Audio-Technica VM750xSH/H — Shibata dual moving magnet cartridge on AT-LT10 headshell

The AT-VM750xSH/H brings together the AT-VM750xSH cartridge and the AT-LT10 universal headshell in a single part number. It arrives with the cartridge already mounted and wired, so fitting it is a matter of sliding the assembly into the arm, balancing it and setting the tracking force: there is no cartridge alignment to do and no tiny lead wires to attach. That makes it the direct route to a turntable with a detachable headshell, or to keeping a second cartridge ready to swap in seconds.

The cartridge sits at the premium end of the AT-VMx series. Its dual moving magnet generator uses PCUHD (Pure Copper Ultra High Drawability) coils in a paratoroidal layout, two per channel stacked one behind the other, with fewer turns than the previous VM series to sharpen transient response. The body is die-cast aluminium, rigid and low in resonance, and the cantilever is solid boron of 0.28 mm, lighter and faster than aluminium. The stylus is a nude Shibata diamond of 2.7 × 0.26 mil, a wide-contact profile that reads the top of the groove with particular cleanliness.

With 3.7 mV output, 3.2 kΩ coil impedance and 480 mH inductance it works with any moving magnet phono stage at 47 kΩ and 150-250 pF. Audio-Technica rates it from 20 Hz to 27 kHz with 26 dB channel separation and a tracking force of 1.8 to 2.2 g (2.0 g nominal). It suits medium-mass arms and listeners who want to get the most from reissues and from records with plenty of high-frequency information; its replacement stylus is the AT-VMN50xSH, shared across the rest of the AT-VMx series.

Technical specifications:

• Reference: VM750xSH/H (AT-VM750xSH cartridge + AT-LT10 headshell)
• Type: dual moving magnet (VM) cartridge, pre-mounted on a 1/2" universal headshell
• Stylus: nude Shibata, 2.7 × 0.26 mil
• Cantilever: solid boron, 0.28 mm
• Coils: PCUHD paratoroidal, two per channel
• Body: die-cast aluminium
• Frequency response: 20 Hz - 27,000 Hz
• Channel separation: 26 dB (1 kHz)
• Output voltage: 3.7 mV (1 kHz, 5 cm/s)
• Coil impedance: 3.2 kΩ (1 kHz)
• DC resistance: 750 Ω
• Inductance: 480 mH (1 kHz)
• Output balance: 1.0 dB (1 kHz)
• Tracking force: 1.8 - 2.2 g (2.0 g standard)
• Vertical tracking angle: 20°
• Static compliance: 20 × 10⁻⁶ cm/dyne
• Dynamic compliance: 7 × 10⁻⁶ cm/dyne (100 Hz)
• Recommended load: 47 kΩ, 150 - 250 pF
• Weight: 20.3 g with headshell
• Dimensions: 68.4 × 18.5 × 21.5 mm
• Replacement stylus: AT-VMN50xSH (sold separately)