Catridge upgrade suggestion for Technics SL1700 MK II

Hassan Khani

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My Technics 1700 MK II i came with Technics 270C cartridge. Recently bought Technics 2000 and it came with National Panasonic 2700 II cartridge. Technics 2000 has some severe grounding issue. I put the National Panasonic 2700 II cartridge in Technics 1700 and the sound is much much better compared to the stock 270C.

I wanted to upgrade the stock cartridge and was thinking of Ortofon 2M Red / Shure M97XE. Please suggest whether any of these cartridge will be an upgrade to the Panasonic 2700 II cartridge. Also what else would be a better choice within $200.

The preamp am using have only MM phono input, no MC input.

I listen mostly old tamil and hindi LPs in acceptable condition.

Your suggestion / help would be really appreciated.

Also if any one willing to sell a original technics headshell or any of the above cartridge please let me know.
 
My Technics 1700 MK II i came with Technics 270C cartridge. Recently bought Technics 2000 and it came with National Panasonic 2700 II cartridge. Technics 2000 has some severe grounding issue. I put the National Panasonic 2700 II cartridge in Technics 1700 and the sound is much much better compared to the stock 270C.

I wanted to upgrade the stock cartridge and was thinking of Ortofon 2M Red / Shure M97XE. Please suggest whether any of these cartridge will be an upgrade to the Panasonic 2700 II cartridge. Also what else would be a better choice within $200.

The preamp am using have only MM phono input, no MC input.

I listen mostly old tamil and hindi LPs in acceptable condition.

Your suggestion / help would be really appreciated.

Also if any one willing to sell a original technics headshell or any of the above cartridge please let me know.

For old Hindi LPs, Shure M 44-7 will work like a charm. It will never skip and sound will be aggressive even though from poor recorded LPs and EPs. Shure M97Xe is an audiophile cartridge which is very smooth and balanced but works best on VG+ LPs. Both are MM cartridges.

Regards,
Sourav
 
You If you have can source an Mc preamp, get a denon dl103. The prices of that cartridge have dropped really low these days.

reignofchaos, could you please write here: Which MC cart will be suitable to our Indian classical, Old Bollywood film songs? Other than DL-103, what about the other MC carts- DL-110 and 301 MKII ?. It's said that, DL-110 is better since it's light weight cart so that will be less in groove wear out. Thank you.
Regards.
sunder.
 
reignofchaos, could you please write here: Which MC cart will be suitable to our Indian classical, Old Bollywood film songs? Other than DL-103, what about the other MC carts- DL-110 and 301 MKII ?. It's said that, DL-110 is better since it's light weight cart so that will be less in groove wear out. Thank you.
Regards.
sunder.

For old music, dl103 is THE cartridge to get. It was the cart used by most radio stations and also most recording studios to listen to the cut record. It also works pretty well with most technics tonearms.
 
For old Hindi LPs, Shure M 44-7 will work like a charm. It will never skip and sound will be aggressive even though from poor recorded LPs and EPs. Shure M97Xe is an audiophile cartridge which is very smooth and balanced but works best on VG+ LPs. Both are MM cartridges.

Regards,
Sourav

Shure M 44-7 is mentioned as DJ Cartridge. Is there a difference for home use? Also there is a wide variation of price. In India it is around 7K. Is there a reliable place to buy this at reasonable price?

You If you have can source an Mc preamp, get a denon dl103. The prices of that cartridge have dropped really low these days.

This has been recommended by many and I think should be one of the best buy. However need to wait till I get a good MC phone pre. Do you recommend where to buy this from?
 
Shure M 44-7 is mentioned as DJ Cartridge. Is there a difference for home use? Also there is a wide variation of price. In India it is around 7K. Is there a reliable place to buy this at reasonable price?



This has been recommended by many and I think should be one of the best buy. However need to wait till I get a good MC phone pre. Do you recommend where to buy this from?

There are quite a few (99%+) japanese sellers on ebay. I'd not hesitate getting it from there. The prices are just too good.
 
For old Hindi LPs, Shure M 44-7 will work like a charm. It will never skip and sound will be aggressive even though from poor recorded LPs and EPs. Shure M97Xe is an audiophile cartridge which is very smooth and balanced but works best on VG+ LPs. Both are MM cartridges.

Regards,
Sourav

+1 to Sourav's suggestion.

