Best cartridge you've never heard of: the Audio-Technica AT33PTG/II

I was thinking of the AS version which is £200 more than the PTG on the AT European web site. You can save £100 on a PTG by buying from Hong Kong. Remember there is 20% VAT over here.

 

Ah okay true.

 

Just did an A/B with the old Denon DL160 and the new AT34PTG/11...
Wow. What an increadable difference!

I used Dont Let Me Down off of the German Hey Jude Album. With the Denon is was very dull, the cymbals were cardboard, all in all not very impressive. Thought it was the album ao I ordered a copy of the export light green apple 73 release.....

With the AT, it was like they were in the room recording the song. The cymbals crashed with a high end vibrance, the guitars were clear, You could hear the "knock" of Prestons keys...

I am just blown away. Cant wait to hear the 73 release. It was a great investment.

 

Anyone using the AT33PTG/ii with a head amp - don't forget to try SUT's instead. With careful loading I think you'll be surprised how good it can be.

 

Mine just started the same issue. Was there ever a resolution?

 

How many hours does it have on it? Could be the first signs of a worn stylus. Or you could try increasing the anti skate.

 

My AT150 does this on the right channel as well... and it's pretty darn new. Is this maybe a "feature" of the Audio Technica microline stylus?

 

Sent mine in (to AT in the US). They told me they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Needle was less than a year old, not many hours. No matter what your anti-skating is set at, you shouldn't hear static.

 

Not in my experience. Over the last 15 years I've had a number of AT models with MicroLine styli: AT440ML, AT440MLa, AT150MLX, and AT160ML. They all ran very quiet in the groove on both channels. With the AT160ML, I'm sometimes not even sure if I've turned up the volume...until the music starts, that is.

 

And I'm in the same boat with most stuff - it's the occasional odd disc that gets staticy, and it seems to be confined to the right channel. It's not often enough to scare me away from the cart given the benefits, I just think it's really peculiar.

However, these are also notoriously fidgety to set up, so if your handle is accurate, you're probably doing a much better job of getting the cart dialed in than the average bear.

 

FWIW, I once sent in to AT (US) an AT150MLX cartridge and stylus. The stylus literally would not remain attached to the cartridge unless you taped it to the body. Without the tape, it would just randomly drop off the body. I wasn't able to play anything with it. There was zero tension when putting the stylus on and taking it off the body. But AT also said they couldn't find anything wrong with it.

 

Used this cartridge for a couple of years, at the time when you could only import from Japan. Could not believe how good it was, at the 200 Pounds.
The only way I could top it was with a Koetsu. I still enjoy it in my friends system.

 

I thought I had the same problem with the right channel last night. I checked the previous tracks and all was OK. It was just that particular track. Ironic.

 

Same thing here - some albums, some tracks.

 

I don't experience any static at all on mine. The only time I've had static problems on it or the AT440MLa that preceded it was when the stylus had futz on it. It takes more effort sometimes to clean a stylus than you realize if you check it with a microscope. Every once in a while I would pull my 440 off and look under the microscope and really go at it from different directions with a brush, hairs/fibers especially like to get wound up on the shank and will sometimes grab larger clumps of dust and that can definitely cause some fuzzy static where the stylus doesn't really seat down properly into the groove and just sounds like a mess.

Sounds like a dirty needle to me.

 

Sounds like misalignment to me. I've experienced some of the "issues" described here, which went away with better alignment. With my series one AT33PTG, I can play anything I want without tracking problems.

jeff

 

Never had tracking problems, with the Rega 250 I had at the time.

 

That sounds like an earthing issue. Static builds up from the deck and suddenly discharges. Worth checking earth from arm and deck is fully effective. Can stop it if you put your hand on the platter for a second. Also controlling room humidity might help.

 

@vinyldoneright what guide did you use when loading the PTG/ii

I have an m2-9 tone arm.

 

I have a linear arm so I have a printed out template taped to an old LP. It is not an arc type template

 

Hi guys, I ope you don't mind me asking but since a lot of people here seem to know heaps about this someone might be able to help point me in the right direction

I Just upgraded the cartridge on my record player to an Audio Technica AT33PTG/II and have come across 2 odd results I'm not sure how to resolve.
The first one is volume. Prior to installing the new cart, generally the volume knob on my amp was set around 9-10 o'clock position (using the clock analogy) and that was loud/loud enough.
After installing the new cart I now have to crank the volume way up to around the 12-1, even 2 o'clock position to get comparable volume.

Which brings up the second problem. I always had a hum coming from my speakers with my record player/older cart but it was never really an issue or annoying, but now that I have to crank the volume knob much higher the hum becomes very noticeable. I'm guessing this is a grounding issue somewhere.

So my setup is pretty basic/budget. Its a Numark ttx turntable, using the "phono out", plugged directly into "phono in" on my yamaha rx-397 receiver (pretty sure its this off the top of my head). So no phono stage, just using the built in phono on the receiver.
My old cart was a Shure M97xe with a Jico sas stylus (also stock shure M97xe stylus before that). As mentioned I have now upgrade to an Audio Technica AT33PTG/II cart.

I guess my question is two part, what is it about this new cart that makes me need to crank the volume much higher...is it just because its a different type of cart so needs more volume (moving coil..output levels etc)?, or do I need a real dedicated phono stage now, despite my amp having a basic built in one?
Also how do I get rid of the loud buzz which is more annoying now that I have to crank the volume? Where abouts and how can I ground...something?
Would a dedicated phono stage help with this also? (and If I did get a phono stage I would just need to put that in the standard l/r input on my amp rather than the "phono l/r in" right?)

Or could there be something wrong with the new cart? It plays fine, sounds good...just has the above 2 new issues.

Any help or info is appreciated! Thanks for your time!

 

You didn't realize that the 33PTG is a "Low Output" MC, and quite often will require a "step-up" before going into a typical MM phono stage?

jeff

 

Yes, you need a dedicated MC phono pre. It's a wonder you can hear any music at all with your setup For a budget, I recommend a Cambridge 640p.

 

You need to buy a MC phono stage into a line input. Could use an SUT but good ones are expensive and the quality of your built in MM stage may not be good enough. An AT MC deserves something that costs in excess of £250 - £300.