Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

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tweaks for phono cartridges

Posted by unclestu (D) on January 31, 2013 at 13:57:46

Phono cartridges are essentially tiny generators and as such are very easily modified by altering their magnetic fields and structures.

for MM magnetics like a Shure, one of the easiest mods is to simply remove the stylus assembly and add a couple of small drops of ferrofluid to the orifice. Allow the cartridge to sit for a few minutes so that the ferrofluid can migrate into the coils and essentially you have increased the power of the motor assembly. It will make the cartridge much more dynamic and give finer nuances of detail. It easily ups the performance to the next higher model. It takes about an hour or so to break in, mainly having the ferrofluid distribute itself throughout the coil structure.

For MC types which use a standard magnet with two formers dropping down to focus th magnetic field on the coils, take a rubberized magnet (refridgerator type) and cut roughly an 1/8th inch square piece. Place it on the cartridge body front. The magnetism should retain this piece, if it seems to stand up and away from the body, cut another piece, as the rubberized magnets generally alter the poles n-s along the surface.

This, of course, intensifies the magntic field going through the coils, again creating a more powerful motor assembly. Same results as the ferrofluid on MM types.

You can also add ferrofluid ( being very careful) to the actual MC coils. I achieve pretty good results, BUT ( I need to add this disclaimer) some rubber suspensions react adversely to the mineral oil in the ferrofluid. I had good results with the Benz and Monster cartridges.

If you have either metglas or mu metal you can also use these materials to channel the magnetic field to the coil area. On the front of the MC types with the horseshoe magnetic structure, a small piece of mumetal down the front of the cartridge helps to "pull" the magnetic field through the coils. The piece I use generally measures about 1/4 inch by 3/16. You can place the earlier magnet trick on top of the mumetal and it will work. These pieces are so lightweight that adding them to a cartridge will rarely change the VTF.

Depending on the construction, sometimes a piece on the top of the body also will work well, as well as the sides. The key is that you are attempting to focus the magnetic fields on the coil structure, so the ends of the mumetal or metglas should end at the center of the coil structure

Any way have fun,

Stu

Edits: 02/01/13

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