If I look at the differences from another perspective I can also say, that the old system “rocks” more with its focus on bass and mids and is maybe for some people the better option for Rock and Pop, if the S-distortion is not too obvious. After having had the AT120 and the AT440MLa/b for over 6 years, I've sold the old AT120E body and the ATN440MLa (which was actually an earlier version of the AT440MLb already featuring the AT440MLb non-anodized cantilever) to get the VM540ML. There was plenty of the performer’s breathing heard between notes, indicating good subtle detail recovery.

It won't be as bright as the VM540ML on your setup, and it is also a better ('near-perfect') match to your tonearm due to its lower dynamic compliance at 10Hz (measured as cca. You only got that result if you terminated it at the low side of the recommended capacitive 100pf which is impossible to achieve unless your preamp allowed you to change the input capacitance. The piano solos also had a vibrancy about them, with wonderfully clean ringing sounds to the notes and a good weight to the lower registers. Before the CD-era I only used a very cheap record player with an integrated Mono-speaker and ruined my first records with it. The styli are easily interchangeable so one could conceivably convert a VM540ML to any of the other three models in the line with a simple change of the replacement stylus, should you prefer the sound of a different tip.

The drum cymbals on this song also sounded properly fantastic, the metallic sound truly coming through most effectively. Yet the VM540ML still gets the background details just right on this track with the sweet handling of dual flutes in the left channel and the subtle crispness of the riding cymbal in the right channel. So, as you say it'll ride near the top of the profile (and the groove) on Rch and near the bottom of the profile on Lch. The biggest difference between the two is that the Rega Exact has a slightly warmer and more laid-back sound balance. The different instrument sections come across as well-defined with plenty of string detail being rendered in the presentation.

I hear what you say about debris on the moving magnets, but that doesn't explain why some records sound just fine. Change country: -Select- Albania Andorra Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Republic Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Cambodia Canada Cayman Islands Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Estonia Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Finland France French Guiana Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala Guernsey Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Malaysia Maldives Malta Martinique Mexico Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Croatia Saint Kitts-Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Saudi Arabia Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Korea Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vatican City State Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (U. Everything I expected, perfect tracking and flexible sound another couple of steps close to sumptuous. For the VM540ML, changes in IM and THD were small moving from Level 1 to Level 6 so we will show only the Level 6 spectra.

Anti skate : Even with bias set at 1 the vm540ml passes all the antiskate test ban on ortofon and analog production test disc, it starts to show distortion in the right channels when go beyond two so I leave it at that mark. 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.