Whats your favourite cartridge not your most expensive.

Down in Devon

Wammer
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Jan 22, 2013
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Now Up Norf
AKA
Mike
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  1. Yes
IMO Its not really very productive to view a cartridge in isolation, at the end of the day it, the arm, TT, SUT/phono stage all interact...
Personally found my recent purchase of an Etsuro Cobalt to be a game changer for me (and yes my most expensive by some margin)...
Having said that I would agree that Miyajima's Zero is a fantastic cartridge...
 
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bigrod

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Mar 12, 2013
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Julian
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The AT Art 9 XI is difficult to beat if you can pick one up for a grand like I did

Cartridges have come a long way since I got my first turntable. And one of the best sounds I recall was a Shure V15 lll on a SME lll on an early theorems deck ..
 

Burdy

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Nov 5, 2021
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Agreed about the Ortofon. I remember it well.
Great value for money cartridge which I had for years on my first real turntable - Pioneer PL12. And then the Ortofon VMS20. I still have an Ortofon SL15 which was brilliant on several different arms. SME 3009 in particular.
 
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Burdy

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Nov 5, 2021
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A budget cartridge that has a lot of magic is the old Shure M75. I had this in a couple of 1970's/80's Japanese turntables (Sansui SR222ii etc) and it just sounds right. A good match.
 
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PDXSNAP

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New Wammer
Mar 3, 2020
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MC: Linn Karma. I have flashier Dynavector and AT’s but the Karma is just musical bliss.
MM: Clearaudio Virtuoso. I don’t want to like them as they look like an AT95 in a wood shell for stupid money BUT can’t argue with the solid sound they produce.
 
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MVJ

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Apr 9, 2020
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The AT Art 9 XI is difficult to beat if you can pick one up for a grand like I did

Cartridges have come a long way since I got my first turntable. And one of the best sounds I recall was a Shure V15 lll on a SME lll on an early theorems deck ..
I will second that Julian a lovely cart even at the full price of £1300 & a bit.
 
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greybeard

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Colin
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I have had a lot, and still got quite a few, but my favourite is EEi 555p which I picked up second hand a few years ago for £40. It is a great cartridge, with a paratrace stylus, I use it in my second system to great effect. My main cartridge is a Quintet black s, another very good cartridge, at the limit of what I am willing to spend.
 
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Lurch

Piss-taker & Gobshite Par Excelle'nce
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Sep 17, 2016
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Yep, couldn't agree more, the EEI 555MCP is a stonking cart. Picked mine up for £70 around this time last year which was a bargain when you consider these were the same price as a Koetsu Red when they came out in the early/mid 80s. I also currently use it in my 2nd system on a 401/R200, did take it to Robins and heard it on his SP10/Stax UA9 where it sounded stunning, so will use to replace my Koetsu RSP in the main rig when the time comes.
 

Clubsport911

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Jan 19, 2013
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Steve
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The one that had the most impact by far was (incoming rotten fruit…) a Shure M44/7. It was the mid 70’s and up to that point, had only heard ceramic (what they ?) cartridges like the Acos GP104 and Sonotone 9TAHC… but my dad gave me an amp he had built and it had a moving magnet input, so I slotted the Shure into my SP25 MK4 and I was amazed !

Bass…seperation…treble.. and such dynamics. I was knocked out. Clearly not the best, but it rocked my world
 

Andrei

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Mar 28, 2013
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Andrei
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Atm my favourite is my fettled Benz Wood sl just playing in & it's very good and getting better by the day.
What did you do to the Benz to fettle it? I have one of these beasties and would be interested to know.
 
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Knipester

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Jul 29, 2014
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Paul
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I recently picked up a NOS supex 900 super MC from northwest analogue (he has a few). I own others but keep coming back to this amazing work of art.
 
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MVJ

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Apr 9, 2020
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What did you do to the Benz to fettle it? I have one of these beasties and would be interested to know.
I sent it to the Expert Stylus Company to be serviced & new stylus fitted.
Still bedding in but sounding really nice now put a few more hours on it today.
 
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Norfolkman51

Wammer
Wammer
May 17, 2016
52
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Norfolk
AKA
John
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Main system has the Miyajima Shilabe, which I'm delighted with and probably as far up into the world of high end cartridges as I'm willing to go. In my second system I'm very happy with my refurbished (by Expert Stylus) Kontrapunkt B, which replaced my AT pgt33 also very good.
 

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