Tír Na HiFi

Hi all.
I have just secured a new Clearaudio Concerto v2 cartridge to be fitted to my performance turntable. I have only ever used moving magnet cartridges and at present use the Clearaudio Maestro . Can Forum members please tell me the virtues of and sonic improvements I should expect with this new moving coil cartridge and in particular has anyone here owned this cartridge in the past or using it at present. Id value all truthful and constructive comments please .
Thanks all

Funny, I'm in the opposite camp, never had a MM cart, always using MC.

My opinion (subject to correction) is that MC always bested MM in the past. However advances over the last number of years has probably closed the gap somewhat.

It would be interesting to hear a shootout between both types from the same manufacturer i.e. Ortofon 2M Black vrs a Ortofon Quintet Black for example.

But compatibility with equipment (synergy) is important, a friend recently replaced a Ortofon 2M red with a Sumiko Bluepoint No2, everything else remained the same, but the improvement in quality of the music was big. Synergy was the only thing we could put it down to. The phono stage was just receiving more and giving out more detail etc, the entire system was working much better as a whole.

But it all adds up, I've heard a truly excellent components doing ok, keep everything the same but change the TT and suddenly you are into another dimension of sound quality, like going from a basic Ford Focus to a Focus RS. High mass platters and long tone arms make a big big difference even when using the same cartridge.

In a nutshell, for a better cart I would expect more detail, clarity, crisper dynamics, closer proximity to the music. Only one way to find out however.

But if you are disappointed with the Concerto cart, it may not be the cart itself, but the phonostage which requires changing etc. You could literally have the best cart in the world but it is going to be held back by the weakest link in the chain, phonostage, amp or speakers etc. So if you know the cart can give more (because you have heard it on another system for example) then the other components have to be looked at.

Coincidentally I hear Cloneys are going to be getting in a Luxman EQ500 phonostage over the next few weeks, now that is going to be very interesting.

Let us know how things go!

thanks for that Adrian
Regarding the mm cart I'm using ( Maestro ) , it is very good and regarded as possibly the best mm available thus the high price. I have every confidence that the Concerto at over 2 grand will be excellent . I agree with your remarks about synergy , thus I chose the Clearaudio over a possible van den huh , as My tt is a Clearaudio performance and about three years ago when I was more flush an opportunity arose in Cloneys and I bought a Clearaudio Balanced master reference dual mono phono amp , which I am excited at hearing more of its potential with this mc. I expect about 100 hrs breaking before final settling down . Im hoping this big investment will produce a significant improvement on an already good sounding setup . Thanks again for your thoughts

Well sounds like you have a good set up there, the Clearaudio gear is very well made.

I would think you should be in for a treat, without going into various discriptive hyperbole about this and that I would expect you to hear a improvement in the quality of music, my money is that the MC will have the edge over the MM.

Without blowing the bank you may wish to give some of the other brands a go too, Ortofon and Denon come well regarded and can be have for not too much money. But I would not expect a 500 - 800 euro cart to match a 2K one.

I got a Ortofon Rondo Bronze cart a few years ago, nice cart etc, but it was not working well with my existing TT. Added a different TT recently and the entire system entered light speed, an entirely different dimension was audible.

Just to throw in my 2c - like Adrian, I had favoured MCs as having better rendition of detail (so better soundstage) and far more nuanced high frequencies. The phonostage is huge though, and I think you will be well served by what you have - it should let the new cart shine through. I do think there are advances being made in this area though, and newer MM designs are probably excellent. One of the issues in the past was that MM were seen as "budget" and maybe do only limited attention was paid to building them. MC were higher end, and maybe they got more attention in the build and design - which moved them further ahead.

Good luck with the new cart....

I believe that detail and articulation are noted qualities of Clearaudio , so thanks for your interesting comments . If the cartridge works well in my system , the expense will be well worth it. Im excitedly confident . It could create a whole new vinyl collection out of my existing collection .
Thanks again

Congrats Patrick. The Clearaudio MC`s are superb carts. Just bear in mind that there is no "close enough" when setting them up (unlike elliptical designs which are much more forgiving). Just like other high-end carts the stylus profile is soooooo small and pointy that extreme care and ocd behaviour is essential to getting them aligned correctly :-). Loading is usually around 300-400ohms too. If Michael from Cloney is doing the honours then it will be perfect I imagine. I can do it for you if needs be though. Just pm me. Happy listening!

Thanks Bod for your kind offer and advice . Noel Cloney has agreed to fit the cartridge and set up the phono to cart specs . i hope the cart gels well with my performance ( original model , creating a lower noise floor and opening up the soundstage with more detail . My experience to date with Clearaudio has been one of total satisfaction and confidence and trouble free. here hoping !!