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Lenco
There turn up from time to time models on the second hand market that bear this name, but they appear to be budget MM and crystal replacement models/spares rather than anything that the company sold separately.
Linn
Oh well this company seems to be reintroducing some of their older carts but still, at least the K9 and K18 MM pickups from the 80's is still unavailable along with the Troika, Kharma Asak and Asaka MC pickups, the Troika had an extra third bolt at the front for fixing (as supported by Linn tonearms, what else), but this does not hinder it in being used with any tonearm, the Asak is an older version of the better known Asaka. Note that Linn still offers a rebuild service for all their older MC cartridges
The technical specification of the Asaka are : Output @5cm/sec, 45°: 0,1 mV @ 1KHz. Tracking force: 1,5 to 1,7 grams. Compliance: 10e-6 cm/dyne. Weight: 7grams. Nominal Load: 150 ohms Reccommended Load: less than 10ohms
The technical specification of the K18 are : Frequency response: 20Hz~20Khz +-1,5db. Tracking force: 1,5 to 1,8 grams. Channel separation: 30dB @1KHz or better. Channel balance: Less than +-1dB @ 1KHz. VTA: 20°. Impedance: 47Kohms.
London/Decca
Much of the early Decca pickups designs such as the Deram are ceramics and while they claimed to be hi-fi at the time they are mere curiosities by now. The line of cartridges that have most interest amongst collectors today was originally introduced in the late 50 or early 60's as London FFSS (or so I believe, very difficult to find good info on these products), this is a cantilever less design and the early models feature a special headshell connector (so they need a Decca arm or an ortofon/SME headshell adapter, while Decca arms are easy to find I have only once seen an adapter for sale) that vent through MkII and MkIII revisions cumulating in the release of the MkIV in 1967 or so which was the first cart from from the company that was available with a standard headshell mount, and the best of the MkIV versions were the C4E and SC4E that featured a elliptical stylus and the RC4 that has a sherical one. It should be observed that these version of the London carts have been hyped up much in the last few years and they do indeed have redeeming qualities, but you should be aware of a few facts before parting out with your hard earned cash, firstly the pole pieces contain iron, these are after all Moving Iron and not MC designs, so they rust and break off so the lifetime of those carts is not all that great this is in paticular a problem with early variants, secondly the cantilever less design of the carts mean that they collect an unusually high amount of dirt inside and need to be cleaned frequently, however the top of the cart can be slid off for adjustment of the channel separation (all the way to mono BTW) and can help in cleaning the cart incidentally, thirdly they are sensitive to grounding, much more so than most carts and finally these MkI to MkIV version while similar in design to the current versions they are much bigger and heavier and can be a pig to set up and will only mate rally well with a heavy or damped arms. The MkV was released in the mid/late 70's and is the basis for the cartridges that are being made today, while it retains the peculiarities of earlier designs such as the wildly differing vertical and horizontal modulations the new design was much lighter and smaller than earlier models and thus it was easier to match them to modern arms. The original Gold features an elliptical stylus but the post 80 versions are called Super Gold and feature a VDH stylus and a better designed case and may be a better second hand value although there were some complaints that this version sounded brittle compared to the Gold one, the plain London models all have a spherical stylus. There was at one time also a Decca "grey" cartridge available in a mono configuration with a stylus cut for the playback of 78's.
The specifications for the original MkV London carts are : Output: 5mV at 5cm/sec. Frequency range: 20Hz to 20KHz. Stylus Tip: Elliptical major axis 0,0006 minor axis 0,0003 . Vertical tracking angle: 15 degrees. Compliance: Lateral: 15 X 10-6 cm/dyne, Vertical: 7.5 X 10-6 cm/dyne. Channel balance: Within 1dB. Inductance: 560 mH per channel. DC resistance: 2,200 ohms per channel. Recommended input impedance: 50K ohms. Tip Mass: Less than 1 milligram. Tracking weight: 1 to 2 grams (1.5 grams recommended)..
