How Does A Magnetic Cartridge Work?
First, a word about how record grooves are created. Left and right-channel audio signals drive two coils, mounted at 90 degrees to each other, in a cutter head. The Combined motion of these two signals causes the cutter stylus to carve out and undulating groove in a master record. Modulations in the groove walls, then, are analog mechanical equivalents of the original audio signals. Its the cartridges job to read these modulations and to reconstruct the original stereo signals. Most cartridges on the market today reconstruct these signals by utilizing a moving magnet system. The Stylus (or needle) of the cartridge is attached to an arm (called a cantilever) that can pivot as the stylus is moved by the record groove. A magnet at the other end of the cantilever moves between metal poles that extend from coils of wire, causing an electrical flow that is eventually amplified and heard as sound. It is no coincidence that Audio Technicas approach to moving magnet cartridges closely duplicate
