Whats your favourite cartridge not your most expensive.

bigfish786

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May 15, 2013
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Lee
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My favourite happens to be the cheapest one I bought. A bit of a bargain around 10 years ago off gumtree. £40 for a Nagaoka Stilton TS12 boron. Just does everything a bit better than all my other (mostly budget) cartridges.
 
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toms wait

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May 20, 2015
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Cartridges I've had a few but too few to mention,
but I will anyway.

Linn K9 introduction, no clear recollection of it.

Shure VST V this was pretty good.

Miltek Olympia one of my favourites. Bought another years after, wish i had kept either. This was the red anodised square body, looked smart and sounded fantastic. Miltek was the Toyota to Kiseki's Lexus.

Benz Micro Glider, again very nice, lost the cantilever stuck in my finger changing a 10" LP!

Benz Micro Ace, red body, again very nice.

Lyra something or other, bright and flat and really not very good at all.

Nagoaka MP300, current one and my favourite, just splashed out on a new stylus for it.

There was also a bespoke high output MC based on a Denon, clad in a green agate or some other stone looked great, sounded great, but I am a luddite and prefer the ease of a stylus swap on an MM.
 

Beyond you

Tuesday Music Night’s Est:1978
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Feb 4, 2013
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Matt
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Ortofon 2M Blue and Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo 3 Just a couple cartridges I’ve enjoyed in the past. Currently my Ortofon Quintet Black S has been the longest running cartridge I have had. Although I wish at the time I brought a Hana.
 

Rockchild

Formerly Radiant Red 🎶
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Jun 22, 2011
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Jonathan
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Ortofon 2M Blue and Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo 3 Just a couple cartridges I’ve enjoyed in the past. Currently my Ortofon Quintet Black S has been the longest running cartridge I have had. Although I wish at the time I brought a Hana.
Hi bud, @myles has got a cracker Hana in the classified. Great match for the Audiomods arm 👍🏻
 

Rockchild

Formerly Radiant Red 🎶
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Jun 22, 2011
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Jonathan
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
My fave from the good old days was the Ortofon FF15E MK2.
I remember it being compared against a newcomer at the time it was a Lentec Entre 1 moving coil job and the little MM blew it away.
Agreed about the Ortofon. I remember it well.
 
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jamesrfisher

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Oct 20, 2012
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HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I haven't had many but now have Nagaoka MP150 and I love it. Temped to move up the chain...
 

Colinjg

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Nov 1, 2016
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Walter Fagen.
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I have learnt the hard way a couple of times that there are more rewards to be had improving the TT than changing carts. The most expensive cart I had was a Orto Rohmann, which in my system, was too lean, clean, cold and a bit colourless. Went back to an Orto at half the cost. Spent a long time with Orto MC30 Supremes and an Orto Rondo Blue which were great and not silly money. Now on my second Hana SL which lets me forget about the system and just listen to the music.
I have as a back up a Goldring E3 MM, cost me about £70, remarkable for the money. It is making me think about a MM next time, it has real grunt in the bass and bite in the mid range, but a closed at the top end. I would not have a problem living with it.
 

Speedracer

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Brook
HiFi Trade?
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I have had quite a few cartridges over the years, mostly very good moving coils, without getting into proper high end ones, until I purchased the one I have now, a Koetsu Urushi Vermillion, which I can only describe as wonderful. Despite this, it has not been plain sailing all the way, my arm isn't really heavy enough for it, but I love the arm too, a 12 inch unipivot Analog Instruments Siggwan, made from a continuous length of cocobolo wood. So I have has to accept I am not getting all that is in the cartridge, although recent experiments have shown that adding weight at the headshell & counterweight , does bring an improvement, so I will continue to try different weights to try & find the sweet spot. As an aside I have been thinking about treating the arm with the same lacquer as is on the cartridge. Many people say that one of the reasons Koetsu's improve as they age is due to the lacquer hardening over time, making the rosewood that the body is made from become more dense. I have no idea if anyone has ever had the same thought, but it seems a legitimate thought process so I will see how it goes.
To try & take some of the day to day mileage from the Urushi I have fairly recently purchased two vintage Clearaudio mn carts, a Delta & a Pradikat. Both have been rebuilt with the correct cantilever & stylus tip, & I have to say I am very impressed by both of them, different to the Urushi of course but I could live with them forever if I had to for sure.
 

It Cost How Much!?!

Twisted
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Oct 27, 2008
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Bob
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
For price/performance I would say a Dynavector 17/D2, owned 3 over the years, great cartridge, fast and tracks well. The D3 wasn't as good in my view.

Also mention for a Benz LPS, Sony XL-55 Pro and Koetsu Red longbody.
 

Bogart

Bogart
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Nov 18, 2020
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Dave
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Cartridges I've had a few but too few to mention,
but I will anyway.

Linn K9 introduction, no clear recollection of it.

Shure VST V this was pretty good.

Miltek Olympia one of my favourites. Bought another years after, wish i had kept either. This was the red anodised square body, looked smart and sounded fantastic. Miltek was the Toyota to Kiseki's Lexus.

Benz Micro Glider, again very nice, lost the cantilever stuck in my finger changing a 10" LP!

Benz Micro Ace, red body, again very nice.

Lyra something or other, bright and flat and really not very good at all.

Nagoaka MP300, current one and my favourite, just splashed out on a new stylus for it.

There was also a bespoke high output MC based on a Denon, clad in a green agate or some other stone looked great, sounded great, but I am a luddite and prefer the ease of a stylus swap on an MM.
Yes MP300 class bit of gear. Is a pity the new importer of them is milking the price.
 

MVJ

Wammer Plus
Wammer Plus
Apr 9, 2020
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HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Atm my favourite is my fettled Benz Wood sl just playing in & it's very good and getting better by the day.

I also have an Audio Technica Art-9xi thats sharing top spot with the Wood it has just really bedded in and sounds superb now.
 
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Wine man forthe County

Wine man forthe County
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Apr 23, 2019
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York
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Ian
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
When my Rohmann finally expired (lasted me around 12-13 years) I changed to the original AT ART9. Sounds sublime and I reckon I would have to spend big to better it. I have longed for a Koetsu as my dream cartridge for many years but I'm not sure my SME IV is weighty enough for them.
 

Brown Bottle

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 27, 2005
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The Hoo Peninsula
AKA
Steve
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
  2. No
I’ve only had 3 cartridges and my current AT540ML is by far my favorite. At the rate I’m (not) listening to vinyl these days I’ll get another when the time comes.

If I had more listening time id like to go up the AT ladder.

Cheers BB
 

Ady

Shoebox Ady. United by a love of music & equipment
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Oct 13, 2018
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HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I've only ever had Dynavector cartridges, starting off with a 10x5, then moving onto a XX2mk2 and finally my current one a Te Kiatora Rua 2 . My concern is what to do once this TKR wears out as due to retirement, my income has gone down but my vinyl usage has gone up 😂
Cheers
Ady
 
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stevied

Wammer
Wammer
Feb 7, 2006
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Ormskirk
AKA
Guess
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Lyra delos does it for me but my Ortofon a90 gives Me that little bit more realism!
 

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