Luxman
Had the LMC1 MC pickup on the market in the late 80's, it was in the low/mid priced region.
Lyra
The Clavis Evolve 99 was introduced in 1998, it was in a limited edition of 99 units and Asia, America and Asia were allocated 33 units each, I also believe that the Clavis Da Capo is a discontinued product, both these are of course low output MC design.
Mark Corp.
Mid to high end MC carts made in Japan in the 70's and 80's, initially introduced the Brier, so named because it was fitted into a hand made brier wood enclosure that was acually carved by the wife of the company's president, and shortly thereafter the Goldbug, Medusa and Clement but those three had a more conventional housing. All of the models shared the same low output coil arrangement but differed in cantilever and stylii arrangement, the upmarket Brier quickly became something of a legend particularily in Japan and the USA and became the inspiration for later wood bodied Koetsu and Grado models, in Europe the Goldbug was better know however and in the 80's all Mark Corps. products where sold in Europe, the USA and a few other places are belived to have been with the Goldbug name used as a trademark rather than a model designation. At the same time the product line was updated with newer versions of the Brier in the form of Mr. Brier and later Ms. Brier, the Clement was also upgraded to Clement II but the Medusa apperars to have been unchanges and the Mr. Briar cart effectivly replaced the Briar while the Ms. Briar is an upgraded model with a line contact stylus, the Mr.Briar remained in the catalogue after the introducion of the Ms. BTW. The company also made the McIntosh cartridges that were available between 80's (see below), the generators inside the McIntosh models were broadly similar to the original Brier but had plastic housings..
The Clement II technical specification are : Generator Type : Moving Coil. Mount : Standard. Frequency response : 20Hz~35KHz. Output @ 5cm/s : 0,25mV @ 1KHz. Internal impedance : 14 Ohms. Recommended load : 40 Ohms or more. Compliance : 17 x 10-6cm/dyne. Tracking force : 1,2 to 1,4 grams. Weight : 5,8 grams.
The Medusa technical specification are : Generator Type : Moving Coil. Mount : Standard. Frequency response : 20Hz~20KHz. Output @ 5cm/s : 0,2mV @ 1KHz. Impedance : 13 Ohms. Compliance : 9 x 10-6cm/dyne. Tracking force : 1,8 to 2 grams.
The Mr. Briar technical specification are : Generator Type : Moving Coil. Mount : Standard. Frequency response : 20Hz~20KHz. +- 0,5dB Output @ 5cm/s : 0,22mV @ 1KHz. Channel separation : 40dB @ 1KHz or better, 25dB @ 10KHz or better. Recommended load : Less than 30 Ohms. Compliance : 17cu Static, 15cu dynamic at 1KHz. Tracking force : 1,3 to 1,7 grams. Recommended tracking force : 1,5 grams. Stylus tip : Elliptical 0,3 x 0,7 initially later models have Hyper Elliptical . Cantilever : Tapered aluminium. Weight : 7 grams. Original RRP : 1000 USD (USA 1985).
The Ms. Briar technical specification are : Generator Type : Moving Coil. Mount : Standard. Frequency response : 20Hz~20KHz. +-1KHz Output @ 5cm/s : 0,22mV @ 1KHz. Channel separation : 27dB @ 1KHz or better. Channel balance : Less than +-1dB @ 1KHz. Recommended load : Less than 30 Ohms. Compliance : 17cu Static, 15cu dynamic at 1KHz. Tracking force : 1,5 to 1,7 grams. Stylus tip : Pure Oval (e.g. Elliptical), 0.3 x 0.7 mil. Equivalent stylus tip mass : 0,26mg. Cantilever : Tapered aluminium. Weight : 7,2 grams. Original RRP : 1400 USD (USA 1986).
Mark Levinson
Sold the MLC-1 cartridge in the early 80's, it had a very limited life span and few actual production numbers, and despite this glowing review that we link to the actual production cartridge was not quite the same as the model talked about in the text although it looks the same) and got only lacklustre reviews due to the high price (at USD600 more than 2x that of similar Nakamichi designed carts).
