The Sophistication of the inexpensive VM540ML

Yeah - you bring up good points. It can be bright, and is - on some records. Lower capacitance cables i use in the 1200 does help, and I use tone controls when necessary. Luckily on a couple of my amps I can defeat or enable the tone control sections at will.

It appears that this new “540” series ML stylus was intended to replace the old 440, but now we have to pony up around $210. If one still wants and can find a discontinued 440mla they’re over $300 now.

I don’t have a replacement or backup microline - so I do intend to buy the gold bodied 740 and also the 760 “SLC” stylus for comparison. Pending how the budget works out.

 

Yep, it would appear they used 250pf total.

Generally, the lower the better with these AT carts. What you could do is a take a test lp sweep measurement from your preamp out or rec out with your different loading settings and use whatever measures the flattest. Or, just use whatever setting sounds the best to you.

 

Bingo, AT raised prices but so did everyone else. I had several of the 440 styli, and the last one I got was $150, before they were discontinued. A new 540 stylus is about $200, which is a price increase. I'm never happy about price increases but in this case I would say AT just followed the market. It's also possible their supplier costs increased a bit, and they had to pass those costs onto the consumer. That can and does happen in just about every business. Notwithstanding the price increases, AT carts are still a very good value, IMHO.

 

Maybe if we start saying the VM540ML sucks they will lower prices.

I've been through my share of under $300 cartridges. I bought the VM540ML and it really is no good.
When I got about a thousand hours on it last week I bought a new stylus for it. And you guessed it, even with a new stylus it still sucks.

 

RE"capacitance" for the 540.

I thought that I was okay as far as the capacitance of my phono-stage/tonearm wiring and phono-cables. But it looks like my values are as follows:

1. Wyred4 Sound PH1 47pf
2. Audio Sensibility phono cables 125 pf
3. VPI tonearm and junction box 143pf (need to measure this)

Which if true gives me a total of 315pf. But in my system and for my use this actually works out great. The sound that I'm getting is fabulous (okay pretty good) and the only thing that I plan to change is to get a 740 body to mount on my other tonearm. I'm very happy with this cartridge.

M~

 

Owner of two 440MLa cartridges here. They do not "suck" and yours is the only opinion I've heard to the contrary in the numerous discussions I've read concerning that model cartridge.

 

I agree, and it's not like we aren't getting fair value for the money that we've spent.

M~

 

Yes, that's only my opinion. But in my system my opinion is the only one that matters. I also has a 2M Blue and I also thought it sucked. But there are many who love it. I was very happy to be rid of it.

I'm happy for you to enjoy your 440, along with whoever else chooses to.

 

I would think the rough Ortofon equivalent is a 2M Bronze (recognizing the difference in stylus profile), and that’s 176% of the VM540ML’s price for the cartridge, or about 160% for the replacement stylus. Factor in that most people would consider a MicroLine stylus a “better” profile than the 2M Bronze’s “fine line” and you are talking about serious value, just comparing those two brands. If you are a Shibata person, just compare the price of a VM750SH to a 2M Black...

 

The only 2M I have is the Mono. I do like it on some mono records. I think it is limited by not being cut to 0.6 mil. I think the 2M series is over-priced across the board.

 

I think so, too, which is why I have not tried one yet. But that is who A-T is competing with in the MM market (and I believe only them in terms of advanced profile styli on MM carts), so as long as they’re keeping their prices this far below Ortofon’s, I find it hard not to consider A-T a good value.

 

Has anyone tried or explore lower capacitance loading than 100pF? That is what I have my current phono pre set at, but it appears there may be some benefit to me dropping that to 0pF (plus phono cable plus tonearm, which in my rig puts it around 50pF total)

 

Ortofon's pricing is a bit better in Europe, but I suspect supplier relationships, overhead, and economies of scale cause them to price their carts a bit higher than AT.

 

Individual favorability isn't a matter of "choice"; it's simply what is.

