MM vs MC Cartridge (Moving Magnet & Moving Coil) – Know The Difference

You: Alexa?

Alexa: Listening…

You: What are moving magnet cartridges and moving coil cartridges?

Alexa: According to Turntable Wave, a moving magnet cartridge has tiny magnets attached at the one end of the cantilever with coils inside the cartridge body while a moving coil cartridge has wired coils attached at the one end of the cantilever with magnets inside the cartridge body.

You: Which cartridge is better for me?

Alexa: TurntableWave recommends you go for moving magnet cartridges unless you are a Hi-Fi audiophile.

You: Thanks!!

The conversation ended and you got your answer but did you understand the difference between moving magnet and moving coil cartridges, how they work, and why we recommend you go for moving magnet instead of moving coil?

Well, if the concept is that simple then why there is still an MM vs MC cartridge debate going on?

So, to help you understand and end this MC vs MM cartridges debate once and for all, we have drafted this article in which we have covered everything you need to know about these cartridges in simple words, and after reading this article, the whole confusion of moving magnet and moving coil will fly away from your mind.

But, before proceeding further, I want you to understand the turntable cartridges, their types, and their working concept so I recommend you to check out this article about turntable phono cartridges.

Well, I hope you have gone through the suggested article and learned the phono cartridges concept so now, I am going to differentiate between these two popular magnetic phono cartridges briefly and after that, we cover everything in depth.

MM Vs MC Cartridges (Moving Magnet And Moving Coil):

	Moving Magnet (MM) Cartridge	Moving Coil (MC) Cartridge
Mass	More mass	Less Mass
Sound	Less detailed reproduction of original audio compared to MC	More detailed & better reproduction of original audio compared to MM
Cost	Less expensive	More expensive
Output Volts	0.003 V to 0.006 V	0.0003 V to 0.0015 V (depending on the MC cartridge variant)
Durability	More durable	Less durable
User Replaceable Stylus	Yes	No
Phono Preamp	Standard phono preamp	(Head amp/step-up transformer with standard phono preamp) or (Phono preamp with moving coil cartridge support)

So, this is the brief difference between these two magnetic cartridges and now, we are going to talk about these cartridges and their working principles separately and after that, we will explain the information mentioned in the table above in depth.

What is MM or Moving Magnet Cartridge?

As the name suggests, moving magnet cartridges means that only the magnet will move or vibrate inside the cartridge body and the coils inside the cartridge body will remain stationary.

In simple words, the cartridges that have magnets attached at the one end of the cantilever and coils inside the cartridge body are known as moving magnet cartridges or mm cartridges.

How does MM Cartridge Work?

The electric signals are generated by wired coils by catching up the vibrations from the moving magnets at the end of the cantilever when the stylus starts running on the record grooves.

What is MC or Moving Coil Cartridge?

As the name suggests, moving coil cartridges means that only the coils will move or vibrate inside the cartridge body and the magnets inside the cartridge body will remain stationary.

In simple words, the cartridges that have coils attached at the one end of the cantilever and magnets inside the cartridge body are known as moving coil cartridges or mc cartridges.

How does MC Cartridge Work?

The electric signals are generated by magnets by catching up the vibrations from the moving wired coil at the end of the cantilever when the stylus starts running on the record grooves.

Till now, you must have understood the concept of these cartridges and how they work. Now, we are going to share the in-depth differentiation between these two magnetic cartridges.

Difference Between Moving Coil and Moving Magnet:

Now, we are going to explain the difference in 5 different aspects one by one.

Mass:

Mass is the major difference between the MM and MC cartridges. This is also the main reason behind the more detailed and better original sound reproduction by the moving coil cartridges compared to moving magnets cartridges.

Well, the magnets are made from iron which makes them heavy while coils are much smaller than the magnets and also they are made from a very thin copper wire which makes them super lightweight as compared to magnets.

In moving magnet cartridges, the heavy mass of magnets at the end of the cantilever restricts the stylus from tracking the grooves freely while on the other hand, in moving coil cartridges, the lightweight wired coils at the end of the cantilever ensure less downward pressure on the stylus which allows the stylus to track the grooves freely and more delicately.

This free and more delicately tracking of grooves by the stylus in MC cartridges helps in getting wider frequency response, improved transient response, and more detailed reproduction of original audio.

