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Cartridges - what have you owned and your opinion

Saw this on audiocircle and thought it may be fun to list some cartridges that you have owned and lived with and your opinion of them.
These are not reviews, just your observations of how they sound in your system.

Dynavector XV-1 - owned this since the turn of the century and my favorite cartridge of all time. Mainly due to its ability to sound natural and un hifi sounding. Slightly loose in the bass, and naturally detailed in the higher frequencies with nice dynamics.
- I load at between 100 and 250ohms and track at 2.05 grams. Currently getting rebuilt for the 3rd time.

Lyra Helikon - very detailed cartridge which tended to float from note to note, but ultimately a little too leading edge for my tastes so sold it a few years back.

Audio Technica OC9-II - closer sounding to the Helikon than the cheaper price should allow. The OC9 has terrific transparency and detail, but also smooth. Somewhat lean bass and incredible bargin for the price. Ultimately connects with my head more than my heart.
I load at 25 or 50ohms and track at 1.75 gms.

Denon 103R - another great cartridge, which in direct comparison to the OC9 sounds a little grey and grainy especially in the higher frequencies. But and a big but, it connects with the heart and has a very nice ripe bass with lovely mid range. lower treble can be a little etched. Overall a great little cartridge that is very musical and to the heart

Benz Ruby 2 - don't really have anything positive to say about this cartridge - grey, grainy, undynamic and unmusical.

Koetsu Rosewood - lovely musical sounding cartridge. Not as transparent as some cartridges, but has a nice robust sound which is quite pleasing to some mediocre recordings. Tracks adequate, but not as well as my other cartridges. Another cartridge which plays to the heart.
- Hates being loaded into a high primary transformer load of say my EAR 834 - 40 ohms. Impedance loading sounds nice around 100ohms.
downunder
go4vinyl
188 posts
 
IMO the Denon carts are silly good for the price...I've had DL-110 and DL-160, both good enough carts...then the very low output DL-304 (0.18mV) - that one blew me away with it's musicality and 'live in the room' feel...

I have had Ortofon OM5 - great for the price as well, but of course FAR behind above carts...

Rega Bias was another great performer - as good as DL-110 and DL-160 but different...

Now I am a very content Shelter 7000 owner - I can stop looking for carts, it sure is good enough for me! It delivers the kind of sound that leaves me breathless (you know what I mean)...it sounded fab from start - I knew right away this was what I was looking for - but upped another notch after approx 200 hours...

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO'S THE BEST AT REBUILDING A CART LIKE THIS (I live in the USA)? SOUNDSMITH?

WHAT'S YOUR EXPERIENCE OF REBUILDS?

Fortunately this is another 1000 hours or so away, still...
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
Madfloyd,

I bought my Dyanvector XV-1S from a friend who put about 400-500 hours on it. I paid $1,900.00 for it, if that helps. (Another friend sold one for approximately the same price about a year ago, so that seems to be about the right price range, or at least it was until the latest price increase.)

I can highly recommend this cartridge to anyone, as long as you have a phono preamp which has a fairly high amount of gain. (The output of the cartridge is only 0.3mv.)

Oh yeah, before I forget, if you do get one, I disagree with a few of those reviewers who state that you need to run it with a VTF much greater than the manufacturer's recommendations of 1.8 - 2.2 grams. Some of them are saying to run it at up to 2.8 grams. (I run mine just a hair under 2.0 grams.)
bhoage
112 posts
 
Lets see, I haven't used anywhere near as many carts as most of you but I've had a Rega Exact which I used briefly until I picked up a phono stage capable of handling LOMC's.

I then got a good price on a Dynavector Karat 17D2 MKII. I liked it but it was a little bright on my Scout/Scoutmaster but there were other factors at play there I think, different cables, speakers etc than my current system. I did like it but I suppose I didn't love it.

I then got, (and still have), an Ortofon Jubilee. I like but as Downunder said, it's better with a step up than an active gain phono stage. It seems to have more emotion with the transformer than without, although it could be just that my current phono stage is better than it's predecesssor.

Finally I'm now using a Dyan XV-1s. I love it. Quiet, dynamic, not lean but not overblown. Lets the emotion of the recording through. A great cart and when I wear it out I'll be getting it rebuilt or replaced with another.
thomasheisig
568 posts
 
Taste and System is always different to each but I would like to rate them in another way

I was impressed from :
Fidelity Research Fr-7 series
Takeda Miyabi Standard
Zyx UNIverse

"ok" cartridges, but no sleepless nights
(some of them I listened to in real High End Systems too)
Clearaudio Goldfinger
Dynavector XV-1s
Kondo IO
Lyra Skala
Zyx 4D

Here I was glad when the "performance" was finished
Air Tight PC-1
MySonic Lab Eminent
Music Maker
most Koetsus
Shelter 90x
ihcho's avatar
ihcho
612 posts
 
Grado ZTE+, Black, Green, Prestige Gold
Audio Technica AT125LC, and few more lower
Schure M97xE
ADC XLM MKII Improved
Clearaudio Aurum Classics Wood

My pick for best performance/price is ADC XLM, then comes AT125LC, both at under $100 for both cartridge and stylus. On my turntables (Clearaudio Bluemotion and Thorens TD145MKii), Clearaudio does not sound distinctively better than ADC XLM.
Without considering the price, I would go for Clearaudio, ADC XLM, Grado Gold, and ATC125LC. Currently using Grado Gold on Bluemotion and ADC XLM on Thorens. For me it is hard to distinguish sound on either unless I pay close attention. Thorens/ADC wins in very slight margin over Bluemotion/Grado Gold with slightly deeper base and wider sound stage.
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