Is a Ortofon Black a step down from a Pickering XSV 3000

the old stuff last longer too and better materials. black is really overpriced. nagaoka or goldring is better value. 

or... ol style. which I personally prefer.commonly 30- 35 db seperation on those old style cart is not a force to be reckon with. only challenge is the condition of stylus. it's a hit a miss and requires patience. I just buy one after another. I had ortofon before and not interested to own another one. but that's just me.

if I go expensive 1k above . I would simply pick soundsmith.. my kind of sound. but I had yet go there. there is still so much to hear.

Mijo, I agree with you that what LPGEar sells are not fakes, in the sense that they are real diamonds, and real styluses. However what no one has reproduced in the modern era is the stereoHedron shape which was exclusive to Pickering and Stanton cartridges of that day. I think the stereoHedron stylus was originally designed in order to accommodate 4channel audio LPs which had a brief lifetime in the marketplace. Frequency response out to 50,000 Hz. And no, Chakster, I do not think that there is a hidden cache of stereoHedron styluses lying around somewhere in the USA. I would not doubt however that some private collectors are hoarding them. I have one that I keep as a spare for my Stanton 981LZS. I’ve got Pickering XSV series too. By all accounts, the Black is a great cartridge, and readily available. Clearaudio moving magnet cartridges are rebranded cartridges made by someone else, is what I was always led to believe. Further, there is a price markup associated with having the clearaudio brand name on them.

Dear @tzh21y  : Certainly not a downgrade and other than Ortofon exist other today cartridges that outperforms what you have on hand today:  Nagaoka, Audio Note series IQ, Audio Technica, Goldring, Garrot, et, etc.

@anthonya : ""  the old stuff last longer too and better materials  ""

please tell me why last longer. Which cartridges last longer than today ones? and which vintage cartridges came with better materials than today designs?

Btw, @lewm   """  stereoHedron shape which was exclusive to Pickering and Stanton cartridges of that day. I think the stereoHedron stylus was originally designed in order to accommodate 4channel audio LPs which had a brief lifetime in the marketplace. Frequency response out to 50,000 Hz  ""

stereohedron is just a name as the analog6 in AKG, or microline, shibate, or other stylus shape designs or the one that comes in your Acutex or any vintage/today cartridge designs.

And or you are wrong or have a high misunderstood that was designed for CD4 
Look the Grace F9E came with no line contact stylus shape and worked truly fine with CD-4 as did it the Technics 205/EPC 100C that goes out to not 50khz but over 100khz and came with ellipthical stylus shapes as the Audio Technica models that worked fine with the CD-4.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Raul, I yield to your superior knowledge on this subject, but with all due respect, your post does not contradict mine, unless you are saying that the Stereohedron does not have an extended treble response.  I refer you to this article from the Sound Smith website: https://www.sound-smith.com/articles/stylus-shape-information
Here, Ledermann discusses the Shibata and Shibata-like stylus shapes, of which the stereohedron is one. Other companies had their own pet names for their similar "hyper-elliptical" stylus shapes which had a response out to 45kHz. The side benefit of that was their ability to play 4 channels LPs.  The fact that the Grace F9E (an elliptical) and the Technics cartridges you name may also be able to play "CD-4" does not negate my point about the Stereohedron.  Nor does it speak to the question of what LP Gear is selling as a replacement for the Stereohedron to use with vintage Pickering or Stanton cartridges that were originally sold with Stereohedron styli.  LP Gear say they are selling a Shibata-type replacement stylus, and it may perform very well on the Pickering and Stanton cartridges which originally were sold with the Stereohedron, but it is dimensionally slightly different from the Stereohedron, which may or may not alter the SQ. And that was my main point, in reference to Mijostyn's post.

that Audio Note IQ3 looks interesting.  Has anybody heard it?