Best MM?

@orpheus10

Possibly, a 15K cartridge does everything perfectly, but not a 1K cartridge

Are you hypnotized by reviewers or manufacturers ?
Prices means nothing in the modern world of High-End, if you don’t have a reference among classic High-End cartridges you have no idea where do you going even with 15k budget, don’t let them fool you, there is NOTHING is the cartridge that cost $15k! The logic behind $15k pricing is not about fidelity at all and they are not better than many $1k cartridges. Also this thread is about MM cartridges, they are always cheaper than MC. The stylus is the most expensive part of MM cartidge. Some of the very best styli with exotic cantilevers cost under $1k max.  

Chakster, I was thinking about this cartridge, but it's not MM;


      https://www.needledoctor.com/Koetsu-Coralstone-Platinum-Phono-Cartridge


To be honest, I'm quite satisfied with the Grado; it reproduces nuances quite well. People who didn't choose Grado said they were musical, and that's my major requirement.

No, I'm not trying to sell Grado, my main point has been about the effort it takes to find one's own cartridge, the one that reproduces his musical requirements; this hasn't been easy, it's taken years.

The Pickering and Stanton cartridges I saw on the jukeboxes were Mono, just like the music on those 45's. Some people claim it's better than stereo.

Possibly, a 15K cartridge does everything perfectly, but not a 1K cartridge ..

Well I have had a $12K MC cartridge (Atlas) and still have a $10K MC cartridge (Palladian) and Chakster is right....
There is NO relationship.....absolutely NONE..... between the cost and the performances of cartridges.
The wealthy audiophiles who are "hypnotized by reviewers or manufacturers"....compare uber-expensive MC cartridges with their even MORE uber-expensive (but newly released) competitors and comment on their differences.....
But they are the SAME differences that the impoverished audiophiles can hear between ALL the cost-effective vintage MM cartridges 🤪🤗

In this hobby, I try to avoid the categorical statement (like "all MC cartridges are superior to all MM cartridges", or vice-versa), and I am suspicious of categorical statements put forth by anyone else.  Therefore I would say that a $15K cartridge might be absolutely superb.  But so too might a much, much less expensive cartridge.  I have to accept this proposition, because I don't want to be buying $15K cartridges just to prove that it is right or wrong thinking.  (The most I have ever paid is around $2K.) Among those of us on this thread, only a few who have taken the mega-expensive leap are qualified to dispute the proposition.  And it seems that neither Halcro nor Raul are prepared to take the contrary position that $15K (or let's say more than $10K) buys Nirvana.

Dear @lewm : The real subject down there is MARKETING where the very high price of items as in this case cartridges makes that the hiogher the price more desirable for gentlemans/audiophiles that in reality has ( not all of them. ) poor knowledge level in MUSIC/Audio and even don't know what are looking for paying those high prices other than show it to their friends that are with poor knowledge levels but always impressed by the high price of his friend cartridge.

What could happens if that Coral stone or the Blue Lace or the Goldfinger goes for 5K: something easy no one of those gentlemans buy it because are not so expensive.

We have here in Agon and other internet forums really whealthy gentlemans as could be downunder,syntax and several others and they prefers and sometimes even laughs about cartridges  at 1K-2K dollars.

Dop you think that any of these gentlemans can buy from me the ADC 26/27 cartridge of the 60's that outperforms the EPC100CMK4 and even any today top LOMC cartridge?, no way.

That kind of ADC cartridge is not to humble for them but not something they can be proud to show to their audio friends.

The relation-ship between price and quality level ratio really disappeared many years ago and disappeared mainly by our each one ignorance and that's why manufacturers takes advantage of  each one of us and this trend will follows and seems to me that's nothing that could styop it.

In other thread some one ask if the high price of tonearms is a rip-off and some one posted that maybe it's and told the OP that in cartridges is even worst.

Am I saying that cartridges must stay in a 1K-2K price range?, no not really could go a little higher but not to that 15K-28K that is totally unjustified no matter what.

The other issue is that the gentlemans that bougth those cartridges at those very high prices are really satisfied with even proudly of it and the question to all of them could be: why are you satisfied with, compared against what?

R.