Matsushita pickups See --> Matsushita pickups
Mayware
English company that sold budget Japanese sourced high output MC's in the late 70's and early 80's.
McIntosh
Sold the MCC800 and MCC1000 MC cartrigdes, these were actually developments of the Mark pickups that you can read about here above. Background information on these carts can be had here
The MCC800 had a retail price of 360 USD in 1987 and technical specification are : Frequency response: 20Hz~20Khz. Reccommended tracking force: 1,8 grams. Output: 0,25mV at 3,54cm/sec. Channel separation: 27dB @1KHz or better. Channel balance: Less than +-1dB @ 1KHz. Compliance: 13x10-6cm/dyne. Stylus: Oval. Impedance: 14ohms. Weight: 5,7grams.
Millitek
Made the high output Olympia MC pickup that was popular for a time in the 80's, was considered to give a good bang for the buck.
Micro Acoustics
Manufactured 2 distinct lines of pickups, one was MM based and consisted of mostly budget types, the other was based around ceramic elements developed from those manufactured by Sonotone in the 60's and while the company has some low/mid range models this ceramic line was more oriented towards te mid/high end and considered to be excellent at the time especially their bass response. Since all amplifiers had by this time a phono input with MM amplification and RIAA Eq. their pickups often contained revese Eq. circuit based around a tiny opamp (referred to as a computer by the company) so they could be used with those amps! You can also get some of the MA pickups and styli from Adelcom.net but note that the "average retail price" listed is actually 4 to 5 times the original RRP. Note that the details below are for 80's era carts but apparently earlier carts can use stylii intended for later carts for instance the QDC-1e can use a 300 series stylus note also that the 25 and 50 are p-mount carts that came with an adapter to use with standard mounts (at the least the later models), the company seems to have in the later years switched from 0,25 or 0,2 x0,7 elliptical stylii to a cheaper 0,3x0,7 so carts bought after 1984/5 may have that written in the specs rather than what is shown below, also note that we have had reports that replacement stylii from the late 80's that were sold under the company's name and commonly show up as NOS appear to have been incorrectly heat cured so the stylus falls off (this is only a problem if the stylus has been in storage for a few years, as all NOS stock has), so we would recommend for those that have a pickup to send the to a retipping service such as Garrott Brothers or Expert Stylus rather than hunting down a original stylus. The budget MM carts with a P in the name such as the PS and PE are P-Mount. There are also a couple of later cheramic models that I have been unable to track down any info on such as the 320.
The 25-PS technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 20Hz~20KHz +-1,5dB, 10Hz~20KHz +-3dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3mV. Tracking force: 1 to 1,5 grams. Channel Seperation: 25dB @ 1KHz. Channel balance: +-1,5dB @ 1KHz, or less. Stylus Tip: Spherical 0,5 mil. Cantelever: Tapered Aluminium. Load Capacitance: 375 to 500 pF. Reccommended Load Capacitance: 480pF.
The 50-PE technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 20Hz~20KHz +-1,5dB, 10Hz~20KHz +-3dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3mV. Tracking force: 1 to 1,5 grams. Channel Seperation: 25dB @ 1KHz. Channel balance: +-1,5dB @ 1KHz, or less. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,25 x 0,7 mil. Cantelever: Tapered Aluminium. Load Capacitance: 375 to 500 pF. Reccommended Load Capacitance: 480pF.
The 100e technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~20KHz +-2dB (later models 5Hz~20KHz). Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,8 to 1,6 grams. Channel Seperation: 25dB @ 1KHz. Channel balance: +-1dB @ 1KHz, or less. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The 282e technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 5Hz~20KHz +-1dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,4 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil.
The 309 technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~20KHz +-1dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 1 to 1,5 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The 382 technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~25KHz +-1,5dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,4 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The 382 System II technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 5Hz~30KHz +-1,5dB. Tracking force: 0,8 to 1,6 grams. Channel Seperation: 35dB @ 1KHz. Channel balance: +-1dB @ 1KHz, or less. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Cantilever: Berillium.
