Ortofon OM-30 Super

Albert

Albert

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Feb 21, 2014
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I just finished installing and aligning my new Ortofon OM-30 Super cartridge on my Thorens TD-146 with the original TP-11 tonearm. I used the Thorens Baerwald Arc Protractor from the vinyl engine (after enlarging it slightly to the right size at work) and things matched up pretty close. I couldn't get it perfect but things lined up to within 1 mm, that's as close as I'm going to get.

What is the tracking force that people who have this cartridge use? I have seen recommendations from 1.25g to up to 1.75g. I have set mine at 1.65 g. Sound wise it is an improvement over the standard OM-10 that it replaced in detail and upper extension. The bass seems a little light which results in the overall sound to lean towards the bright end. Does this improve with break-in? The arm is parallel to the record, would increasing the VTA increase the bass? I also have a 60 hz hum that I can't get rid of. It was intolerable with a pair of Tetra Artet cables from the table to the ARC PH3 phono amp, better with a pair of generic RCA cables but the hum is still there. I guess I am going to have look into a pair of shielded phono cables next.

Overall I am liking the new cartridge but I will have to play some more lp's to better judge it. I have only listened to a Bruce Springstein album so far.
 
The albums I have of Bruce are really poorly recorded...certainly not a test for anything.
 
Albert-Do you have a ground cable with your phono cables and if so, do you have it hooked up to your ARC? You probably need to have a ground wire going from your table to your ARC phono section if you are having hum issues. I had a Thorens table many years ago with the Thorens arm. I used the stock cable that came with the arm and I had zero hum issues.
 
Yes, I have a ground wire (piece of speaker wire) from the table to my phono amp. I know that a Bruce Springstein album may not be the highest fidelity but I had an extra copy of it (from buying collections) and didn't mind if it was damaged by a misaligned cartridge. I have tried a couple other albums that I have duplicates of as well (Boston and Fleetwood Mac Rumours).

I took apart the tonearm wand a few more times just to make sure it was seated properly and to possibly remove any oxidation on the pins and that seemed to help a lot. The hum is almost completely gone, you have to stand next to the speaker and listen closely to detect it. The Rumours album sounded great! I think I am good to go.

I have a Denon DL-103R mc cartridge on my main turntable as it has a medium weight arm. The Thoren has a light tonearm so I needed a light cartridge like the OM-30. Comparing the two I think I like the Denon better as it has a warmer midrange and fuller bass than the OM-30 but they are in completely different setups so it is hard to compare. The OM-30 has more detailed highs and sounds very dynamic and lively. I think it will work well in my secondary system.
 
Did you double check how you connected the cartridge wires? Sometimes blue looks like green to people.

Albert said:
I just finished installing and aligning my new Ortofon OM-30 Super cartridge on my Thorens TD-146 with the original TP-11 tonearm. I used the Thorens Baerwald Arc Protractor from the vinyl engine (after enlarging it slightly to the right size at work) and things matched up pretty close. I couldn't get it perfect but things lined up to within 1 mm, that's as close as I'm going to get.

What is the tracking force that people who have this cartridge use? I have seen recommendations from 1.25g to up to 1.75g. I have set mine at 1.65 g. Sound wise it is an improvement over the standard OM-10 that it replaced in detail and upper extension. The bass seems a little light which results in the overall sound to lean towards the bright end. Does this improve with break-in? The arm is parallel to the record, would increasing the VTA increase the bass? I also have a 60 hz hum that I can't get rid of. It was intolerable with a pair of Tetra Artet cables from the table to the ARC PH3 phono amp, better with a pair of generic RCA cables but the hum is still there. I guess I am going to have look into a pair of shielded phono cables next.

Overall I am liking the new cartridge but I will have to play some more lp's to better judge it. I have only listened to a Bruce Springstein album so far.
Click to expand...
 
Al....your cartridge is much more prone to hummmmm than a moving coil. You can chase after the hum (and probably not really eliminate it), or you can go to a moving coil and be rid of it altogether.
 
I did double check the wires and I think I have them connected correctly. I have them connected

W R
B G

The instructions don't specify any colours and I didn't notice anything printed on the back of the cartridge. I got this code off of the internet and it matches how my OM-10 was connected before I removed it.
 
Albert said:
I did double check the wires and I think I have them connected correctly. I have them connected

W R
B G

The instructions don't specify any colours and I didn't notice anything printed on the back of the cartridge. I got this code off of the internet and it matches how my OM-10 was connected before I removed it.
Click to expand...

I don't think your description of how you wired it up matches what I see in this picture:

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It looks like I have wired my cartridge the same way as the headshell leads in your picture. The cartridge looks to be wired G W in that picture. Very confusing.
B R
The instructions with my cartridge just says R right L left RG right ground and Lg left ground with no specified colours. I went to the Ortofon - FAQ website and they recommend that it be wired the same as your picture so I wired it again the same as your diagram and now the highs aren't as strident and the bass is more balanced. I think this must be the right way, thanks! Oh, it looks like others have beat me to the website.

Ortofon - FAQ and Installation


 
I just looked at the back of the OM10 cartridge that I replaced and wouldn't you know it, there are the colour codes, the same as on the Ortofon Website. I wish I'd noticed that earlier, it would have saved a lot of frustration. Too bad the OM30 doesn't have anything to help the user.

Thanks everyone for the advice, it was very helpful. And with all the practice I can now change the wires on the cartridge in under a minute by hand (no needle nose pliers or tweezers).
 
I am using an Ortofon Winfield. The first one I got was internally wired wrong. I knew that because, although I wired it correctly according to their instructions, the left channel was coming from the right, and v/v. On that basis alone, I was sent a new one, and the one I have now works as intended. Perhaps yours has a problem??
 
Stringreen said:
I am using an Ortofon Winfield. The first one I got was internally wired wrong. I knew that because, although I wired it correctly according to their instructions, the left channel was coming from the right, and v/v. On that basis alone, I was sent a new one, and the one I have now works as intended. Perhaps yours has a problem??
Click to expand...

I think that Albert had discovered he wired it incorrectly.
 
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