cartridge. I was prepared to spend quite a lot of money, knowing how expensive moving coil cartridges can be. But upon doing some research, I realized that the necessity of paying the high price for a moving coil cartridge may be a bit of an urban myth. A lot of audiophiles have praised Denon DL-103. That moving coil cartridge achieved legendary status, and after seeing it offered for mere $250.00, my decision was easily made.
I got the cartridge, then started shopping for a suitable turntable. I won’t bore you with the details, suffice it to say that I’ve got a very nice, high quality turntable and got my shiny new Denon DL-103 cartridge mounted on. And I was very pleased with the sound.
Comparing Denon DL-103 with Ortofon OM20 moving magnet cartridge
The dealer who sold me my nice turntable recommended I try a moving magnet cartridge Ortofon OM20. It was very affordable, so I gave it a go. To my surprise, it did not sound much less impressive than Denon DL-103. Hmmm. Looks like moving magnet cartridges are not that inferior compared to moving coil.
Then I read about Denon DL-103 limitations. Firstly, it has spherical stylus, which means it cannot reach deep into the record groove. Ortofon OM20 has elliptical stylus, which picks up more intricate musical details from the groove.
Secondly, Denon DL-103 has fairly chunky aluminum cantilever, which slows it down.
And thirdly, it has a cheap plastic body which cannot properly dampen the resonances.
Following those discoveries, I found out that there is a cottage industry that offers Denon DL-103 mods. They typically call it ‘retipping’, meaning the spherical stylus gets retipped with a more advanced diamond shape, the hunky cantilever gets replaced with a higher quality, more nimble one, and the plastic body gets replaced by a body made out of higher quality material.
Everyone claims that those mods propel the cartridge into a brand new, much more satisfying sonic territory.
OK, so I decided to take the plunge. I sent my Denon DL-103 to be retipped. I chose the top shelf service — replace the spherical stylus with the most advanced micro ridge stylus, replace the aluminum cantilever with the most expensive boron cantilever, and instead of replacing the clunky plastic body, simply remove it altogether. The person doing this modding claims that removing the body opens up the cartridge.
Once I received the modified Denon DL-103, I was amazed at how much better it sounded. It definitely beat the Ortofon OM20 moving magnet cartridge. So, looks like it’s all down to top-of-the-line stylus and a quality cantilever. Moving coil technology really is much better than moving magnet, was my final verdict.
Not so fast!
After some time spent enjoying my rejuvenated Denon DL-103, I became intrigued by another ‘gimmick’ — moving iron cartridges (such is the audiophile curse — always looking for the ‘next big upgrade’). Did a little poking around, read a little bit about the ‘unique’ sound that moving iron technology produces, and next thing you know, ordered Empire EDR9. That cartridge is supposed to be one of the legendary moving iron cartridges from the late 1970s/early 1980s (the golden age of turntables).
When the Empire cartridge arrived, I installed it and sat down for a listen. I wasn’t expecting much (especially not much compared to my souped up Denon DL-103). But once the first track started playing, my jaw was on the floor — Empire EDR9 surpasses souped up Denon DL-103! How’s that possible?
But there it was, in front of my very ears: more energetic, dynamic sound, and most shocking of all — more details! What shocked me was that, despite the highest quality of Denon DL-103 stylus and cantilever, the lowly Empire EDR9 was still able to dig up many details I cannot hear when playing Denon. Wow!
So, does that mean that moving iron technology is better than both moving magnet and moving coil? Why don’t we try and find out?
I started doing more in-depth research. The Empire EDR9 threads led me to a new discovery — Grace F-9 (a moving magnet cartridge). Another legendary cartridge from the golden age of turntables (the age when turntable was king; we’re talking late 1970s to mid-late 1980s). Intrigued (again) I ordered Grace F-9.
When it arrived and I installed it and sat down for critical evaluation, I was expecting it to sound better than Ortofon OM20, but certainly not as good as souped up Denon DL-103, and especially not better than the marvelous moving iron Empire EDR9 cartridge.
Well, there was another ‘jaw on the floor’ moment. Grace F-9 surpassed Empire EDR9! And did it with a sizeable margin. More energy, more musicality, much more dynamics, and wonder of wonders — more details. Unbelievable.
OK, so now we’re back to square one — high quality moving magnet cartridge beats high quality moving iron cartridge, as well as high quality moving coil cartridge (at that point, I regarded souped up Denon DL-103 as a high quality moving coil, due to the micro ridge stylus and boron cantilever).
