Phono cartridge recommendations

Hi Jens : Jim from Progressive. I had Benz Ebony on the Basis and now have a Lyra Delos on Brinkmann and a Grace F9-e on the rebuilt Sapphire. Soundsmith is doing replacement bits for Grace. The Delos is fantastic:-) pm to catchup on life. Best to you in the northcountry 

Perfect price point for either the Clear Audio Maestro V2 ($1200) this is the best MM youll ever hear. Also, the Dynavector 20x2L ($1000) is a .3mv low output MC which is fantastic sounding. I use the 20x2L on my JA Michell Gyro SE turntable with Manley Chinook phono stage,the results are simply excellent sound.


Matt M

Jens I put a Hana ML on the SOTA  today, excellent cartridge 

In your price range you can try to find NOS or MINT condition originals:

Audio-Technica AT-ML170
Pickering XSV/5000
Pickering XLZ/7500 
Grace LEVEL II Ruby 
Victor X1II  

All modern MM and most of the MC simply can't compete with these cartridges. Mid compliance MM are fine for your tonearms, higher compliance can be OK too. 

If you want the best from vintage MM they must be fully original and in mint condition, not a refurbished junk or worn samples. 

For under $1k you can try more amazing MM like:

Pioneer PC-1000 mkII
Stanton SC-100 WOS
Pickering XSV/4000
Sony XL-50


 

chakster

are they still making the at ml170?  or are we chasing old stock units at this point?