I suspect that the phono section of my Nikko receiver wasn't up to the task of handling the HOMC signal of the 1000LT because when I brought my Lounge phono pre into the mix, the excessive brightness was gone! Plus I didn't have to turn the volume knob of the receiver up so far to get the volume I wanted. I hear what everyone is talking about now. 'Heck of a cartridge, especially for the price.
I need another cartridge like I need a hole in the head but since my DL-110 expired a year ago, I think this SAE will fill in nicely. Great thread!
Pulled the trigger on one, i probably only have a couple months left on my stylus in my AT540 (ill buy a new stylus) but this sae should be a fun time. Never had a MC and never really compared carts besides when upgrading my prior AT cart. Between the cart and a new headshell, should be $140 well spent.
Its possible that the pins on the back of the cartridge might have a contamination film from the original packing material, and this might need to be cleaned off with alcohol or contact cleaner. Just throwing it out there as a possibility. I've seen out-gassing from old packing materials interfere with the contacts of NOS switches, so who knows.
If you have a multimeter, test with that. It will tell you very quickly if the cartridge is broken. Common issue with MCs are a broken coil or transmission line. Hopefully the seller can get you a refund or replacement.
already did that. its open. opened a case and have a return label to send it back so i dont expect a refund to be an issue. this may be a sign from the cosmos that i have too many carts!
It would save a lot of time. For whatever reason they aren't doing that. Maybe after issuing enough refunds and replacements they might think about getting a $15 multimeter to test with.
Especially as these aren't exactly in tamper proof packaging, from the looks of it. I got mine just in a little ziploc bag and some bubble wrap. It would literally take a few seconds to a do a multimeter check before sealing the baggie!
True, a DMM won't cause any harm since the resistance measurements are done with a very low value constant current source, but moving coil cartridges generally have permeable cores that the coils are wound on (unless they are of the air core type, which these aren't), so the DC current through the coils will tend to leave a residual magnetism on the core. Probably not much, and probably not a concern with a quick measurement, but that is one reason someone may be reluctant to check them
Excellent, it's like rereading me from about ten years ago, I also grabbed one at that time. I used it on my LP12 with great results so at this price, even better. Although 'today-me' would be a little more wary of that suspension, 'bargain-hunter me' would say meh!! Another caveat, however: when I sent mine to ESCo for a retip, they informed me the cart disintegrated during the curing process. They made good on the deal, though and sent me another cart instead that I was very happy with. DD
To be fair, If I were in charge of selling cartridges which were still in their original manufacturer's (Coral) packaging and were undistrurbed for all these years, the last thing I'd think of is that some of them could have open coils. I would be more interested in checking that the stylus was not obviously damaged and things like that. I still can't imagine how coils could become open somehow just sitting in storage, but I would imagine they are checking that now.
I just bought one. Could not find an LT on ebay with a search, so your link was a blessing. I did not want the E version. I think this will outperform my VM540ML. $99 is the deal of the decade.
Most amplifiers MM inputs can have more than enough volume with 2.5mv input. I use a 3.5mv MM and have a lot of volume with my tube amp.
Folks, more than 10 SAE 1000LT are still available as of 11/7/2022 and will sell out shortly. This cartridge is reported to sound as good as $500 and higher priced cartridges per a few audio sites. $99 is a steal.