Another unexpected surprise
Some additional poking around revealed that my Grace F-9 cartridge arrived with a cheap spherical stylus. Now that was an unexpected discovery. I complained to the seller and they reimbursed me. So, with the reimbursed money, and adding a bit more to top it up, I went on a hunt for the real Grace F-9.
After a while I lucked out and found me a gem — Grace F-9 fitted with Grace F-14 stylus. A rare combination, so I had to take it.
And when it arrived and got installed, you guess it — it blew away the regular Grace F-9 with spherical stylus. When playing records with F-14 stylus, Grace F-9 delivers music that is in a completely different league. The most impressive aspect of this cartridge definitely is dynamics. I’ve never before heard such thunderous dynamics. When playing a well produced, well mastered, well pressed LP, the dynamics can really startle the listeners. The sound leaps out of speakers. The slam is scarily realistic. The detail retrieval is immense, the cartridge is fast, nimble, rhythmic, and the voices/instruments are saturated, textured, nuanced.
Basically, this cartridge is a winner. From everything I’ve heard up to that point, I was forced to conclude that high quality moving magnet technology can surpass high quality moving coil technology. Because, to my way of thinking, what could improve on the micro ridge stylus on boron cantilever? I’m not aware of any higher achievements than that. And if Grace F-9 with Grace F-14 stylus beats that, well, one must admit that moving magnet (high quality) is the way to go.
What about high quality moving coil cartridges?
One thing remained untested in my pursuit of best sounding cartridges — listening to high quality moving coil cartridges. No matter how much I was trying to convince myself that lowly Denon DL-103, with retipped stylus and cantilever, is basically a high quality moving coil cartridge, I knew that I’m just kidding myself. There’s gotta be more to those high end moving coil cartridges beside an ultra fine stylus and an ultra light cantilever.
OK, so now I embarked upon the hunt for those high quality moving coil cartridges. Holy-molly, check out those prices! Almost ten times pricier than Grace F-9. Ouch!
Obviously, I was not going to spend $10,000+ on a cartridge. What is a boy to do?
Let’s drop it down a notch. Are there any mid-priced moving coil cartridges that I could consider purchasing?
Quick research revealed a plethora of moving coil cartridges that were in the $1,000 to $1,500 bracket. However, upon doing a bit more study, I realized that those cannot qualify as being true high end moving coil cartridges. After pushing my limits a bit higher, I finally bumped into the $2,500+ territory. And that’s where, it would appear, we enter the rarefied strata of quality moving coil cartridges.
$2,500+ seems to be the threshold where those legendary brands with exotic names start offering their entry level products. My eye eventually settled on Dynavector Karat 17DX (https://vinylsound.ca/products/dynavector-dv-karat-17dx-mc-cartridges). Excited, I hastily ordered one. Only to get disappointed when the seller called me up and said they have cancelled my order, because they don’t have it in stock. Bummer!
OK, moving on, I started looking into entry level Koetsu cartridges. A little bit of comparison shopping led me to discover a lesser known brand — Kiseki. That line of cartridges seem to be devised as Koetsu’s younger sibling. Also hand made and striving for that indefinable ‘Koetsu’ sound, Kiseki cartridges seemed a bit more affordable. So, I ordered Kiseki Blue NS cartridge (now we’re entering a $3,000 Canadian dollars territory).
How does Kiseki Blue NS sound compared to Grace F-9?
Now that I’ve installed Kiseki Blue NS, I decided to begin side-by-side comparison with my beloved Grace F-9 cartridge.
First impression from listening to the virgin Kiseki Blue NS: I put “Getz/Gilberto” LP (tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim on piano and vocals by Astrud Gilberto), and the first track “The Girl from Ipanema” hit me like a ton of bricks. Whilst it started on a subdued note (João gently strumming his nylon string guitar and humming a simple melody) and the initial sound was nice, clear, gentle, the moment he started singing the lyrics, a massive upright bass moved in from the left channel. I wasn’t expecting that. Yes, Grace F-9 is notorious for its over-the-top dynamics, and yes, such massive bass is one of its signatures, but a refined moving coil cartridge from the upper echelon is not supposed to sound so overwhelmingly punchy. Such punch is traditionally reserved for the unrefined moving coil workhorses.
