Types Of Turntable Cartridge For High Quality Sounds

By Stephen Reynolds


A magnetic cartridge is one important component of a record player since it is used for the recordings of analog sound playback which are also called as records. But now, the common name for this is turntable. Other terms used before are phonograph and gramophone. Cartridge is known also as pick up and it is a type of device which is electro mechanical that will convert vibrational to electrical energy. The electrical signal that the cartridge has created is amplified and is converted by loud speakers to sound.

The components of this includes cantilever, styluses, coils, magnets, and the body. The mounted stylus serves as a contact to the record groove. The styluses are usually made out from industrial gemstones or small polished diamonds. The cantilever serves as a support to its stylus and it will transmit the vibrations to magnet or coil assembly. Cantilevers before are often made from aluminum or boron. There are some types of a turntable cartridge that contains detachable cantilever and styluses which may be an advantage because there is no need to replace or remove cartridges if the styluses are worn out.

Cartridges have many different kinds varying from different shapes and sizes. Moving coil and moving magnet are two common technology principles which powers the types. Moving coil is more advanced when it comes to design and this kind is also more expensive. Some MC types have cheaper designs but have poor sound results.

In magnet cartridges, stylus cantilevers always carry magnets permanently positioned in between the 2 fixed coils forming an electromagnetic generator. When the magnet vibrates responses the stylus, it will induce some current. Since the magnets have a little mass and its size is small, and it is also not mechanically connected to the generator, adjusted styluses will follow the groove and requires lesser tracking force.

The induced magnetic types and also iron types have ferrous alloy or pieces of iron that moves. Instead of coupling magnets, these two materials are connected to its cantilevers. The permanent and the bigger magnet is positioned above the coils that provide a needed magnetic flux.

The design of MC cartridges is an electromagnetic type of generator. Unlike MM designs, magnet and coils are reversed. Coil is attached to stylus moving in a constant magnet. The coil is made of very tiny fine wire. However, some MC cartridges may also have an output indistinguishable to MM cartridges.

Another type is the moving micro cross cartridge. This MMC design is considered as one variation of MI design. Both the magnets and the coils remain in place while the micro cross will be moving with the stylus.

And one last type is a London Decca cartridge. This is considered as a unique design and its coils and magnets are fixed. The styluses have tips made from diamond, it has a short iron, and its cantilever is in L shape made from a non magnetic steel.

The iron is placed so close to the tip of stylus and this results to the accuracy of motions tracking. Engineers of the type often called the tracking as positive scanning. The London Decca type is often very musical but its early versions are required to have more tracking forces.




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