Let me explain this concept with a real-life example:

Take a pencil and some sort of weight that you can place at the end of the pencil. You can take an eraser with a hole in the center.

Firstly, try moving the pencil left and right on the paper without any weight. You will find out that you can move the pencil freely. Secondly, add some weight at the end of the pencil and try moving it left and right on the paper. You will find out that you need to use some force to move the pencil.

This same principle applies to turntable cartridges and thus, moving coil cartridges produces better sound as compared to MM cartridges.

Sound:

Due to the mass concept (explained above), MC cartridges produce better sound quality and more details reproduction of the original audio.

Well, in the modern MM cartridges, this disadvantage is mostly removed by the manufacturers by using lightweight magnets, and some claim that they have moved the magnets closer to the fulcrum or pivot point of the cantilever which puts less mass on the stylus thus, allowing the stylus to track the grooves of the record more accurately and freely.

The cartridge alignment techniques can also help in achieving better sound quality by MC and MM cartridges.

Output Volts:

The moving coil cartridge has a smaller size of wired coils at the end of the cantilever which makes the MC cartridges very less sensitive to the movements thus, making the MC cartridge output less voltage as compared to moving magnet cartridges.

The moving magnet cartridge outputs between 0.003 V to 0.006 V or 3-6 mV depending on the variant you are using.

MC Cartridges output

Type	Millivolts (mV)	Volts (V)
Low-level MC	0.3 mV or less	0.0003 V or less
Medium Level MC	< 1.0 mV	< 0.001 V
High-level MC	more than 1.5 mV	0.0015 V

Cost:

Moving coil cartridges are more expensive than moving magnet cartridges due to their engineering, specialization, and the sound quality they offer.

Also, the additional head amp or step-up transformer is required if your existing phono preamp is not compatible with MC cartridges which makes the whole setup more expensive.

On the other hand, MM cartridges are cheaper and can also work well with most of the existing stereo receivers or powered amps with in-built phono preamps or standard phono preamps.

Also, the coils in MM cartridges can be machine wounded while in MC cartridges, the coils at the end of the cantilever are carefully hand wounded which also increases the cost of production of MC cartridges.

Durability:

The MM cartridges have a simple design and also offer stylus replacement while on the other hand, the MC cartridges have a little complex design, and most of the time, it doesn’t allow stylus replacement.

Also, keeping other factors like cost, quality of material, and maintenance in mind, the MM cartridges are considered more durable than the MC cartridges.

User Replaceable Stylus:

The MM cartridges allow the user to replace the stylus easily while in MC cartridges, you can’t replace the stylus. If your stylus in the MC cartridge has worn out then you need to buy a whole new cartridge.

Phono Preamp:

As we have explained above, the MC cartridges generate less voltages as compared to MM cartridges so, we first need to amplify the MC cartridge’s output to reach the output levels of MM cartridges and then we can pass the amplified output to a standard phono preamp.

To amplify the MC cartridge’s output, we can use a head amp or step-up transformer device to amplify the output to the output levels of MM cartridges or we can also use a phono preamp with MC cartridge support.

Keep in mind that if you use MM phono preamp for an MC cartridge then you will face turntable or record player so quiet issues.

So, these are the differences between moving magnet (MM) and moving coil (MC) cartridges.

Now, one question arises which cartridge you should prefer i.e. MM or MC?

Which Cartridge is Better for You: MM or MC?

My recommendation will be to go for moving magnet cartridges unless you are a Hi-Fi audiophile.

Now, you must be wondering that in the difference above, the MC cartridge has the upper hand in terms of sound quality and better vinyl experience but why I am recommending or choosing MM over MC?

Well, the answer is very simple. The moving magnet cartridges offer a lot of other things compared to moving coil cartridges like more durability, a user-replaceable stylus, compatibility with a standard phono preamp and most importantly it is a lot cheaper in price.

As I have already explained above, the major disadvantage is that the “mass” of the MM cartridge is mostly sorted by the manufacturers by using lightweight magnets with more magnetic field at the end of the cantilever, which puts less mass on the stylus and allows the stylus to track the grooves of the record more accurately and freely.

So yes, you can experience better sound quality near the output of moving coil cartridges by buying high-end moving magnet cartridges.

Now, the choice is yours. You can buy either higher-quality moving magnet cartridges, which offer a lot of things, or an expensive moving coil cartridge.