Audio Technica's new VM cartridge series

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Scott Davies, Feb 23, 2017.

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  1. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    Ha! I wish I would have known, the GR and it’s stock headshell came with an extra set of screws, washers and nuts for the headshell, which I’m assuming would actually fit the headshell lol. It appears I’m not the only one, as my pics online of GR/G users with the VM series still use the stock AT nuts.
     
    MusicNBeer and punkmusick like this.
  2. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Ya, and the Hagerman Bugle is a nice neutral pre-amp. :righton:
     
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  3. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    Ditto - one of my old carts had nuts that fit in the AT slot better than the ones that came with the cart.
     
  4. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    For sure! Its been surprising how well the Bugle has performed in my rig, and truly fought off a lot of random upgrading that I usually do with gear. I am definitely not thinking about my phono stage when I listen, as I think it just does a great job getting out of the way. I've seen some measurements online as well and they are impressive for a phono stage that's around $200.
     
  5. MusicNBeer

    MusicNBeer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    Looking at that Hagerman Bugle 3 schematic, it looks like it has zero shunt input capacitance. If so, that looks like an excellent fit for the AT cartridges.
     
  6. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Ya, I have one that's been paired with the matching power supply, and it is the best pre-amp I have ever heard. Totally transparent, black backround. If there is "neutral", this is it. :righton:
     
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  7. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    Yup, I actually emailed Jim regarding the bugle 2 as I know the AT carts prefer a low/very low input capacitance, and the bugle 2 is as similarly low as well (Jim may have said something like 30pf or less).
     
    Chris Schoen and patient_ot like this.
  8. Spin Doctor

    Spin Doctor Forum Resident

    I had been in contact with "somebody" at AT when I was researching cartridges and they responded whenever I had a question. So I told them about this thread and that they should check it out and also forward it to their engineers. For what it's worth, engineers are typically very interested in what people think about their stuff.
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  9. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Don't see the power supply on the Hagtech site. Was that discontinued or was it a DIY thing?
     
    guidedbyvoices likes this.
  10. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    Hope it helps - it should be noted that the nuts that didn't fit I'm using with an audio technica head shell, so you'd think they'd include the smaller nuts.
     
  11. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    Lol that is so strange. I’m glad my technics came with extra headshell hardware, wish I would have known, but alas I’m too lazy to uninstall and will just leave as is.
     
  12. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer

    Location:
    Brazil
    If I remember well I used the hardware that came with the VM540ML in the Technics headshell with no problem. Nuts on top.
     
    Heckto35 likes this.
  13. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    Like it actually fits through the top bevel in into the actual bottom part of the headshell frame? Or it looks like mine and just sits right on top?
     
  14. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer

    Location:
    Brazil
    right on top
     
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  15. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
    Got it. Yeah that is how I think most people have it - but I believe truly they should be smaller, to allow the nut to get to the bottom of the slot, which is why the above posters use different nuts.
     
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  16. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer

    Location:
    Brazil
    I understand now. I wasn't understanding the complaints.
     
  17. guidedbyvoices

    guidedbyvoices Old Dan's Records

    Location:
    Alpine, TX
    Exactly, the smaller nuts fit in the slots (twss) and make it a lot easier when aligning the cart, thanks to having to tighten the screws on the upside down.
     
    recstar24 likes this.
  18. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Maybe discontinued. My Bugle and matching power supply is around 6 years old. A forum member was nice enough to "build" the pre-amp with the power supply
    on a "bread board" for me. It's rustic, but sounds fantastic. Wouldn't trade it for a $1,000 pre-amp. Seriously.
     
  19. recstar24

    recstar24 Senior Member

    Location:
    Glen Ellyn, IL
  20. grandegi

    grandegi Blind test maniac

    Location:
    Rome, Italy
    I need to replace my AT440MLa, its stylus is not working properly anymore.
    Would you suggest replacing it with a VM540ML cart or getting a VMN40ML replacement stylus (to be put on the 440MLa body)?
    Thank you
     
  21. Paul K

    Paul K Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Playing the VM95ML right now and it is full and not bright at all.
    It's really musical so yeah...try it out.
    Tracks insanely well.

    Ah...I see that's not what you asked!
    Consider it an endorsement though!!
     
    grandegi likes this.
  22. theron d

    theron d Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore MD
    In my 15+ years of this audiophile insanity... the VM540ml has been one of the biggest surprises! On a Technics 1200 and
    set up properly its golden!
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2018
    csgreene and recstar24 like this.
  23. csgreene

    csgreene Forum Resident

    Location:
    Idaho, USA
    Good to hear, theron, as that's the cart I have waiting in the wings for my 1210GR, if the damn thing ever ships (due to ship 1/2/19).
     
    theron d likes this.
  24. GruvyWade

    GruvyWade Well-Known Member

    Location:
    WA
    Would buying a new VM750SH be a sonic upgrade compared to replacing my AT150Sa stylus with the VMN50 stylus?
    Are the new 700 series bodies identical to the 150 series?

    Also, which would be kinder to surface noise (i.e. hairlines, pressing static), the shibata or the microline?
     
  25. Heckto35

    Heckto35 Forum Resident

    L.T.D and funk fan? I think I finally found a friend on here! I'm currently listening to ConFunkShun's To The Max album and up next is Slave's Visions Of The Light album.
     
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