The 530MP technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 2Hz~20KHz +-1,25dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,7 to 1,4 grams. Stylus Tip: Micropoint-I line contact.
The 630MP technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~30KHz +-1dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,25 grams. Stylus Tip: Micropoint II line contact 0,2 x 1,2 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The 830CSA technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~30KHz +-0,75dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,25 grams. Stylus Tip: CSA line contact 0,15 x 1,2 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The 3002 technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~30KHz +-1,5dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,25 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The 2002e technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 5Hz~20KHz +-1,5dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,7 to 1,4 grams. Channel Seperation: 30dB @ 1KHz, 15dB @ 10KHz. Channel balance: +-1dB @ 1KHz, or less. Stylus Tip: Elliptical. Load: 10k to 100k ohms. Load Capacitance: 100pF to 500pF. Weight: 4 grams.
The QDC-1e technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 5Hz~20KHz +-2dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,5 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil.
The QDC-1G technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 5Hz~50KHz +-3dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,5 grams. Stylus Tip: Quadrapoint line contact.
The Stratus 1 technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~20KHz +-1,5dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,25 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The Stratus 2 technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~20KHz +-1,5dB. Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 1 to 1,5 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF.
The Stratus 3 technical specification are : Element: Ceramic. Frequency response: 10Hz~20KHz +-2dB (5Hz~30KHz +-3dB). Output @ 5cm/s: 3,5mV. Tracking force: 1 to 1,5 grams. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,2 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF. Cantilever: Aluminium..
Micro Seiki
Had a range of MM cartridges such as the M-2100/e, VF-3200/e and the VF-3500/f, the last one is interesting since it was sold as a 4 cahnnel cartridge in the early 70's, while the M-2100 was apparently also available with spherical stylii. Later models included LM-8 amongst others but at the same time the company had a line of moving coil designs that was referred to as the LC and included the mid-output LC-80W, while older MM designs included the.
The LC-80W technical specification are : Generator Type : Moving Coil. Mount : Standard. Frequency response : 20Hz~45KHz. Output @ 5cm/s : 0,82mV @ 1KHz. Channel separation : 30dB @ 1KHz or better. Channel balance : Less than +-0,3dB @ 1KHz. Impedance : 2,2 Ohms. Compliance : 8,5 x 10-6 cm/dyne. Tracking force : 0,7 to 1,7 grams. Recommended tracking force : 1,2 grams. VTA : 20°. Weight : 10 grams.
The VF-3200/e technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 5Hz~35KHz Unweighted. Output: 0,85mV/cm. Tracking force: 0,75 to 1,25 grams. Channel separation: 30dB @1KHz or better. Compliance: 30x10-6cm/dyne. Stylus Tip: Naked Elliptical 7,5x20µm. Load Capacitance: 1,5 pF.
The VF-3500/f technical specification are : Generator Type : Moving Magnet. Mount : Standard. Frequency response : 5Hz~50KHz. Unweighted. Output @ 5cm/s : 2,5mV @ 1KHz. Channel separation : 30dB @ 1KHz or better. Channel balance : Less than +-0,5dB @ 1KHz. Load Resistance : 180 ohms. (?) Compliance: 25 x 10-6 cm/dyne. Recommended tracking force : 1,8 grams. Stylus tip : Shibata Line Contact. Cantilever : . Weight : 5 grams.
Mission Electronics
Sold a line of MC cartridges in the early 80's or around the same time they had turntables and arms on the market, the 773 moving coil cart was their top of the range while the Solitare MM was near the bottom.
Monster Cable
Sold at the least 2 types of MC pickups under the name of Alpha Genesis 1000, the Alpha Genesis 500 and the more expensive Sigma Genesis 2000, at least the 1000 and the 2000 were in production long enough to make it into MkII. These were designed and manufactured by the man behind the ZYX pickups.