When I added another turntable in a secondary system, I had strongly (but cautiously) considered the 540ML since the 440MLa was no longer available. Since I had been thoroughly pleased with the performance of the 440, I leapt when an NOS 440 appeared on the auction site for a reasonable price. The cost savings wasn't the factor but the fact that I didn't want to take the chance on being disappointed. This coupled with with fact that NOS 440s seemed to be selling for the same or more than the new 540 suggested (to me at least) that the 440 was possibly a special cartridge.

In any case, I am glad to hear your positive experience of the 540 which is reassuring to know.

 

No doubt. It’s just harder for me as a consumer to take a chance (which is always what we’re doing with a cartridge purchase, right?) on something priced so much higher that doesn’t even offer the stylus profile I want.

 

Did anyone try both the 540 and the 740?

 

The “better” ATs are Japan made - i wouldnt think that would help pricing much.

 

I have a 540ML on a Technics 1200 MK5. I’m in love with the sound. I wish my system was overall a bit louder, but that’s a different story.

I also just received a vm95ML that I got a killer deal on. I haven’t decided what to do with it yet. I have a lp120 in another room that I might mount it on. But I just scored a Technics 1200 MK2 the other day that needs a little work I might mount it on also. I’d like to compare the two.

 

The only difference would be the body casing. The metal case on the 740 version supposedly helps minimize interference or something according to the AT site.

I've been wondering if there are diferences within the new 540/740 generators as compared to the older 120/440 generators.

I have tried the $69 VM610CB stylus on both of my 440/120 generators- and for a bonded conical, it is excellent - it is very detailred and has a warmer presence than the 120 440 styli do. If you’re looking for a good 0.6 mil conical, I recommend it. It tracks better than any of my Shure conicals, by reducing or eliminating that crunchy sound, better on inner grooves, and is more warm like the Shures. I’ve been using the 10CB to rip many of my Stereo 45 singles from the ‘70’s - it is great for that.

 

For those tests, the total capacitance was 100pF for the VM540ML and it was 230pF for the Shure V15VxMR.

 

I should have caught that in your original post, sorry about that.

Nonetheless, I found the VM540ML to be a little bass lean in my own listening test. Which might correlate to your measurements.

I switched back to an old Signet AM10S w/ ATN122LP (bonded line contact) stylus, and got a much better balance.

It is possible I didn't give the VM540ML enough time to break-in, I suppose.

 

what are your guys thoughts on how/if setting capacitance even lower than the recommended 100pF could possibly improve the peaking (or make the sound worse)?

 

But doesn’t Ortofon manufacture in Denmark? Labor is not exactly cheap there, either, is it?

 

I have the EAR 324 phono stage which has tons of options for impedance and capacitance loading. After doing years of exhaustive testing and analyzing frequency response tests with multiple test records, in my opinion its best to load a moving magnet cartridge exactly within the range specified by the cartridge manufacturer. If you don't like the sound with the recommended settings, I believe it's better to get a different cartridge to suit your tastes. I don't think there's a "perfect" cartridge but after owning over a dozen carts (cheapest was a Sure M97xE, most were/are in the $750-$2,000 range, one topping out at $8,000) I think you can get as good as it gets, performance-wise, with Audio Technica carts. None of them were "improved" by loading them outside of the recommended range. Whatever issue alternate loading may have fixed, it would cause a more negative effect somewhere else.

 

thank you! I had some time today to actually pull out the hunk of aluminum called the pass aleph ono, open her up, and change the internal dip switch to 0 pF capacitance loading just to experiment. With 3ft of BJC LC-1 and internal tonearm wiring estimated around 10-20pF depending on who you ask, that brings it to around 50pF. Nothing is sticking out at the moment in regards to the sound, and I’ll continue to listen and enjoy and see if anything brings attention to itself, but I’ll probably click it back to 100 pF inside the phono whenever i lug the thing out again. I do wish this phono allowed easier changes but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise (and it sounds pretty ridiculously good). Once I set it back to 100pF, with wiring that puts me right in the middle of their recommended range, which is probably a safe place to keep it at. Thank you for your insight.