AT440mlb (amazing) Thank you Quadfather

I have just finished setting up my system after a 5 year break (building our next home), I now at last I have a dedicated room for my quadraphonic system.
My gear is a CD4, SQ system exactly as it was circa 1972-1975.
After the last replacement stylus for my jvc Victor X1 cartridge wore out around 15 years ago I have been using a DL160 for normal stereo and occasional playing of CD4 records which it did I thought reasonably well.
Moving on I bought a AT440mlb cartridge after reading the quadfather's recommendations ( this is the first Micro ridge stylus I have ever used I always assumed they were like ordinary line contact types) (not shibata) which never gave success.
The cartridge took several hours to set up as azimuth and stylus rake angle seem critical with this stylus shape and rewired my technics SL110 and got the total wiring and plugs capacitance down to 57 pf.
Finally deoxed the 4dd5 and got my CD4 test record out and started setting the left channel difference control and WOW! the null point just snapped in, virtually zero crosstalk, same on the right channel and after 3-4 clicks on the level pot zero distortion!
This is a great cartridge for CD4 probably better than the Victor X1 ever was, though getting low capacitance cable was always hard back then (no cheap capacitance meters) and most UK HI-FI shops didn't know what capacitance or cartridge loading was.
Finally again
THANK YOU

You are welcome.

Grajay said:

I have just finished setting up my system after a 5 year break (building our next home), I now at last I have a dedicated room for my quadraphonic system.
My gear is a CD4, SQ system exactly as it was circa 1972-1975.
After the last replacement stylus for my jvc Victor X1 cartridge wore out around 15 years ago I have been using a DL160 for normal stereo and occasional playing of CD4 records which it did I thought reasonably well.
Moving on I bought a AT440mlb cartridge after reading the quadfather's recommendations ( this is the first Micro ridge stylus I have ever used I always assumed they were like ordinary line contact types) (not shibata) which never gave success.
The cartridge took several hours to set up as azimuth and stylus rake angle seem critical with this stylus shape and rewired my technics SL110 and got the total wiring and plugs capacitance down to 57 pf.
Finally deoxed the 4dd5 and got my CD4 test record out and started setting the left channel difference control and WOW! the null point just snapped in, virtually zero crosstalk, same on the right channel and after 3-4 clicks on the level pot zero distortion!
This is a great cartridge for CD4 probably better than the Victor X1 ever was, though getting low capacitance cable was always hard back then (no cheap capacitance meters) and most UK HI-FI shops didn't know what capacitance or cartridge loading was.
Finally again
THANK YOU

Click to expand...

I too now have the 440mlb and it works flawlessly. I spent a minimum amount of hassle with the new cartridge. (But I went into this with a lot of pre-planning, however. Had my protractor printed out, stylus pressure gauge handy, etc. The VTA was a direct match to the Ortofon's. Checked every other spec I could think of: azimuth and so forth...) So, just about 20 min total swapping out my Ortofon cart (on my stock Music Hall MMF-2.2) and I was set. Turned on the Lafayette CD-4 demod. and honestly it's worked perfectly all day. I did have to make a few tiny adjustments to the tracking weight and ani-skate that cleared up minor carrier lock issues on the very inner tracks on this Nillson LP, and only on side 2. The other LP's play fine. These Quadradiscs sound very, very good, I'll admit. And I have the TT output passed thru the Lafayette CD-4 to the SQ-W straight to my Yamaha's (RX-V1) phono stage. Yes, the Pro-ject arm's wiring isn't technically up to spec, but I DID run a very HQ RCA patch cable to the CD-4 box to try to retain as much of the carrier signal as possible. It seems that the 440mlb's output level in the FM carrier's part of the band is pretty strong, signal level wise. Strong enough to never have any issues with the demod staying locked. Overall, listening to this Lafayette demod, it sounds very natural with no "harshness" that I've read that can be a negative of some demodulators. So far, it seems to be a good choice.

Incidentally, I really hate to hear about the other members who haven't been so lucky with what has been literally plug-and-play for my set up. Well, even the demodulator's Sep adjustments were already set ok. The previous owner had been using it (not sure with exactly with what set-up) but I'm leaving them alone. The fidelity, separation, freq response, lack of noise are plenty of reasons enough to leave well enough alone. The surround towers sound as good as the front mains. It's simply enjoyable to listening to these. Along with that SQ-W I'm building a nice quad set-up that seems to work very well. And I can just relax and enjoy the music--which is what it ultimately, I feel, should be about... (Although I AM fascinated by the technology in how these work.) But this was actually fun to set-up. So Quadfather, great suggestion on this cartridge. And above all, it's an improvement over the Ortofon cartridge. Those Infinity Overture's have a fairly neutral sound, albeit a bit on the warm/darker side, so the top end accentuation the AT has was welcomed. In some ways, the Ortofon's midrange was (maybe) a bit more natural. But I realize this AT cart hasn't been broken it yet. A lot of that WILL change. I guess then next step is more titles, lol. It's only money, right..? But honestly, this hasn't been all THAT expensive over all. The cart ran me $165 (NIB). The Lafayette demod was $140 and then the cost of the LP's... Only have about 12 or so, at this point but they're stuff I'll listen to a lot. (The Doors, Nillson, Carly Simon, Doobies, Eagles, Seals and Crofts, etc..)

I'd say you managed to get a good set-up, simply done, and in about one go. Now you're able to play all of the big three LP formats.
I had wondered how the Lafayette demodulator measured up, knowing that they were able to progressively improve their SQ decoder.

I managed to get my hands on a AT440mla and wow, pricey but it seems to do the job! I've had an issue on my setup for a while where I could have good Carrier in either channel, or poor Carrier in both channels. I tried a vintage "Quadraphonic" stylus/cartridge years ago that I can no longer remember what it was - then I tried an Ed Saunders cart which produced about the same results. I'd been through four different demodulators and a handful of stylii/cartridges and I was beginning to suspect maybe it was my turntable.

Well, I strapped up the mla tonight and instantly had good carrier in both channels! Both sides demodulate properly now with only a hint of crackle. My Project 3 test disc seems to have issues where it will lose carrier on one side - it's an odd thing where either the left or right side will simply collapse to stereo with a bunch of static, yet the meter will still show healthy carrier. I figure it's an issue with the disc as none of mine are mint by any means.

Still, even with the most basic, quick setup I managed to get satisfactory CD-4 with healthy separation. If my discs were in better shape, I'm sure I'd have better CD-4!

This is the stylus/cartridge to get. Better snap 'em up fast if they're being discontinued!

AT are still doing microline stylii but the cost for the new models is significantly higher. I've had a couple of emails from AT about it, none of which have said what different engineering there is, only that they're different.