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

You may have a dud. My first ptg/ii was a dud (suspension was broken/collapsed) and I had to get it replaced (wrote of this many pages back). Should sound great outta the gate and only improve.

 

Hey guys,
Forgive me if this has been asked. I didn't see it in a search.
I mounted an AT33ptg II on my Thorens TD320mkIII and I can get the VTA such that the cartridge body is parallel to the platter but the arm is not. I didn't notice this on the AT150MLX that I had on there. Any thoughts on that?
BTW this thread pushed me over the edge so I had my wife bring back the AT33PTG from Japan. It sounds super smooth and everything seems to be more separated and 3d than what I was hearing with the 150. I have klipsch lascalas with B&C tweets and A55g squawker drivers, and an EV prosound sub. I'm also running a luxman SQ38u that followed me home from Yokohama in 2012. The built-in mc preamp seems to work just fine with the AT33PTGII.

 

If the cartridge body is parallel to the record surface but the arm is not, then the arm is bent! There is no other logical explanation.

What tonearm do you have?

 

Are you using a different headshell and does the headshell have a slight curve in it? The cart's top surface can really only be flat and sit the way the headshell dictates. Congratulations on a solid purchase and having a Japan connection, it's nice!

 

It's a Thorens head shell and a TP90. I did not notice this with the 150. The arm is not bent.
It is however time to dust (living on a farm is fun but dusty)

 

When you say the cartridge body is parallel to the record surface, is it safe to assume you mean the top surface of the cartridge body? If not, and you're looking at the bottom surface of the cartridge body, then you're looking at the wrong thing. It's the top surface that must be parallel to the record surface.

The reason is:

1. If the top surface of the cartridge body is parallel to the record surface, then by definition, the underside of the headshell is parallel to the record surface.

2. If the underside of the headshell is parallel to the record surface, then the tonearm should be parallel to the record surface, because that's the universally accepted convention.

3. If the tonearm is NOT parallel to the record surface when the underside of the headshell is parallel to the record surface, then something is out of true (or "bent", as I flippantly said.) An obvious place to look is the connection between the headshell and the tonearm - even a small imperfection can throw things out. S-shaped tonearms are often not true through the horizontal plane, even quite expensive ones. But the one thing for sure is that it's nothing to do with the cartridge.

 

I'm referencing the line formed by the transition between the silver under body and black top part of the body.
The closer I look at the pic the more the arm looks to be in line with the silver/black transition. Crikey.
Maybe I need glasses

 

It appears, from the photo above, that the tonearm is tapered so that the underside of the arm is not at all parallel. In the case of a tapered arm, it is very difficult to judge if the centerline of the arm is indeed parallel to the record surface. In my case, I made certain that the top surface of the cartridge is parallel to the record surface.

 

That sounds like a good idea. I'll reference the top of the cartridge!

 

Ok, it does look parallel. And it sounds great, which I suppose is the bottom line anyway. Thanks for chiming in guys. I really like this sound. Stevie Nicks shows up in my living room, spinning Tusk. Which is good as it's the 1979 version of Stevie. So I'm pretty sure she's toting a bottle of Wild Turkey.

 

Happy to hear all is OK. Enjoy!

 

Is this available new for anything cheaper than $473 usd? (on ebay from Hong Kong)

 

I've heard it (years ago) but have not braved owning one- a London/Decca. I gather it would work well in my linear air bearing am, and don't need a Decca or Monks style arm (though the thought the latter,purely for collector's value is kinda cool, though I don't know that there are many in working condition, and is it easy to buy mercury these days?). For every London/Decca cartridge owner who says "owned 'em for years without much issue" I've heard horror stories- the idea of buying multiple cartridges of the same type just to keep one in play while the other(s) are being repaired is a little too much for me.
I'll be searching for a cartridge for my newly set up (and not quite finished) vintage system, and have a hankering for an Ortofon SPU, either fully shelled, or naked. But, more research to be done on that front, including compatability with arm. The nice thing about an old SME is that with a removable headshell, I can also try some of the bargains to be had in Moving Magnet. I haven't used one of those in quite some time. Paying for top tier moving coils is getting to be painful; retips from the factory are also a big bite. (I know Peter at Soundsmith but never used him to do retips; I just bought the newer, "better" model (which, in my case, has been Airtight for a while)).

