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REVIEW: Audio Technica AT150mlx Phono Cartridge

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Model: AT150mlx
Category: Phono Cartridge
Suggested Retail Price: $499
Description: Audio Technica AT150mlx Moving Magnet Cartridge
Manufacturer URL: Audio Technica
Model Picture: View

Review by Daverz on April 27, 2009 at 18:14:38
IP Address: 24.161.171.180
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for the AT150mlx


I've tried the 150 with two arms, the RB300 with Incognito rewire and the SME309 with stock tonearm cable, and several phono preamps so far. Some of the better qualities of the 150:

* A lively, clear-as-a-bell midrange.
* Quick and dynamic. Sails through complex orchestral passages with ease.
* Overall greater clarity than any of the moving coils I have, which I attribute to the higher output.
* Very quiet in the groove, and forgiving of less than optimal vinyl.
* Exellent tracking, though not quite as good its MC sister, the AT33PTG, at the "nominal" tracking force .
* Solid bass.

Of course, as with most MMs, the user can replace the stylus assembly (the ATN150MLX, about half the price of the original cart), but you also get about the most sophisticated stylus cut and cantilever you can get on an MM at this price point (fact check, please).

Now for the downside: with all the phono sections I've tried, the cartridge sounded either overdamped (in which case it sounds like some harmonics are missing at the upper end of the frequency range, particularly noticeable on massed violins) or underdamped (in which case the cart sounds phasey and unsettled.)

This can be hard to tune because few phono preamps give you much flexibility with capacitive or resistive loading of MM carts. The tonearm cable adds its own capacitance to the equation, and it may be hard to replace. The stock SME cable and tonearm leads have a total C of 155pF (from specs, not measured).

For the theory see:

http://www.hagtech.com/loading.html

Perhaps I've just had bad luck with the phono sections I've tried. The best results so far have been with the phono section that comes with the BAT 3iX preamp, where the 150 sounds only slightly overdamped (BAT does not publish the base capacitive loading for this solid state board). This was more noticeable with orchestral music than pop/rock.

It seemed very overdamped with the Bryston B-60P, which uses an unusually high capacitive loading (I had a similar experience with the Bryston and another MM, the Clearaudio Aurem Beta).

I also had poor luck with the Rogue Stealth, where it always sounded underdamped at either capacitance setting (0 or 150pF). AT lists the optimal range for capacitive loading as 100-200pF, but my results don't always correspond to what the arithmetic of tonearm capacitance + phono preamp capacitance might suggest, so there's some voodoo going on here I don't understand.

I've got a 99.997% silver DIN-> RCA tonearm cable on order from an ebay seller, so I'll report on any improvement that might give. (Perhaps I should have waited, but I wanted to get my thoughts down with I had use of the 3iX.)

Experienced MM users have reported that the 47k Ohm resistive loading is not always optimal for many carts, so that's another factor that could be coming into play here.

I got this cart from J&R for $250 back in the fall, but the street price has gone up considerably since then. It's now in about the same price range as the OC9 and AT33PTG.

I've used the AT33 extensively, but it's only really comparable in terms of surface noise and tracking. If pressed for a relevant difference, I'd say that the 150 has a less "covered" sounding midrange, while the AT33 is more "liquid" sounding, and that the AT33 seems much easier to "dial" in for extended, smooth treble response. Otherwise, being lazy, I'll just say they have qualities typical of their cartridge types.

If I can get the loading right, and get better treble extension without overbrightness, I'm sticking with the 150.


Product Weakness: Difficult to tune treble.
Product Strengths: Quick, clear, quiet, engaging.


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: see speakers
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): BAT 3iX for this review
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Michell Gyro SE w/PSU, Orbe clamp, tonearm decoupler; SME 309 arm
Speakers: NHT Xd system
Cables/Interconnects: standard SME tonearm cable; balanced connection from pre to amp
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Orchestral and Pop/Rock
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Audio Technica AT150mlx Phono Cartridge - Daverz 18:14:38 04/27/09 ( 10)