Buying a MC cartridge is something I should have done years ago. This particular ones sound quality is outstanding when played on my Sony PS-X60 turntable and listened through my Ohm model i speakers. The depth of the musical detail and subtle voice details along with background talk is, as if I’m in the studio listening to it in person. I’ve owned many high end MM cartridges which have had great detail or so I thought, but when compared to this audio technica cartridge, you quickly realize how muted and muddy the MM cartridges can be. The LPs I have owned for most of my life and are very familiar with still blow me away with things I’ve never heard before in the sound tracks.I am extremely happy with his purchase and I am fully enjoying its musical experience.This will not disappoint you should you buy it.

This cartridge is absurdly good for the price. Best I have heard under $1500. It is so clean and balanced, with strong deep bass and crystal clear highs. I am running it on a Project X2 with BJC phono cable. Couldn't be happier, and it was a HUGE upgrade over the Ortofon's and Sumiko's I tried. Love love love this cart.

I am a demanding listener and from my experience, most items in the modern hi-fi market are pretty underwhelming, designed and marketed to fill price gaps in products lines in lieu of actual sonic improvements. This cartridge, however, was a MASSIVE improvement over my Hana EL (fitted by the dealer when I bought the table). Playback was less noisy with much better bass and essentially no sibilance.This is where I would recommend that one start if looking into MC cartridges under $1000. I was considering much more expensive cartridges (Lyra, Soundsmith, etc.) but will likely stick with this unit moving forward if restricted to buying cartridges online.

STYLUS COMPLETLY BROKE OFF CANTILEVER AT 1.5 GRAM PRESSURE AND PERFECTLY ALIGNED WITH ALIGNMENT TOOL ON FULLY AUTO.ATIC TURNTABLE. MADE IT THROUGH 2 BRAND NEW ALBUMS AND BY THE 3RD ALBUM IT STARTED SKATING LIKE CRAZY. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION WITH MICROSCOPE, THE NEEDLE WAS JUST GONE...WTF AUDIO TECHNIA?!?

My only other real MC experience before this cartridge was a Dynavector 20x2L, which costs twice as much as the PTG, and honestly this cartridge kicks the stuffing out of it. Everything I’ve always loved about AT’s moving magnet carts (which I’ve been using for years and years) is here, with great clarity, evenhandedness, and speed, just turned up an extra notch. The sound is incredibly transparent; in classical music each instrument really shines in its own space and everything from winds to brass to strings has a sense of texture that you can’t get from a moving magnet. In rock music, the bass is tight and crisp and the percussion alternatively snappy and shimmery when it needs to be. My old Dynavector’s sound was “richer”, but much less even, and with a narrower soundstage; here, for half the money you really get something great.Some caveats and quibbles: the installation is slightly annoying as the PTG uses a bolt and washer design rather than captive bolts; for this reason alone I considered the OC9, but that would’ve been a bad match for my Pro-Ject Classic EVO tonearm. The cantilever here is also tiny, great for sound quality due to lower mass but harder to see for lining things up, and it makes you sweat a bit with concern over snapping it. Still, install and initial alignment was up and done in about 15 minutes, which isn’t the worst. Your mileage will also vary based on your phono stage, as is always the case. I run a Cambridge Audio Duo, which is at a fixed 100 ohm impedance, and think it sounds great, though everyone’s ears are different. In terms of backgrounds and clicks, I will say the Dynavector I had prior seemed to reject noise much more effectively, but this also came at the loss of top-end detail; the PTG is not especially forgiving of bad records, so I’d recommend pairing it was a good record cleaning machine and not running dusty bin finds on it straight out of the sleeves.All in all if you’ve been on the fence about an MC and this cart matches your arm (always check your compliance first!), I would pull the trigger on it. The ML stylus lasts close to 1000 hours, so even though this is more expensive initial purchase on than, say, a Hana EL or a Denon, you will likely get significantly more mileage out of it before trading it in. With the huge amount of vinyl I listen to (all day working from home), that’s value!

Trasparente dettagliata e musicale. Montata su Technics sl1210 e al pre Ph10 Golden note. È un gran piacere ascoltarla. Ha sostituito una denon dl103. Decisamente più rozza.