That was the first unexpected shock. The next shock was the tingling crystal clear quality of Jobim’s piano shoved all the way to the right hand speaker. With Grace F-9, the piano was subdued, almost muffled, but now it’s so present. Then, Astrud’s penetrating voice from the right hand speaker. Amazing.
The biggest shock was Getz’s tenor. It entered so forcefully, as if Stan had absolutely zero manners. Just bulldozed over the entire gentle scene. Real forceful sound, almost like a natural disaster.
Wait a minute — this wasn’t supposed to be how delicate high end moving coil cartridges sound. So far, all I’ve been hearing about Koetsus and the like is refinement, filigree of airy details, light as a feather, lots of air. Not brute force kick in the groin.
OK, so at the very least I can now confirm that whatever it is that knocked my socks off regarding Grace F-9, Kiseki seems capable of matching with ease. I was a bit worried that with Kiseki, I’ll be forced to trade the energy, the insane dynamics and punch, for a gentler, more refined, more airy and detailed, but flimsier delivery. But lo and behold, Kiseki delivers red blooded punch, with such vigor and gusto!
Now, how about the finer details? As I’ve already noticed, Jobim’s piano was indeed rendered much more precisely. Same with Gilberto’s and Astrud’s voices. However, the bass remained really overwhelming. It delivered dark, dense energy that warmly filled up the entire room.
To test the cartridge further, I decided to disconnect it from my Lehmann Audio Decade phono (I configured the load on that phono at 1,000 Ohms), and to instead drive Kiseki by connecting it to Audio-technica AT660T/OCC step up transformer (SUT). Immediately, the character of Kiseki’s sound changed. The bass stopped sounding to overwhelming and it became easier to hear its wooden character. It was still deep and powerful, but this time with more colour and texture. And also, more air around it.
For the next critical listening test I lowered the Audio-technica AT660T/OCC SUT boost ratio from 28 dB down to 17 dB. I played Joni Mitchell’s “Court and Spark”, side 2. This time, the sound became much sweeter, much softer. Kiseki transformed into a very seductive, lush cartridge. Silky cymbal splashes started caressing my ears. Rich, saturated mid range portrayed Joni’s voice drenched in emotions. And in case you were thinking that all that transformation happened at the expense of strong, muscular bass — well, you be wrong. The bass is still there, deep, strong, muscular, but not overwhelming.
Going back to solid state Lehmann Audio Decade phono revealed that Kiseki can be made into a serious moving magnet rival. However, that larger than life punch seems to happen at the expense of sweetness, silkiness, seductiveness.
What remains for me to do is play some more with Lehmann Decade loads. I still haven’t tried lowering it to 100 ohms. Would be interesting to hear what that does to Kiseki’s performance.
Also, another venue to explore would be a different SUT. Kiseki has fairly high internal impedance (40 Ohms), and a few interesting SUTs I was looking into were deemed not a good fit for the cartridge (I confirmed that after contacting the manufacturers).
Maybe Audio-technica AT660T/OCC SUT is good enough for Kiseki; I don’t know. I will however hold my horses with further changes in the configuration until the cartridge breaks-in. Recommended break-in period is 50 hours, and this cart barely has 5 — 6 hours on it (at the time of this review). Its sound character will no doubt change by the 50th hour landmark, after which I will revisit its setup as well as the peripherals.
Overall, my impressions are that Kiseki Blue NS not only matches the marvelous energy, punch, slam, and precision of Grace F-9, but in many areas surpasses it. One thing is for sure — when it comes to musicality and detail retrieval, Kiseki is miles ahead of Grace F-9. Which is to say, a high quality moving coil cartridge is a better choice for music lovers than a high quality moving magnet cartridge.
At least that’s my conclusion, from the listening tests I’ve conducted thus far with the equipment that I was able to afford. But please keep in mind that the price difference is significant, and high quality moving coil cartridges could go as high as five-ten times the cost of high quality moving magnet cartridges.
Also, keep in mind that moving coil cartridges tend to be more finicky, what with the impedance loading at the moving coil phono stage level, or seemingly endless options with step up transformers (some of which could end up being pricier than a moving coil cartridge itself).
And as always, your mileage will definitely vary. Sound quality is a holistic experience, all components in the chain contribute to it, as well as the listening room itself. Add to that the quality of the vinyl pressing, plus the level of care invested in cleaning and washing the records, and you get yourself a formula with huge number of unknown variables. The only way to move forward is to experiment, to try things out, to explore. In the end, everyone finds out what works for them best.
Happy tweaking!