Audio Technica AT33EV LOMC cartridge?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by raferx, Mar 17, 2014.

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  1. Baron Von Talbot

    Baron Von Talbot Well-Known Member

    Well i had the pleasure to hear a few albums recorded with the AToc09 and was really fond of what I heard. So if I was in the market for either the 33 or the OC09 i would go for the 90 but that is just my personal taste. It is a real good cart as most AT carts are.
    Back to the carts in the test i did like the cheapest Clearaudio , also could live with the Goldring 2300.
    Regarding what a DL-103 based cart can sound like try the Volpo Rosso, it did sound amazingly dynamic fresh and inviting and even though twice the price of the 33EV also a good alternative.
    Will listen to the needledrops later..
     
  2. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Thanks for the feedback Missan!
     
  3. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    With the AT-OC9ML/II at $350, I'm starting to lean that way, especially with what I'm reading regarding the AT-OC9ML/III being brought out to cut some build/materials cost (gold/boron cantilever for one).
     
  4. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Can anyone compare either the 33Ev or the OC9 to the Rega Exact 2?
    Tone Audio review stated: "Rega’s US importer, Steve Daniels of The Sound Organization, likes to say that the Exact “sounds as much like an MC can while still being a MM.” The more time I spend with the Exact, the more I agree."
    Anyone else care to comment?
    TIA!
     
  5. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    Can´t help You there. Do people really buy Rega cartridges? I really think You should try to listen to OC9.
     
  6. Pedroboe

    Pedroboe Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Nyc
    Chervokas:

    I hate to hijack the flow of the thread. I tried to PM you but I just signed up for this forum. I just did a setup of the 33EV with a Pioneer PLX 1000. Coming from a Technics SL10 with 310mc and others, I have made a big leap. I have been reading up on your very interesting posts regarding this cartridge and i wholeheartedly agree. I love the sound I am getting, and even though I did OK with the setup, I find my Rogue Pharaoh not having enough gain after all. I apologize, as I really do not get the math, I failed all of it. But I am a pro musician, so I think I can hear when things are going in the right direction. I tried different cartridge loading settings in the ROgue, settling with 240 ohms, I think. Out of an impulse buy, I just ordered the Denon AU300 SUT from LPgear. Did I do the right thing? meaning, will I get the gain and also be able to tweak the sound? whenever I find something interesting about SUTs, it seems like they just use them to connect to the MM 47k.
    I thought about getting that low price "schiit" phono preamp with gain settings, but I figure I should try my Rogue's phono stage with the SUT 1st. I also have a Denon 301mkii coming this week. Crazy, I know. But I am way too curious.

    Anyway, thanks for all the valuable info.
     
  7. I have a AT-150MLX and have listened to a AT-33EV in a friends system a bit. It was set up on a very nice vintage Yamaha direct drive. I found it was noticeably smoother and laid back than mine. He also had a VPI Traveller with a 2M Black that we listened to at the same time. The 2M Black seemed quite similar to my AT-150MLX to me. I have been considering the AT-33 PTG/2 which has received some good reviews here as well.
     
  8. Paul K

    Paul K Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    AT33ptg/ll is my fave cart ever...
    Check that one out!
    I have it on my RP6 and it sings.
     
  9. utahusker

    utahusker Senior Member

    I think the "flow" ended a year ago.:D
     
  10. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    I'm hardly the resident expert on this stuff but I'll help you if I can. First of all I see the Rogue Pharaoh has 60 dB of phono gain in the MC setting. I'm surprised that that's insufficient for 33EV. But OK, at the moment I've gone from 57 to 67 dB phono gain in my setup and I like it, but to me right around 60 dB is pretty much a perfect amount of gain for that cart.

    I just looked at the specs. Your integrated has 30 and 60 dB phono gain settings. That SUT has a 10 to 1 ratio between its primary and secondary windings. That mean it will boost the voltage output of the cart by 10X -- from 0.3 mV to 3 V -- or 20 dB. Probably won't be able to put that in front of the MC setting on the integrated -- the signal will be too hot and you'll have distortion and low headroom with a total of 80 dB gain (20 from the SUT, 60 from the active stage). More typically, now that you've stepped up the voltage output from the cart to something like that of a MM, you plug into the MM setting of the active gain stage. In this case though, 20 dB SUT gain plus 30 dB active gain, you have the same 60 dB gain as you have with the MC active stage. It'll sound different with 60 dB of gain delivered one way vs. the other -- so try it and see -- but it won't give you more gain. Try it and see if you like the sound, but it's not going to give you more gain.

