cartridge recommendation.

[GITTA7]

Hi, i'm new to vinyl. I just picked up a yamaha yp-701. it has what i believe is a the stock tone arm. i have it plugged into a carver cm-1090 integrated amp (bought it new in the early 1990'). i will mostly be purchasing used albums. my budget is approximately $100. i read the thread on the Nagaoka MP-110. would this be a good catridge as it good with surface noise? thanks allen

[dlaloum]

Is it a good cartridge - yes
Is it a good match with your TT/arm - Yes

Surface noise.... mmmmm - here we meander into things like:

1) Are the records thoroughly clean?
2) Are they damaged (if there is vinyl damage causing the noise, no amount of cleaning will improve things)
3) Some cartridges have a rising top end - which will highlight clicks/pops, others have a falling top end - which will make them appear less prominent.
4) For MM/MI cartridges (including the MP110) the rising/falling top end can also be adjusted by changing the cartridge loading - both capacitance and resistance - with substantial impact on the sound of the cartridge, as well as its sensitivity to noise - I strongly suggest reading the threads on cartridge loading, and finding out what the capacitance of your Turntable and phono stage are...

I would suggest that the MP110 would be a good choice - and for future upgrades you have access to the MP200 stylus as well!

bye for now

David

[GITTA7]

Thanks for the reply. I'll be purchasing my records from goodwill/salvation army. I'll check to see if there are alot of visible scratches or if the records are warped. I'll clean them before I put them on the turntable. There doesn't seem to be a sticky thread at the top of the forum for catridge loading. I just did a search on cartridge loading and it brought up alot of posts. Can you provide a link of what you think I should be reading. Remember i'm new to this so simple is better. I'm hoping to buy a cartridge that I can align and be done.

[dlaloum]

There is a review of the earlier MP11 at http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/nagaoka_mp11_e.html

It also shows the influence of capacitive loading ...

Cartridge loading thread is at viewtopic.php?t=6674

The MP110 is a good choice - I would get it plug it in and start using it.

Read about loading adjustment as an additional series of tweaks for improving and adjusting things later on.

Bye for now

David

[GITTA7]

Would the Shure M97xE be a good choice as well? It is quite a bit cheaper on Amazon.

[dlaloum]

Yes the M97xE is an excellent cartridge - quite different in a bunch of ways, but also a good match for your setup, and a great sounding cartridge.
It can also be upgraded with the Jico SAS stylus - which makes it into a competitor for the Nagaoka MP500.... mind you the SAS costs around $180.
Review of the M97xE at http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/shure_m97xe_e.html

[GITTA7]

One last question. Who are the preferred merchants for this forum. i don't see any advertising on the forum.

[dlaloum]

Different people will provide differing recommendations!

I have dealt with and had positive experiences with:
LPGear
Turntableneedles
Jico (direct, out of Japan)