advise re MM cartridge

[Timlin]

Hi I'm a long time lurker. I am looking for a bit of advice ; I am looking to get a MM cartridge to use on an Optinica deck I bought at a car boot sale. I am playing this through a conrad johnson PV11, a UHER UMA-1000 and castle howard speakers. Currently has a no name cartridge on it which came with it. It actually sounds ok but i suspect it could sound better!

I listen to mainly rock, dance, electro but very little classical or jazz.

I haven't bought a cartridge for a long time so would appreciate any advice or if anyone has anything suitable they would like to sell. I am hoping to spend up to £100.

Thanks in advance

 

[dannybgoode]

I have a Goldring E3 that I can let go. Super MM cartridge and only looking to move on as I accidentally bought a Rega Ania. PM me of interested. 

Mother than that the Nagaoka MP110 and whatever Ortofon 2M is around that price are solid choices too. 

 

[uzzy]

Difficult one - if it were me the Optonica in my view is hardly likely to allow an expensive cartidge to perform at its best.  I would err on the side of good value cheapies or mid priced from the likes of Ortofon, Audio Technica, Goldring and Grado.

 

[Timlin]

Thanks for the quick responses.

The advise about going for going for good value cheapie seems very sound. I just saw the Optonica and was taken with it's old school Jap styling (which I like) I would just like to get the best I can out of it.

 

[Timlin]

Thanks for the advice Danny. I just googled the Goldring E3, looks a good 'possible'. How old is it an what are you looking for ?

Thanks

 

[plasticpenguin]

Thanks for the advice Danny. I just googled the Goldring E3, looks a good 'possible'. How old is it an what are you looking for ?

Thanks

Goldring is a good cartridge. They sell it at Richer Sounds (depending on location). Also worth checking out AT carts as they are great VFM

 

[Timlin]

Goldring is a good cartridge. They sell it at Richer Sounds (depending on location). Also worth checking out AT carts as they are great VFM

Thanks for that I will check them out

 

[plasticpenguin]

Thanks for that I will check them out

:^

 

[bigfool1956]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=audio+technica+at95e&i=electronics&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Audio Techica AT95e, a surprisingly capable cartridge which won't trash your records. Currently only £32 on the link above.

Goldrings are good too, not sure of the price on that one though.

 

[Timlin]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=audio+technica+at95e&i=electronics&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Audio Techica AT95e, a surprisingly capable cartridge which won't trash your records. Currently only £32 on the link above.

Goldrings are good too, not sure of the price on that one though.

That's very helpful, thanks

 

[Muckplaster]

That's very helpful, thanks

Go for the AT95EX. It's a lot better than the E.

 

[dannybgoode]

Thanks for the advice Danny. I just googled the Goldring E3, looks a good 'possible'. How old is it an what are you looking for ?

Thanks

It’s essentially new. Not got more that 25 hours on it. I was thinking £50 + postage. 

 

[Timlin]

Go for the AT95EX. It's a lot better than the E.

Thanks will have a look at that

 

[Timlin]

It’s essentially new. Not got more that 25 hours on it. I was thinking £50 + postage. 

Many thanks I will think about that.

Lots of info in the answers given to check out, thanks again to all.

 

[Nopiano]

I’d be interested in seeing a picture of your turntable as Mr Google suggests there were myriad Sharp Optonica designs, some of which might merit something better than budget.  

That said, my default choice for an older Japanese turntable would also be a modestly priced Audio-Technica, as already mentioned. 

 

[Timlin]

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vintageaudio.lv%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F11%2FSharp-Optonica-RP-7100-Turntable.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vintageaudio.lv%2Fsharp-optonica-rp-7100-turntable%2F&docid=XST07pMq1hXt9M&tbnid=SBDZ22oWBcP_HM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwj8zJvqwrzhAhVIxoUKHRFRBJwQMwg-KAIwAg..i&w=1174&h=766&bih=1061&biw=1559&q=optonica turntable&ved=0ahUKEwj8zJvqwrzhAhVIxoUKHRFRBJwQMwg-KAIwAg&iact=mrc&uact=8

It is this one. Hope the link works as cannot compress my own photo enough to allow it to upload

 

[Nopiano]

That’s great, thanks. 

Theres more here...https://www.vinylengine.com/library/sharp-optonica/rp-7100h.shtml. You may have to sign up for the downloads.  

One comment says the tonearm effective mass is quite high at 16g so I’d suggest a cartridge with a fairly low compliance. 

 

[Timlin]

Brilliant, will look at that.

 

[greybeard]

I would also recommend the AT 95 a surprisingly good cartridge, for beer money.