AT 440 MLa

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I got a private message from a member asking "How is the bass with this cart?"   I was going to respond via PM but thought it might make for good general discussion.

Well, this is kind of a loaded (pun intended) question.   Lots of people complain that the cart is "brittle" or "shrill" but I've never found that to be the case.   However, from what I've heard on my (and other) systems, how the cart is loaded is of utmost importance.   It sounds (IMHO) really great through the pre on my Marantz 2230.   So much so that I have tried external phono pres and found either no improvement or in at least one case an obvious degradation of the sound.

The other thing about this cart is that it is best on tables with more substantial "S" shaped or other tubular arms and especially with adjustable VTA.   The bass is profoundly affected by the VTA.   On my JVC QL-A7, I have the arm at the pivot point adjusted as high as it will go.   Lower it down and the sound really thins out.

But you know that opinions are hard to judge by, so I uploaded a small sampler of recordings of records that I have done so you can hear for yourself how this cart sounds in my system.   No EQ was used on any of these tracks.

The system...

JVC QL-A7 direct drive turntable (with mods).
Audio-Technica AT440MLa Cartridge.
Marantz Model 2230 Receiver (Phono Pre).
Vinyl meticulously hand cleaned.
E-Mu 1212m soundcard capturing at 32 bit float, 192 khz.
Lightly polished with ClickRepair (unless completely manually declicked - see description)
Stray pops missed by CR manually removed with Audition single click tool (never batch processed).

You will need WinRAR or similar to unpack the download and you need a player that handles FLAC (may I recommend Foobar) to play these lossless, Redbook quality files.   Oh, and Rapidshare is a bit of a bother for free users, but hopefully you will find the files worth the minute or so of inconvenience.   Come back and tell me what YOU think of the bass on this cart.

https://rapidshare.com/files/553993773/How does that cart sound.rar

[tinpan]

I have this cartridge and think it's wonderful. I bought it a couple years ago and put it on my old Kenwood TT. I was shocked at how nice it sounded.

Funny you should be discussing this cartridge, I was discussing with another buddy yesterday.

One thing I was wondering though, I paid I think $ 59 or $59 bucks for it a couple years ago. We were looking at pricing yesterday and the price is now in the $200 range. I wonder why the big price increase?

Maybe I'll have to move it to a nicer turntable

[Shayne]

I have two 440's on two different tables and i've heard in on a few more. It tracks records great. It has a quiet background and almost never reveals inner groove distortion. No matter how played out a record is. I've never really heard this cartridge sound bright on any system, it tends to be subdued in my opinion. My only beef with this cartridge is that over time the cantilever suspension tends to give up and it becomes a "lowrider". I've had this happen after only about a year of use which I find to be unacceptable. I've spoken to AT and they offered to replace the stylus if I sent it in for them to test and it had to have been purchased within a year.

The recent retail price increase to $239 makes this cartridge less appealing. If you look around and you're patient these so on sale all the time for $150 range, sometimes even less.

[OldiesButGoodies]

Tinpan - did you pay $59 for the 440ml or the 440mla?  The price difference then vs now looks to be huge - I wonder what drove their pricing logic.

I am not hearing any issues with bass here, or top end harshness.  Sounds like this cart is competitive with the Grado Gold.  The 'low rider' issue is disconcerting though - has anyone else experienced that?

[tinpan]

Ahh you are right it was the MLa

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I've got two years on this stylus and have not had that issue.   I'm glad the sound clips were beneficial.

[Shayne]

That "lowrider" problem seems to be hit or miss. If you do a google search i'm positive you will find some reading material. I talked to James Walker, the AT service manager in Ohio about the problem. He indicated that it's a known problem, but like I said earlier, will offer to replace them within a year. It seems like if it's gonna happen it, you will know before a year is up.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I found AT's customer service to be very good.   My first 440 dropped a tip about eight months in.   I sent it to them with the receipt and they sent me a new one, no questions asked.

[wkhanna]

The AT's in general have a rep for being on the bright side.
I have an AT150MLX, a high output model.
It too, is said to be bright.
This may be more a system synergy issue, IMHO.
Also, having VTA adjustment is critical to getting most out of it.

I find it to be well balanced, accurate, tracks like a pedigree hound dog, does not suffer from inner groove distortion and the fine line stylus uses a part of the groove missed by other geometry styluses, making it a great choice for used LP's.
JMHO YMMV