Going to be upgrading the turntable soon so i'm after a bit of cartridge advice (will be either a Gyrodeck or a Spacedeck) ortofon seem to do a few MC carts around the £300 (+/- £50) mark but whats the difference? i can't find any comparisons between them... It will be used with a Trichord Dino+ Phono stage
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Which Cartridge?
- Thread starter landychris
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- Views 3,062
For £300 I would recommend one of the Ortofon Rondo carts - I think the cheapest is about £300.
http://www.needles-and-spins.co.uk/pd_ortofon_rondo.cfm
Doesn't get mentioned much but they are some of the best carts Ortofon have produced and know how to boogie a bit more than some of their other carts.
Will suit the Dino+ as well.
http://www.needles-and-spins.co.uk/pd_ortofon_rondo.cfm
Doesn't get mentioned much but they are some of the best carts Ortofon have produced and know how to boogie a bit more than some of their other carts.
Will suit the Dino+ as well.
clearaudio aurum beta or beta s (about 240 /290 I think) have a clear sound and are MM designs so no step up required. Otherwise I agree with Griffo, although the sumiko blue point at about 250 might be worth a listen for a good starter MC:Not Sure:
I'd say you can't go wrong with the Rondo Red @ £300. Listened to it on a Project Xperience, and was really impressed with it. Nicely neutral without being anti-septic, tracked superbly, very enjoyable.
Cartridges come in many flavours, but the Ortofon is a thoroughly safe place to start, with no unexpected nasties to catch the unwary.
Other options might be Sumiko Blue Point Special (£250), which a lot of dealers seem to use in demos, which is a good sign. But it's also notoriously delicate, and there always seem to be broken ones for sale on eBay. I want to own one at some stage, but wouldn't want to rely on it as my only cartridge.
Denon's DL103 R has just become available in the UK, at around £200. I've never heard one, but have one on order. Some people swear it's the best thing since sliced bread, and I've seen one guy say he prefers it to a Benz model at three times the price. But for every fan, there's someone else who hates it, so a slightly risky purchase.
Conclusion: Buy the Ortofon!
Cartridges come in many flavours, but the Ortofon is a thoroughly safe place to start, with no unexpected nasties to catch the unwary.
Other options might be Sumiko Blue Point Special (£250), which a lot of dealers seem to use in demos, which is a good sign. But it's also notoriously delicate, and there always seem to be broken ones for sale on eBay. I want to own one at some stage, but wouldn't want to rely on it as my only cartridge.
Denon's DL103 R has just become available in the UK, at around £200. I've never heard one, but have one on order. Some people swear it's the best thing since sliced bread, and I've seen one guy say he prefers it to a Benz model at three times the price. But for every fan, there's someone else who hates it, so a slightly risky purchase.
Conclusion: Buy the Ortofon!
Carts are just a bit personal, The Denon's, as stated above generate love and hate in equal measure, but I rate the DL110 and 160, which are both around £80,Or the Dynavector 10 x 5 at £250 ish, all of which are high output MC's, so work into MM stages.
i think I'll be steering clear of high output MC's call me an old fuddy but in my book a MM cart outputs at 5mV and an MC doesn't (anyway i've got a dino+ which is primarily designed for MC!) , sounds like the ortofon rondo red may have to be auditioned, as long as it's a 'musical' cartridge then thatsthe main consideration (obviously staging, prescence, detailand all that other stuff matters too) but i'm not into extracting every little bit of slightest detailat thesacrifice of the music
Emma Royd wrote:
I've also lived happily with a Goldring elite which also does a very nice job for £250.
But having heard the Rondo carts - I nearly bought one myself until I heard the Dorian - I would start there myself, really are very good.
Yep - another good choice. I lived with this cart for a couple of years - no real weaknesses especially going in to the Dino+ as it matches very well to it.
I've also lived happily with a Goldring elite which also does a very nice job for £250.
But having heard the Rondo carts - I nearly bought one myself until I heard the Dorian - I would start there myself, really are very good.
What about the Audio Technica AT-OC9? - still one of the lovliest cartridges ever IMHO and Mantra are selling them for about £340 IIRC.
And of course there's the AT33PTG from www.audiocubes.comas praised highly by a certain Mr. Biscuit - i'm still intending to splash out on one in the very near future.
And of course there's the AT33PTG from www.audiocubes.comas praised highly by a certain Mr. Biscuit - i'm still intending to splash out on one in the very near future.
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Jones wrote:
i use one of those, get the vta spot on and not much under 1k will touch it but's very low output 1.2mv i thinkEmma Royd wrote:Even less if you have mine from the classifieds...
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Emma Royd wrote:
no but if you don't have an adjustable phono stage roydcream it could be a problem.
the AT33PTG is a very nice cart, and a bargin at the price on Audiocubes (although even cheaper than that direct from Japan I'm sure!). Somebody in the reviews says that the European RRP is 1000 Euro's, but I'm not sure about that. The titanium bodied one looks very cool - but is twice the price.
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Beobloke wrote:
I have a Clearaudio Emotion and my stock Clearaudio cart finally bit the dust, so I got an Audio-Technica OC9ML/II and supremely happy I am too! £300 from Coolgales. It's much less "analytical" than my Clearaudio and very musical!