Never go with opinions or stereo-typed nomenclature. Yes, if you show up in an audiophile gathering and say that you are using a DJ cart, lot of guys will end up laughing, but the bottom line is, you enjoy your music with it and that's what matters. In my opinion, from many years of experience of using it, the M44-7 is the best for regular listening, especially old Indian pressings. The N44-7 stylus that comes with is, is robust and according to Shure, does not cause as much record wear as others. Together with the Technics S-shaped tonearm, the M44-7/N44-7 combo can play almost all types of records (provided there is no physical damage in the form of cracks or ditches, on the record surface) If you ask me, music played with the M44-7 sounds "exciting" to me (but for some, it may sound too loud, too bassy or too upfront). The M97xe is very refined and as close one can get to the famous Shure V-Series. Although I would also recommend trying out some older Shure carts, as these are very good as well. The combination of an older Shure cart and a Jico stylus is great value for money and very enjoyable
 
+1 to Sourav's suggestion.

Never go with opinions or stereo-typed nomenclature. Yes, if you show up in an audiophile gathering and say that you are using a DJ cart, lot of guys will end up laughing, but the bottom line is, you enjoy your music with it and that's what matters. In my opinion, from many years of experience of using it, the M44-7 is the best for regular listening, especially old Indian pressings. The N44-7 stylus that comes with is, is robust and according to Shure, does not cause as much record wear as others. Together with the Technics S-shaped tonearm, the M44-7/N44-7 combo can play almost all types of records (provided there is no physical damage in the form of cracks or ditches, on the record surface) If you ask me, music played with the M44-7 sounds "exciting" to me (but for some, it may sound too loud, too bassy or too upfront). The M97xe is very refined and as close one can get to the famous Shure V-Series. Although I would also recommend trying out some older Shure carts, as these are very good as well. The combination of an older Shure cart and a Jico stylus is great value for money and very enjoyable

Thanks, I also believe in the same philosophy. The reason I asked for difference between DJ & home use, is there a fundamental difference in the way it is mounted and sound signature etc. Looks like it is well suitable for home use. Now just need to get one and use it.
 
+1 to Sourav's suggestion.

Never go with opinions or stereo-typed nomenclature. Yes, if you show up in an audiophile gathering and say that you are using a DJ cart, lot of guys will end up laughing, but the bottom line is, you enjoy your music with it and that's what matters. In my opinion, from many years of experience of using it, the M44-7 is the best for regular listening, especially old Indian pressings. The N44-7 stylus that comes with is, is robust and according to Shure, does not cause as much record wear as others. Together with the Technics S-shaped tonearm, the M44-7/N44-7 combo can play almost all types of records (provided there is no physical damage in the form of cracks or ditches, on the record surface) If you ask me, music played with the M44-7 sounds "exciting" to me (but for some, it may sound too loud, too bassy or too upfront). The M97xe is very refined and as close one can get to the famous Shure V-Series. Although I would also recommend trying out some older Shure carts, as these are very good as well. The combination of an older Shure cart and a Jico stylus is great value for money and very enjoyable

Agree. Good discussion. I have only recently experienced the M44-7.

I have a Shure V15 III cartridge, and a Jico VN35HE SAS stylus. I used it on my Thorens TD 160. Excellent stylus, no doubt. But you need pristine quality vinyl to get the best out of this combo. For my old Indian film music, I sometimes felt that the Jico was extracting too much of the noise too. And then I tried the M44-7. Bassy, yes, loud, yes. But I am beginning to like it - my old Hindi film songs sound much better with this cartridge. And this cart somehow also reduces the clicks and pops, I feel.

Therefore, we really cannot pinpoint a cart-stylus combo that is suitable for all genres of music.
 
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@Sourav, Perfect, in fact listened twice! I am in the process of getting Shure M 44-7 from the Shure dealer. FM Shuv is helping to get one from the dealer in calcutta since am not getting any response from Chennai dealer.
 
@Sourav, Perfect, in fact listened twice! I am in the process of getting Shure M 44-7 from the Shure dealer. FM Shuv is helping to get one from the dealer in calcutta since am not getting any response from Chennai dealer.

Thanks Hassan. Shuv is very nice person and a close friend of mine. We do sit together with other FMs in Kolkata for audio listening sessions.

Regards,
Sourav
 
The Shure M44 7 is an extremely high output cartridge. It's close to 9 mv. More the output, thicker the sound, lesser the details. Increased output is normally got by increased windings. Bollywood songs tend to sound nicer a bit thick. If you plan to use DL 103, you will need a step up transformer for it to sound best. DL 103 has a 0.3 mv output. You could look at DL 110 which has a 1.6 mv output. It will probably work very well for Bollywood music. Will definitely be more detailed than the Shure 44
 
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