With the VM540ML I just want to keep on listening to records, whereas the Ortofon 2M Blue becomes to crisp and analytical for my taste and/or system. The first sounding turn of the groove of a 12" LP record has a radius of 146mm, and the last a 56mm diameter. Microlinear profile diamond stylus offers high frequency response with less wear and distortion than elliptical or conventional linear contact styli.

When I tested the VM540ML against my Ortofon 2M Blue, I found the VM540ML to provide almost as much texture and dynamics as the highly analytical 2M Blue, but with more soul and smoothness. The CBS Technical Labs (STR 112) test LP was used for high level THD and two-tone intermodulation distortion tests.I had been told by a couple of AT employees that while it spec'd better than the 95ML, it was subtle. These steps were all done through an ART DJPRE II at the 100pF setting except the VTF change, when I’d plugged it into a Graham Slee Revelation which initially seemed better than the DJPRE but is a little high in capacitance on paper. Some people say, that this Audio-Technica can sound harsh depending on the capacity of the cables and phone-preamp, but in my environment it sounds great. Parties who do not comply with this will be required to pay compensation and be prosecuted in accordance with section 38. The mismatch above 8kHz in the frequency response and channel separation may be manufacturing tolerance but it could also be that the mono (lateral) response differs from left only and right only.

The simple pleasure of just listening to the music, rather than anticipating a record's pressing limitations make it worth every penny. On jazz vocals, in particular, I got the sense that there were more layers to the sound and it added an extra, and welcome, sense of dimension to some of my favorite LPs when I spun them. Detail like I've never heard before and tracking that's extended and extremely balanced and accurate. Getz’s saxophone sounds appropriately big and powerful out of the left channel but is still handled with the proper finesse in that I could make out all the subtler details in his playing as well.While I love Tony Bennett for sheer vocal power and range, Sinatra has a magnificent tonality and clarity to his voice that just comes out so well through the VM540ML. We again remind you though that, as nice as it tracks, the AT440MLa frequency response renders it un-usable without a filter to reduce the high frequency lift. That was the big surprise, as general wisdom suggests that it should have been the best, but it just sounded lifeless and muddy in comparison to the other 2. g. some Brazilian EMI-Odeon pressings and US Decca 'Rainbow' albums) feature some extra surface noise and distortion due to the wear pattern of the ML stylus (chisel tip which makes it bounce and contact the bottom of the grooves), but these are quite uncommon.

IIRC stitching is a pressing temperature issue where the lifting press lifts some vinyl, infill is a temperature/pressure issue where the vinyl doesn’t adequately fill the grooves. As an example of this, the Audio-Technica AT-OC9/MLII performs better in these highly modulated groove tests, for reasons that are not clear, using information published in Hi Fi News and Record Review and independent measurements by John Elision in a news group. Perhaps the RMS sum of the 3 closely spaced tones should be the value of the 2nd harmonic which would take it to 1. Those results were analyzed on my computer using SpectraPLUS audio measurement software via the Lynx TWO B professional sound card. With minimal magnetic flux leakage in a unitized magnetic circuit, and optimized core permeability through laminated cores, you'll enjoy unparalleled audio performance.Benchmarks were obtained by using a Technics SL1200 Mk 6 turntable, which has been modified and rewired by KAB Electroacoustics, as a testbed. However, none of these have such a low wow and flutter and rumble, apart from the Technics, as my vintage AR. We found the gain of the Parasound was set too high for the largest, low frequency, lateral grooves found on the CBS STR 112 and the preamp clipped.