    As to loading, just as the SUT increases the voltage present at the input by the turns ratio -- so it's 10X higher on the other side of the transformer. So it steps down the resistance on that output side to the input side. So the resistance the cart will encounter will be the resistance of the phono stage the SUT is plugged into divided by the square of the turns ratio. In this case the turns ratio is 10, 10 X 10 = 100, so if you plug into a 47K ohm preamp, the cart will be loaded by 47K/100 or 470 ohms. If you want 240 ohm loading with a 10 to 1 ratio, the phono stage load has to be 24K ohms. I have no idea what loading options you have with your integrated. To get close with a phono stage with a fixed resistance of 47K ohms you can add a 220 ohm resistor in parallel with the input resistance of the phono stage for about 218 ohms resistance on the phono cart side. Some SUT have an easy provision for doing this, some don't. Dunno about that SUT.
     
  11. Pedroboe

    Pedroboe Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Nyc
    I completely missed the MM/MC switch in the rogue. I am ditching the sut because of a little hum. I have the impedance loaded to 300 ohms right now and I like it. I also returned the plx1000, I found it unstable in speed accuracy. Oddly enough, I found a restored PL518 I am way happier. The arm seems to match the cartridge much better than the denon 301mk2.
     
  12. willdeShakespeare

    willdeShakespeare New Member

    Location:
    Whitchurch, Bucks
    Just purchased the AT33EV after some listening tests .. I'm about 10 hrs listening time in. I have a Project Debut Carbon Espirit with Project Carbon arm and apart from upgrading the counterweight on the tonearm and ensuring the VTA is good (the AT33EV reqs about 1.8mm shim) its absolutely stunning in clarity, tracking, channel separation and depth. Highly recommended, purchased from Amazon but the guys in Hong Kong on eBay offer a great deal as previously discussed. My music choice is very varied from classical, rock, jazz, funk to female vocalist but all sounds immersing and detailed.

    Just for reference my system comprises of; Project Carbon Debut Espirit SB TT, Cambridge Audio Azur 651a Amp, Cambridge CP2 Phono PreAmp, Monitor Audio MR4 Speakers
     
  13. Jrr

    Jrr Forum Resident

    Was reading about this cart on another thread. I have a Technics 12105MG, stock. I've had an Ortofon Black (I hated it and sold it to a forum member, mainly because I could just never set the darn thing up right and had horrible sibilance no matter what I did). So, that's on me I guess as I hear good things about it. I had an AT440 and the last cart was the MLX150, which I was very happy with. I have had the AT33EV for about a week now, so it still needs working in. I am running it through a Tube Box DS (a tube preamp but reasonably prices) that I got from a member here. Just a warning: take time to set it up right. Everything has to be right or it just isn't going to cut it. The other AT cards are a whole lot more forgiving in that regard. The good news is that I knew it was probably my fault it didn't sound right, so I stuck with it and learned, all over again, how to properly install a cart. Seems obvious, I know, but close enough has always worked on my other carts. I did have to increase VTA to 2.5 grams, so don't be stingly on the tracking force! I also used a test record to assist, so I'm very comfortable with my installation at this point.

    So, especially considering I only paid about $400 brand new, this is a significant upgrade from the 150, which I was happy with! Better sound stage for sure. Instruments are better defined. Definitely a smoother sound. Something I will now agree with because I hear this a lot from forum members: don't get this if you want a warmer, less bright kind of sound. All the AT carts I've hears lean towards a brighter sound, but I like that so it isn't an issue for me. I am hearing the same with this, but as we get older we seem to lose some hearing in that range, so I see this as a plus. I'm 56, and the test record warned me that I would likely not hear some of the test tones but I heard everything just fine. I think some of it is knowing what you are supposed to hear! So, as someone that seems to hear the entire frequency range, the brightness does not bother me, and it's just a tad bright. Others may disagree.

    Is it night and day better than the 150, a very popular cart around these parts? No. I can't imagine a better deal than the 150 for the sound, and if you are happy with it and don't want to spend the dough, stay with it. But if you have always wanted to try a MC cart, and don't want to spend $2000, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this! You will absolutely hear an improvement, but most of it is more in the subtle range but it's certainly there. A bit more of a glossy, beautiful sound and definitely better imaging with my Thiel speakers. Overall, more "hi-fi" sounding for a very small investment imo. I'm not sure I would ever upgrade as long as I have this table. I read in a review it probably outperforms the table I installed it in, so I am probably as far as I can reasonably go until I buy a new table, which I'm just not sure I would ever do. Sometimes it's good to just be happy with what you have. I think I'm at that stage where from here it would be very small, incremental improvements which would require a lot of investment. I think I'm fine where I'm at, especially since I listen to mainly 70's and 80's type of music. Not exactly demanding in many cases; no classical or jazz. Tone Audio mentioned it's great for average, run of the mill recordings because it seems to make them sound better and brings more out of them. I couldn't agree more.
     
  14. Rmihai0

    Rmihai0 Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
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