Audio-TechnicaVM540ML Dual Moving Magnet Stereo Cartridge with Microlinear stylus Red

I spent a week refurbishing an Acoustic Research XB 1 turntable I bought as a poor student in 1978. This is a very high quality deck built to a broadcast standard.During the refurb I could see that the mechanical engineering of the bits that matter - bearing, arm bearings, platter etc. was excellent. Cleaning, oiling with professional bearing oil from vinylclear (Amazon), setting the sub assembly suspension system, and then finally installing the 540ML, using an excellent mirrored protractor from Analogue Studio (Amazon), was a total faff.I sourced a hard to get new belt from Malvern Audio which was critical, as this broadcast standard deck has a wow and flutter of less than 0.03% (yes that’s correct).So the acid test? I first played Genesis’s Dance on a Volcano - astonishing clarity and perfect tracking at 1.8g. Then I tried ELP’s Fanfare for the Common Man from their Works album. Simply incredible weight to the relentless and complex bass and synths in the full extend version. Perfect tracking again. My Cambridge amp boots out 100w a channel and the REL sub another 100w so that was a house shaker.During initial testing the deck was temporarily no more than O.5m from the right speaker (Monitor Audio Radius 90s on their lovely bespoke stands - see the photo), and the REL sub, on a glass table. Try that with anything but a Linn, top vintage Thorens, or a £1400 Project and it wouldn’t work. So a superb combo for my purposes.The second stage of my vinyl project was to buy a new phono preamp to maximise the quality chain. I looked at two obvious options, the Cambridge Audio and the Rega Fono MM, but I had a few reservations on the flexibility of the former and the alleged poorer build quality of the latter.Eventually, I opted for the specialist British company Ifi and its excellent Zen phono preamp after a lot of research and viewing some expert reviews on YouTube. I have just about bedded this preamp in now alongside the AT.This is a superb combo that can extract all the quality I need from my vinyl collection. The Zen also has a specialist rumble filter for handling warps and other disc pressing issues as well as future upgrade pathways to moving coil options. It it beautifully made and Amazon had a very good price for this.My first few week’s impressions of the AT VM 540 ML? It is a great tracker, even at its lowest recommended weight (1.8g) in a good quality arm. It brings out a precision and special ‘presence’. This is possibly to a higher ‘musical plane’ than my new (award winning) Marantz 6007 CD deck - high praise indeed. It is not artificially smoothed out like some cheaper cartridges. It extracts all the content you’d expect from such a stylus.On classical it is very accurate yet musical. Keith Emerson’s piano concerto (Works again) is beautiful (try it - like Shostakovich). Percussion is crystal clear, brass incredible realistic and the character of a Steinway grand unlike any CD or mid level streamed affair. Real music, if your ear knows what to listen for. And it’s pretty much in 3D. My main speakers are about 3.5m apart so allows for a large sound stage.My wife though that I believe in Father Christmas (Work 2) was superb too. So that says it all. That track nearly made us cry....Then I dug out my copy of Mozart 41st Symphony by Kripps and the Concertgebouw on Phillips from the early 1970s - part of a boxed set. The uplifting last movement was as beautiful as ever. It took me back to playing violin in the University of Manchester’s orchestra (78 to 80)....isn’t that what it’s all about?My final test phase was placing the turntable in its new location on an audio bench (see photo). I played a pristine first edition of Simply Red’s Picture Book album. This was so good it reaffirmed why serious vinyl set ups are very good. Silky smooth singing, amazing recording quality, every nuance audible - pure class.Is it all worth it? Yes, if you love music and have a deck and system that can extract the full quality of this cartridge.Would I try it in a deck under £500? Probably not, even the excellent Project Debut Carbon Evo, as the cartridge and preamp cost nearly as much as that deck. Yes, in a Rega Planar 3 or above. I think it could work well in the new Technics SL1500C with a separate preamp such as my ifi Zen or possibly work well using a Project Classic Evo. However, none of these have such a low wow and flutter and rumble, apart from the Technics, as my vintage AR. Belt drive is still the simplest and most elegant solution to true hifi vinyl.I believe my AR will last another few decades yet. My son is eyeing it up........

Okay, so I am extremely pleased and amazed with this cartridge.I haven’t been into vinyl for long, but have been through a few setups. Started with a Ortofon 2m Red and Project Debut Carbon. The 2m red was errrh, okay. But it was very sibilant and lack dynamics.Secondly I upped my game and got both a Pioneer PLX 100 and Technics SL-1200 turntables. Firstly I paired these with a Ortofon 2m blue, hoping for an improvement from the Red. And yes, there was a noticeable improvement but it was still a little shrill, and brittle. And on both the Red and Blue, I had quite severe inner groove distortion. This is a no no for me, once you hear it, it’s unbearable. The last two tracks are very muffled and get progressively worse towards the label.So then I went to a Nagaoka MP-110, and I will say that the MP-110 is a very decent cart. It was much more dynamic, not so shrill, and more detailed. However...again I had inner groove distortion. So on I went.I finally decided that a Microline stylus was the way forward. And I saw a few reviews on vinyl forums citing this cart as a gem. And boy, indeed it is.Absolutely no inner groove distortion. It’s virtually completely vanished. The last song is just as clear as the first. And just to note, it was only aligned in a jiffy with the technics overhang gauge. If I spent more time with a protractor I could probably eliminate that last 1% of distortion.Secondly the sound...just wow. Very very detailed without being shrill and sharp like some AT carts. Very punchy and dynamic with very plentiful bass. It feels like a blanket has been lifted from my headphones compared to the Nagaoka.I will say however that I am using it with the DJ Art Preamp. A very modest preamp indeed, but has the useful feature of being able to load it as 100pf. Once you add the ohms of your phono leads, it’s getting near 200pf. AT recommends under 200pf for this cart to avoid it being too bright. So just a little warning to those people with preamps with non adjustable preamps that might be running at 150-200pf before the leads. In this case, it could very well be a little bright for you. So try to run it through a 100pf preamp (or preferably lower), or at the very least, use the shortest rca cables you canApart from that little warning, this is a supreme cartridge. I cannot speak of every cartridge obviously but I think you would have a VERY hard job trying to beat it at this price point. I have heard £500 carts that are inferior to thisSo don’t hesitate, just buy it, and enjoy music without inner distortion and smooth punchy sound.

I purchased this cartridge for its Microlinear stylus, with its promise of improved tracking. I've used a number of other cartridges so far including Rega Elys and Stilton Nagaokas, both with nude elliptical styli, and found that on certain records I was experiencing distorted sound as the needle got towards the centre. This cartridge tracks perfectly all the way to the centre. It sounds great, clear and dynamic. Surface noise - crackles etc - is greatly reduced. It's also great value as the stylus life is nearly triple that of an elliptical.