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Which cartridge should I upgrade to now?

Hi folks,

My Shelter 501 Mk 11 cartridge needs replacing after years of  wonderful service. What I get next will be going onto an RB250 arm with a Half Moon counterweight, that sits on a Nottingham Analog Studios Horizon table.

I haven't thought exhaustively about this yet, but my current candidates are a Denon DL 103R, & perhaps one of the Hana cartridges, maybe the EL or the SH, based purely on the rave reviews. The SH in particular is double the cost of what I can get the Denon for ($330 AUD {Australian dollars} with free shipping), but I'm prepared to pay the extra if the difference is thought to be substantial. 

I'd prefer to not spend more than about $500 USD, which with the current exchange rate & shipping will translate into about $750 AUD. I'm happy to hear your opinions, not only on these cartridges, but other candidates you deem worthy.

Thanks!

houseofhits
jperry
2,433 posts
 
Get the Shelter retipped and save your money to buy a better tonearm.
inna
7,225 posts
 
That arm is a perfect match for this particular Nottingham. Big upgrade would be to Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm but that's big cost too.
You didn't mention your phono stage. Also, I understand that you consider both MM and MC cartridges. $500 for new MC is tough.
houseofhits OP
11 posts
 
Only interested in MC. I'm in Sydney. As I mentioned, Denon DL 103R can be gotten for $330 out here.

Phono stage is a Lehmann Black Cube with external psu. That could be upgraded too, & the table, but funds don't permit that at this stage.

Re getting the Shelter retipped, that means shipping to the US. Not impossible but lotta mucking around. Who does the retipping btw?

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