Myabi
Has been making MC pickups at the least since the late 70's, including some OEM designs. While the Alnico based MC that they were selling in the 80's is in most respects the same as the current model there is one important difference and that is the tracking, the modern line contact stylus that the new model uses appears to be responsible for some dramatic improvements in tracking ability vis a vis the elliptic that the old Ivory model used, and yes, the housing was made out of ivory). Both sound lovely, so if you manage to find one of the older ones in need of a retip, and for a reasonable price, some experiments with a more modern stylus in co-operation with your favourite retipper might provide interesting results.
NAD
Did for a short while sell the 9000 series, namely MM designs called 9000, 9100, 9200 and 9300, these are by now mostly forgotten and did not ignite any fireworks at the time. It is not known who was the OEM manufacturer.
Nagaoka
Much of their cartridges through the years have been fairly run of the mill MM carts and they remain so to a degree, but note that the company are big in the replacements business, both for the replacement pikups but also for stylii but their replacement units are well above the average in quality thase days since much of the generic ones only feature spheical stylii at best while Nagaoke offers a wider varity. Some of their best nown units include the MM-321-B but they had a rather expencive ribbon pickup design on the market in the 1960's.
The Moving Permalloy or MP series was initially introduced in the 1970's and compromised some 15 models initially, magnet tructure was made out of samarium cobalt and some 5 models from the line are still being made (see Nagaoka Pickups). In addition to the well known high end MP models they also had some reasonable designs at nice prices such as the MP-03, MP-11 and the MP-20 and models that I have no info on such as JT-322.
The MP-11 technical specification are : Frequency response: 20Hz~20KHz. Output @ 5cm/s: 5mV @ 1KHz. Channel separation: 23dB @1KHz or better. Channel balance: Less than +-1,5dB @ 1KHz. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,3 x 0,7 mil. Load Capacitance: 25 to 1500 pF. Cantilever: Aluminium 2017. Vibrator: Permally pipe. Magnetic Circuit: Super permalloy 0,3mmMM. Cartridge Frame: ABS plastic. Shield Case: Super permalloy shielding.
Nagatron
Have not been able to drag up any information on this company and very little on it's products but they did include the 1400 Series of budget MM designs the P Series line of budget P-mount carts, a series of carts built in to a headshell including the 195IE, those look much nicer than most such headshell/cart jobs and a few quite interesting mid/low cost MC pickups including the MC-5, there were loads more though (I recall seeing a catalogue).
The 195IE technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 10Hz~22KHz. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,3 x 0,7 mil. Cantilever: Aluminium Alloy.
The 1400ER technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 20Hz~22KHz. Stylus Tip: Spherical 0,6 mil. Cantilever: Aluminium Alloy.
The 1440E technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 20Hz~22KHz. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,4 x 0,7 mil. Cantilever: Aluminium Alloy.
The 1466E technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 20Hz~22KHz. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,4 x 0,7 mil. Cantilever: Aluminium Alloy.
The MC-5 technical specification are : Element: MC. Frequency response: 16Hz~25KHz. Stylus Tip: Nude Elliptical. Cantilever: Aluminium Alloy.
The P-2000 technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 20Hz~20KHz. Stylus Tip: Spherical 0,6 mil. Cantilever: Aluminium Alloy.
The P-2500 technical specification are : Element: MM. Frequency response: 20Hz~30KHz. Stylus Tip: Elliptical 0,3 x 0,7 mil. Cantilever: Aluminium Alloy.
Nakamichi
Made high end MC cartridges in the 70's and early 80's, while most of these were OEM products sold under other names I believe some were sold under their own name in the early 80's or around the time they had turntables on the market.
National pickups See --> Matsushita pickups
Neumann
These were legendary in their day, amongst 78 pickups (that used a mounting system common with high quality 78 pickups in the early 50's but I do not know the name of) was the R5, but later models that use the Neumann/EMT headshell system were the DST range.
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