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１５年以上使ったレコードプレーヤーが壊れた。どうしようかと思ったが、レコードの廃却がもったいなく思い最後だと思いmcカートリッジまで交換できるレコードプレーヤーを購入した。付属のvm型カートリッジであったが元気な音で久しぶりに感動した。それがきっかけで、mcｶｰﾄﾘｯｼﾞ、mc型ｶｰﾄﾘｯｼﾞ用フォノアンプ、カーボンヘッドシェル、マウントリード線、スピーカーケールなど金もないけれど投資してしまった。効果のあったのは、mcカートリッジ、フォノアンプであった。短い配線であれば理論的に言っても影響の与えるものでないことが確認できた。本題の購入した本カートリッジであるが、透明感があり特に中音、低音が切れがある。cd、ﾊｲﾚｿﾞｵcdなど比較しても遜色ないように感じた。

I have changed from a 12 year old DV20Low output which is now too expensive to replace.I was worried that this would be a downgrade. I have previously used an AT 0c9Mk2 which I loved.My TT is an LP12 with Roksan Nima arm.At first I thought I'd made a mistake - the sound was originally so thin and lacked any bass. Happily this has now all changed and the AT33PTG/2 is engaging, has excellent dynamics, solidity, bass, detail etc. I can again hear the cymbals, drum skins vibrating and details that were previously muffled / (on an v old old cart). I am again enjoying my vinyl and think I prefer it to the old DV20Low output (which is £800 + now)My LP12 / Nima is back doing what is supposed to do and blimely it's doing it well!10/10 from me. Big recommendation and lots of smiles as I listen.

This is the best cartridge I’ve ever heard and tested. This is compared to Soundsmith Hyperion MK II, Lyra Delos, Dynavector 17D3, Audio Technica ART9, Sumiko Blackbird, Audio Technica OC9II, Audio Technica AT150MLX, Ortofon 2M Black, Shure V15V-MR, Shure V15VxMR, Shure M97xE, Sumiko Blue Point No. 2, Audio Technica At440MLa, Audio Technica VM540ML.In my experience, Audio Technica has the best build quality of any brand I’ve tried, including their budget models. The cantilevers are always parallel to the bodies, the styli are square to the cantilever (viewed with a microscope), and azimuth is always near perfect, and this cartridge is no exception.This is, by far, the best tracking cartridge from all of the above. It tracks the most difficult vocal sibilants near the inner grooves that no others can track, and I have an old Shure test record that has a really loud concert bass drum hit that only the AT33PTG/II can track (at 2.1g). It uses the MicroLine stylus, which has the finest tracing radius available. It’s about half as narrow as the the best contact line styli, and will produce the lowest levels of distortion. This will trace the highest frequencies, and cause the lowest amount of wear to your records when set up correctly and replaced between 500-600 hours.It’s also got about as flat of a frequency response as you can get from a cartridge these days (none are truly flat). The only one that I tested that was flatter was the Dynavector 17D3. The frequency deviations are about 1.5dB. So, this does NOT have the exaggerated treble response of the lower cost Audio Technicas many are familiar with (i.e. VM540ML). It’s smooth, yet full bodied, nothing is exaggerated, but isn’t boring either. Like all Audio Technicas I’ve used, the stereo separation and width is noticeably better than other brands. This is as close as it gets to hearing what’s on the record without hearing the “voice” of the cartridge.I can’t stress the tracking performance enough. It’s the best of the best. I track at 2.1g, loaded at 100 ohms. Anti-skating should be set by lowering the stylus (with the cue lever) in between the grooves at the very end of the side (in the dead wax) while the record is spinning so the stylus will not move towards or away from the label. Don’t worry about the markings on the anti-skating scale. This works for any cart, at any tracking force. This cartridge is pretty short so you might have a problem getting the top of the cart parallel to the record depending on the tonearm height adjustment capabilities of your arm and/or the height of your platter mat. I use a 4mm lightweight acrylic spacer with a Technics head-shell. This gets it parallel to the record in the middle of the tonearm height range on a Technics SL-1210M5G, using both the 3mm rubber mat/2mm felt mat combo. Carefully align with a protractor and you will be good to go.If you like exaggerated bass, rolled off or boosted treble, this isn’t the cart for you. But if you want a tonally accurate, superior tracking, world class cartridge that will bring out the best in your records, look no further. For the price, it’s a miracle.I’m buying more in case they discontinue them.