Anyone Here own/listen to Micro Acoustics cartridges?

Barry,

If you're still out there, I just bought a still-sealed copy of the MA TT2002 Demonstration Test Record. Would love to hear the story.

 

I used to have a MA 2002e just like the one pictured earlier in the thread. I used it on a Thorens TD 160. I cannot rememeber much about how it sounded. I bought it at Tech Hi-Fi on 8th Street in NYC.

After that wore out I switched to Grados and I stuck with them for quite a while.

 

I wish the styli were as easy to come by as the test records!

 

Me too. I kept my MA cartridge around for years hoping to get a new stylus.

 

I still use my MA2002E. I prefer it over my Shure V15 Type III and my Grado Blue (avoid this cartridge). I was given three additional stylus for buying a Soundcraftsmen PE2217 pre-amp EQ. I am on my second and have two left. Exceptional cartridge, dynamics are phenomenal.

 

stylus

I still have two unused. I was given three for buying a Soundcraftsmen pre-amp EQ. I have used two, still working as well as it did 33 years ago. Better that the Shure V15 Type III.

 

SO glad I have these!!!!!!!

 

hello everybody! i know, that's what Pee Wee Herman used to say for a greeting.

i owned a couple of 2002Es mounted on my Grace 707 (one at a time of course) and MAN, what a linear sound. equal to or bettter than a Sonus Blue. it would track ANYthing. soundstage was superb and when i played Paul Horn's solo flute "Inside the Great Pyramid" you could sense the six surfaces of the King's chamber.

those were halcyon days, i had just left my ex and moved my eintire system into my girlfriend's apartment. everything went together perfectly (infinity monitor jrs, Quatre preamp, Spectro-a
Acoustic p202 100wpc amp, SL1200 TT with g707/2002e, etc, dynaquad with Celestion County speakers in the rear adjusted for near inaudibility).

it didn't matter which kind of music played, it was all superb. SOMEwhere, i have the cart and when i find it, i may just have to mount it on my current Sota Sapphire/MMT combo.

 

for those with worn out styli, i would shoot an email to peter at soundsmith to see if he can accommodate a re-tip,

 

Watched this all last week, then something came up and I forgot about it. Wonder how high the winning bidder would have gone. Wonder how high I would have gone.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Micro-Acous...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

 

If anyone is still reading this thread, LP Gear still sells the 2002e and Bluz Broz/adelcom sells the stylus for more than the cartridge!

Micro Acoustics Phono Stylus (Needle) Page »

Don't buy them all. I may want one. ;^)

 

I had an MA2002 in 1977.

On a Connoisseur BD1 with a Mayware formula four tonearm.

Great stuff.

 

I Have owned TWO , 2002e cartridges, Have a funny but relevant story concerning these cartridges . Back in the 70's I purchased a rush album on a very cold winters day, unpackaged that puppy immediately after arriving home, pulled the album out of its sleeve, the album was so cold that immediately warped, and I mean warped. I remembered that micro acoustics bragged about the fact that the 2002e would track a warped album, the album was probably warped to the point that it created a 2 to 3" wave around the album. Much to my surprise, that cartridge tracked the record without a hitch. This {in my opinion} speaks volumes. These cartridges played albums that would pop and click due to bad presses and or scratches much better than any of my previously owned cartridges. This cartridge has the plus of going down to a 5hz frequency response , has al ways been true to sound. BY the way olschl is rite , you can purchase the stylus for a heafty price . Good luck to all who want to restore these cartridges, they will reward you in all your efforts!!!

 

I had a 282-E back in the day, nice sounding cart. It's stylus also wore out in no time. I've still got it in a box somewhere, took it out a while back looked at the stylus with a magnifier and it was absolutely worn down to a nub.

 

These cartridges have an internal RC network to "equalize amplitude response of the piezo material to velocity equalization." First, I am not sure I fully understand this...shouldn't something that responds to amplitude have a power supply? Like magnetoresistive heads on some tape players from the 90s?

But if that is somehow so, it means the amplitude of the signal does not go up 6dB/octave as it does in magnetic cartridges. So whatever RC network is inside has a reverse-RIAA curve so that a regular RIAA preamp can read the cartridge correctly. This sounds like two wrongs to do a right, which often does not work.

I am wondering if I should attempt to get leads out directly from the crystal and amplify the signal with a non-RIAA amp (like a mic amp). In fact old crystal pickups never needed a preamp, they were line level or close to it.

Any thoughts?

 

Oh wow, this is an unexpected thread to find here. Or maybe not.

My first MA was the 282e. Then came the 2002. Then the 530mp, and that was where I stayed for many years. It was the best (non-LOMC) phono cartridge I ever owned. When I sold off most of my vinyl, I also sold my turntable and, like an idiot, I think I included the 530mp.

When I got back into vinyl, I found a 3002. Not quite as good as the 530mp, but good nonetheless.

In its day, there was really nothing like them. In fact, there still is nothing like them except perhaps for the new optical styli systems. What I mean is that no other company approaches the transfer of vinyl groove information in the same manner as Micro Acoustics—or at least none that I know of. I went through the gamut of MM and HOMC cartridges before discovering my first MA. I really like(d) how the approach to sonics was so clever and effective. No impedance matching issues, incredible tracking, and some of the best imaging of any cartridge at any price point.

The only issue I have encountered is that MA cartridges work much better with low-mass tonearms. In a world of medium- and high-mass arms, they are a little out of their element. Put one on a high-precision low-mass arm, though, and they proverbially sing.

Several of my components evidence the same level of tangential thinking as Micro Acoustics. I appreciate designers who seek creative, clever solutions that are not simply for marketing purposes.

 

I'm looking for a replacement stylus if you know where I can find one.