 

On the budget front, the HOMC Denon DL-110 is a really nice cart for the money. You don't have to pony up for a step up transformer, just use the normal MM path on your preamp/amp. They go for ~200 USD, break in quickly, and sing sweetly without harsh highs. Also a joy to hear with some Genalex Gold Lion tubes (super loud) which helps with the output.

 

I've read a bunch of the comments in this tread and purchased an AT33PTG/II which will be delivered this coming Tuesday. I think it will be a nice addition to my small stable of cartridges:
AT-150MLX
AT-14sa
Denon DL-103
Denon DL-103r w/hardwood body
Ortofon Concorde w/40 stylus
Technics EPC-310MC Cartridge w/Soundsmith Ruby Re-Tip

 

Ok, the AT33PTG/II has had a 30+ Lp's break in period and it is wonderful. The first couple Lp's had me thinking I'd made a mistake. A few more Lp's and it started to settle down and has gotten progressively better. The other night I performed a little test, side one with the AT33 then side two with my Denon 103r. I have 2 active TT's and both have the same brand/type arm's. The 103r has always sounded sweet with a nice high frequency roll off. The AT is not as sweet but it opened up the highs and is slowly becoming some what lush in the mid section and the bass has slightly more punch. All in all, an outstanding addition to my tiny stable.

 

Hi all,

Yesterday evening I installed an at33ptg2 on my technics sl-d2. It replaces a 2mblue getting close to 1500 hours playtime. A
I used baerwald alignment (as with the 2mblue), 2g vtf and 1g AS. Azimuth so far has been done with the mirror method although I will go through the adjust+ setup later today. VTA, not adjustable , is slightly cartridge down. Played two records so far dire straits and an original pressing of pearl jam's vitalogy which is slightly warped on the outer edge. I run the cart through a project tube box ds with 200 ohm loading. I have two issues with the cart.
1) picking up static/white noise interference when cranking volume up with no music playing (no hum though). Audible at listening levels. Maybe this is normal with MC cart and high gain?
2) the cart can't track the pearl jam record with the warp. Both the 2mblue and a grado gold could track this without problems.

Could there be a serious mismatch with the arm (effective mass with original technics headshell 12g), could it be the VTA (will try to fit an additional mat to raise the record.). From what I've read about this cart it shouldn't have these kind of issues so maybe it's just a dud?
Thing is, it actually sounded very good on the dire straits album.

Any suggestions?

Cheers

 

Late to the party here, but I have a tiny bubble level that sits on top of the cartridge for VTA adjustments. If the bubble is centered, the arm is parallel at the cartridge. At least, I think that's what's happening.

 

(1 - I've had this problem before and narrowed it down to the metal screws connecting the cart to the headshell. I solved it by making a tiny washer from scrap thin plastic. For some reason only the screw on the right side was causing it.

(2 - the AT33PTGii rides pretty darn low. Is your arm dampened? I find AT carts rather sensitive to warps but dampening helps a lot.

 

With reference to vta set too low.
Top end softens bass also. Soundstage
Collapses and it sounds uninteresting.
Once this state is achieved, raise 1mm at a time till sound clicks into place.
Too high and you know the rest.
Why manufacturers make a basic alignment so difficult baffles
Like Rega with no VTA adjustment,
Apart from shims. One reason why I would not buy one.
Glad all is well. Audio Technica make
Excellent cartridges.

 

Just mounted one these on my Music Hall 5.1. So far its excellent sounding and i'm coming from a Ortofon 2M Bronze. Haven't really played with VTA yet but everything is lined up according to Feickhert protractor

 

Decca International Tonearm had a small spirit level built into its headshell
So simple. I wonder sometimes what
We pay for
The old 60,s Sme 3009 improved arm had an adjustable headshell for azimuth ,
There are more examples.

 

I ordered one for my RP8, it will be an addition to my collection :
Goldring Legacy
At440mlb
Nagaoka mp-110
At95e

 

I finally ordered an AT33sa yesterday and can't wait to give it a spin! It's replacing my 2nd or 3rd AT33EV, which I have loved, but ready to try moving up.

 

Do you know any other differences between the SA and the PTG/II besides the shibata tip vs microline (and about $250 from 2juki, much more from some others)? The specs all look the same. Might've already been covered in this thread, I should probably do a search, but more fun to ask