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

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by back2vinyl, Sep 17, 2013.

  1. olschl

    olschl Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    I see there is now a 10g version of the Zupreme.
     
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  2. dbsea

    dbsea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Oh wow, even better. I had not seen that, so thanks for the heads up.
     
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  3. dbsea

    dbsea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Using band 2 on side 2, the cartridge became 'excited' at 9Hz, perhaps a bit more so just afterward, but then remained unchanged by the time 7Hz came up. So I'm not sure how accurate the HiFi News test record is, but it seems that the value is somewhere between 8 and 9. It is a little hard to tell with this cartridge because any wobbling and warbling was much less dramatic overall than I've experienced with other cartridges using this test record.
     
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  4. olschl

    olschl Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    Has anyone else noticed that the Right and Left contact pins on the AT are opposite of a Denon or Hana?
     
  5. Tartifless

    Tartifless Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Opposite of the Hana yes.
    But apart from a small detail I don't think this has any importance .
     
  6. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Been meaning to try one for awhile. Probably a much better choice for most people with most common carts compared to the heavier one.
     
  7. dbsea

    dbsea Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
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  8. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Same with the ART-9, once it got enough attention, got more universal distribution. Hopefully that means it won't be getting dropped soon, just about the only mid-cost moving coil with advanced cantilever and stylus now, and looks to be settling back down to around the $450 price, good to see ... now if they would just make a threaded-body version to avoid that long and heavy hardware, making it a bit easier to install and cleaner looking... below riding on my Thorens ...


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2019
  9. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    Mine is on my Ekos. What tracking force are you using, may I ask ? I’ve just tweaked mine from the 1.8g it’s been set at since installation to 2.0 and the difference is gobsmacking !
     
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  10. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    I posted this elsewhere, I installed one of these on my SL1210GR, and the result are excellent. This is the best that this table has sounded for me to date. This combo sounds really fantastic.

    It blows my Super OM-30, but especially my KAB Concord OM-40 (which is highly overrated IMO) out of the water.
     
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  11. myles

    myles Argyle, before you ask ....

    Location:
    Plymouth, UK
    I find 2.0g dead on, along with a slightly tail up VTA.
     
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  12. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    Great, thanks. But ... what does "tail up" mean ?
     
  13. myles

    myles Argyle, before you ask ....

    Location:
    Plymouth, UK
    So if you imagine the tonearm totally level, if you raise the rear of the arm it is tail up, and if you lower it, it is tail down. This is only achievable if you have a tonearm like a Jelco with height adjustment, or have the ability to 'shim' the tonearm. This adjustment will set the angle (the 'A' of VTA) that the stylus meets the groove.
     
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  14. ruben lopez

    ruben lopez Nunc Est Bibendum

    Location:
    Barcelona Spain
    I just found this thread, i'm about to change my benz micro gold cart,and my dealer suggested AT 33EV(eliptical) and AT33 PTG.
    I have a Lenco L75 with original tonearm,and even with the best adjustments it will not be 100% perfect on the VTA,VTF,AZIMUTH Etc...that is my main worry about the micro line stylus,but still;it will be an upgrade from the eliptical and i want to hear more from my récords...my dealer says is safer to go with the EV,i really want the PTG but i'm afraid.
    Any help will be apreciated,
    Anybody has high mass arms with fine line stylus?
    does it really make a difference on the high frecuencies?
    Recommended for much-loved-wear-records?
     
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  15. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    Thanks.
     
  16. culabula

    culabula Unread author.

    Location:
    Belfast, Ireland

    One thing though ... if you have an Ittok and not a Jelco, how then do you do it ?
     
  17. myles

    myles Argyle, before you ask ....

    Location:
    Plymouth, UK
    I don't know the arm but from reading up it looks like there is a grub screw on the collar which, when loosened, allows the tonearm to be moved up and down.
     
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  18. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    I'm pretty sure the Lenco arm is over 20 gm effective mass, so wouldn't really be a very good match for the 20 cu compliance of the 33PTG/II. I have one on my Micro Seiki MA-505 arm with 14.5 gm effective mass, and the tonearm resonance is down in the 7-8 Hz range, which is how I derived the 20 cu @ 10 Hz estimate on the previous page. You really wouldn't want to go much lower than that with the resonant frequency. Some do use it with heavy arms and it does work, so not out of the question, but there may be better matches.
     
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  19. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Does that number for your MA-505 include the headshell? It seems like most of AT's MC carts are fairly high compliance.
     
  20. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Yes, it has the 10 gram Micro Seiki H-303 headshell ...

    [​IMG]
     
  21. HankM

    HankM Senior Member

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    I'm on 1.8g, looks like I'll give 2.0g a listen. Thanks!
     
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  22. olschl

    olschl Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    I am running my PTG/2 on a Sumiko Premier MMT, which is a fairly heavy arm, at 1.9 g VTF and slightly tail up. I've seen varying estimates of the effective mass of the MMT (Jelco did not publish that spec.) ranging from 16 to 20 g. I use a headshell that is much lighter than the stock Sumiko.
     
  23. ruben lopez

    ruben lopez Nunc Est Bibendum

    Location:
    Barcelona Spain
    Thanks for the reply,the Lenco arm is believed to be 26 gm,acording to specifications the 33PTG/II has a dynamic compliance of 10x10-6cm/dyne,
    I understand everything under 12x10-6cm/dyne is low compliance;
    the cart i'm using, the BENZ MICRO GOLD has a compliance of 15micras/mN,that's a modérate compliance.
    According to the THE VINYL ENGINE cartridge resonance evaluator,with the compliance value 10 and the cart weight 7 i get 9 Hz resonance,green zone.
    At least on paper sounds good,or are these values not very trusty?

    Thanks all.
     
  24. ruben lopez

    ruben lopez Nunc Est Bibendum

    Location:
    Barcelona Spain
    Oh,i see the Japanes carts compliance is measured at 100 Hz,not 10Hz....if i multiply by 1.5 i get a resonance valué of 7 Hz,yellow zone.
    If i multiply by 2 i get 6Hz,not good.
    I guess it's somewhere in between,For a combined mass of 33(cart,arm,screws)The resonance valué is between 7 and 8.Not optimal at all but then again,
    i'm using a slightly less compliant cart right now 15 at 10Hz,and i don't have problems.:shrug:

    Really confused:confused:
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2019
  25. Davey

    Davey NP: Hania Rani/Dobrawa Czocher ~ Inner Symphonies

    Location:
    SF Bay Area, USA
    Well, like I said, it measures around 20-22 cu in my experience. The multiplier to derive a 10Hz compliance is just a guesstimate, and not always very accurate, especially on some of the AT cartridges. The cartridge weight with screws is around 8.5 gm too since the screws generally need to be pretty long. As I said, it will work, others have done it, but just doesn't seem like an optimal match for the arm, there are a lot of other cartridges out there in the world that are actually designed for heavy arms. But .... the 33PTG/II is a very nice sounding cartridge available for a very attractive price, so don't let my comments dissuade you too much, I've heard some very nice sounding setups that ignored these resonance limits, and some very bad sounding ones that went strictly by the book, they are just guidelines :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2019
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