[Wharf_Rat]

As I wait for my Amadeus GTA to ship, I have naturally been spending 98% of my free time completely obsessing about what cartridge I should put on it. For now, the thinking is that a top shelf mm or mi cart will yield more total enjoyment for my limited budget than what I'd be able to scratch together after adding a decent SUT or pre-pre (not to mention another IC) to amplify whatever MC I could afford after all that.

My reading has yielded up a few contenders, one of which is the MM3. One advantage in its corner is that it would presumably be a perfect mate for my GSP Reflex M amp, having been developed using the same. I have read comments here recommending it for these arms/turntables and indeed downplaying the need for careful matching on cartridges as would be needed with other set-ups.

So as a check-the-box activity, I emailed The Cartridge Man and was surprised to receive the reply that, to paraphrase, the MM3 would not work with WT due to the level of damping vis-à-vis that and other high compliance units. Said it was not a matter of mass as much as inertia. Signed from the man himself.

I would never question what forum members have heard with their ears, particularly against my internet research, but am interested to resolve that experience with whatever Len G meant about his cartridges, WTL arms and "inertia" which I am not sure I understand fully.

Any ideas? Anyone running any of the music makers? Other high compliance carts? Although that's been the frontrunner thus far, I am also considering the Virtuoso or Maestro woods from Clearaudio.

[watercourse]

I don't have any high compliance carts, so I can't give any experiences direct experiences on my Simplex.

Inertia is simply the tendency for an object to remain in its present state of rest (or motion), or to resist changes in state. What I'm understanding Len to mean is: resistance to movement across the LP side is increased when you add damping. This means that the resistance presented by the damping fluid prevents the arm from completely free movement, so it doesn't turn as readily on the pivot point (the golf ball), and there is some drag presented by adding damping.

In the case of my medium compliance DV20XL, I have applied so much antiskate that I have seen the cantilever go off from perfectly perpendicular to the body. The antiskate force acts in a similar way to inertia, in that there is a lateral force pushing the arm outward toward the armrest (to overcome the tendency or inertia of the arm to "skate" towards the spindle when playing). With inertia, it's the mass of the arm, plus the viscosity of the damping fluid that creates the tendency for the arm to stay in place rather than rotate freely. And the more damping you add, the greater the inertia or drag.

To a high compliance cart (in which the cantilever assembly offers lower resistance to movement), this could mean that in worst case, the stylus may "get ahead" of the arm, as the cantilever is less resistant than the arm/damping fluid to movement, and the cantilever then becomes a pivot point. Here, the stylus would appear noticeably closer to the spindle than the arm and cart body. I would imagine that at the very least, this would not be the ideal conditions for the cantilever suspension to function properly.

I don't know whether this would have audible effects, but it would make it darn hard to align and get azimuth correct if it's bad enough.

[mick wolfe]

Those are two good choices so far. The Virtuoso certainly is highly thought of and more likely to be found at a discount....especially an earlier model. I looked at the MM myself, but was turned off by what seemed to be  continually rising prices. Maybe I didn't dig deep enough to find a more reasonable price. I would also consider the Dynavector 20XH or maybe even one of the Soundsmiths. I had the SMMC2 on my Amadeus for starters and it was perfectly compatible. I think the Amadeus arm is user friendly and opens the door to a lot of possibilities. My current Denon 103R works quite well also.
This is not a particularly fussy arm from what I've read and experienced.

[ulysses]

I've owned an original Well Tempered turntable and tonearm for 26+ years. I'm currently using a Music Maker Classic phono cartridge and before that a Music Maker 3. I also used (but recently sold) the original Graham Slee Reflex phono stage (not the Reflex M). My opinion is that the Music Maker cartridges work beautifully with the Well Tempered and Reflex, assuming the cartridge is aligned correctly AND set up correctly.

Accurate stylus pressure is critical for Music Maker cartridges, so don't even consider buying one unless you have a good electronic stylus pressure gauge that measures stylus pressure when the stylus tip is at the height it would be playing a typical LP. Second, run minimal anti-skating. Achieving minimal anti-skating with my original Well Tempered meant more than just minimizing the anti-skating adjustment. I had to loosen the screw that holds the tonearm bearing disc to the bottom of the arm pillar and rotate the disc vs. the tonearm to untwist the monofilament as much as possible. Third, run minimal damping. On my Well Tempered, I have the silicon fluid just touching the bottom of the tonearm bearing disc.

In my experience, the Well Tempered can work well with both low and high compliance cartridges. Like the Well Tempered, Music Maker cartridges are versatile and a great choice for the money. Music Makers are dynamic and well-rounded cartridges and therefore an excellent choice for people who enjoy all types of music.

Phil

[watercourse]

Thanks Ulysses, nothing replaces real experience. This is interesting to me too and opens up possibilities.

[Wharf_Rat]

Agreed. I appreciate the first-hand experience as well!

Regarding anti-skating, while I still don't have the 'table in front of me (hopefully it arrives this week!) I can't fathom a way, with the Amadeus's arm, to decrease the filament twist in anything other than 90-degree increments while maintaining concentricity to the bath walls, like you can do by rotating the bearing disk. Maybe a current owner can correct me. On the other hand, I wonder if anything more OR less than the recommended .5 twist on these "bearings" would actually increase the skating force (this hypothesis comes out of my extensive research playing on swingsets as a child ).

On the other hand, in theory I feel that the Amadeus should be even easier to fine-tune for damping due to the ball vs disk shape, but still wonder how much my minimizing damping would be a compromise between the unique benefits of the cartridge and the unique benefits of the table/arm. Thanks again for the insight!

[ulysses]

I don't have any experience with the new line of Well Tempered turntables. Maybe the minimum anti-skating setting on your Amadeus will be correct for a high compliance cartridge such as the Music Maker.

Phil