Cartridges: Complete Scam?

I love these discussions and most of the responses. With all things considered I gave up chasing Audio Nirvana long ago. A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. In the world of audio sound there are countless high end and ridiculously expensive pieces and components and ways to dump hundreds of thousands of dollars in search of the very best sound reproduction money could possibly buy. I always say if you have it then smoke it!
Chances are pretty darn good your ears are the weakest link and if the truth be told you likely can't honestly hear all that much difference between a decent $200 cartridge played on the same table and arm as a $2,000 cartridge. It is all good and it is all OK because some here can hear the difference if the change the wires from their amp to the speakers while most cannot.
I will always be a staunch believer that once you put together a decent system the room acoustics have a great deal more to do with how pleasing the sound is than most of the rest. You can put a really great system in a really terrible room and I assure you, it will sound terrible. After many years of working in loud environments and loving loud music it is my Audiologist who tells me the real truth and that I can't hear for $heet any way. I am still perfectly fine with my Altec Model 19s and a Luxman PD 121 TT with SME arm and a Denon 103 MC cartridge with a step up matching transformer. Just decide what sounds good enough to you in your listening room and sit back while you spin some clean vinyl.

Madivid0 - I don't think you get it! IMO, you are the person that will create another thread asking if expensive cables are a scam? Expensive speakers are a scam? Expensive amps are a scam? on and on. You probably put down the people that buy more expensive equipment than what you can afford. There are many of you that think their $200 amp sounds as good as a $70,000 solution amp, or your $300 NHT speakers are every bit as good as a $100,000 pair of Magico/Wilson/others...
As a replier stated, what don't you like about your system which is a valid question to ask. If you are happy with a $200 cartridge, great, keep it and go on. If you aren't happy, then listen to other cartridges in your price range. If you can't hear a difference in cartridges, then either your system doesn't have high resolution or you can't hear the difference, don't blame vendors that price cartridges out of your price range.

@chakster and @lewm,

Thank you for your replies! I should have written that there are huge differences between new cheap and expensive LOMC cartridges. 

I did not intend to compare what seems to be apples and oranges to me (vintage carts and new carts) and should have made that point clearer in my post.

I agree with Chakster that a vintage MM (if properly matched to the tonearm) can provide results that are as satisfying as a new setup costing many times as much, however there's a great deal of knowledge and a somehow steep learning curve when it comes to the used market.

I also recently came accross a vintage AT Signet MK-111E that was an absolute steal at a little over 300 bucks, considering that it most likely smokes any new LOMC costing 10 times as much, but I don't think that it's fair to compare new MSRP with vintage prices, at least not for the purposes of determining whether a 2/3k LOMC is a scam compared to a much cheaper new LOMC cartridge.

Best,

Luiz

OP, probably best that you use Streaming, iPhone dock, or cheaper disc front end to playback music.  Why, because a TT setup sounds to expensive for you, at this time, and perhaps even to complicated.  Good TT setup is not simple to do and, if wrong, easy for a TT setup to sound ordinary and even bad.  It's always a choice and there is quite a lot of choice available.

Disc is simple, can even sound very, very good, and is only one component.  Many disc players have a volume control so all you need is a quality amplifier, speakers, cables, and you are set.  Too easy and no complaints, maybe and hopefully...

I think the OP is asking a valid question.

Different cartridges have different sonic profiles (as do all audio components). Depending on your program material, room acoustics, and listening habits, different systems will yield different sounds. The trick, and in my experience, the fun of the hobby is designing systems that delight your senses and allow you to have more meaningful listening experiences.

You may enjoy having several systems. If I’m just potting around the house, I listen to a Tivoli Model 1. If the family is making noise, I slip on some headphones (currently driven by Schiit electronics). Sometimes I enjoy my Harbeth P3r speakers driven by a nice set of Odyssey components. I still enjoy my old Altec model 19 horns driven by the Dynaco S70 I built from a kit when I was a kid. Horses for courses, as they say.

If you are serious about learning how to enjoy this hobby, start with a modest (affordable to you but not too expensive, yet) system, try different things out, and go from there. The Mofi turntable and Studio Tracker is a great start. There are dozens of relatively inexpensive ($100 - $500) cartridges you can try. You’ll probably end up liking certain cartridges better for certain types of music or listening situations. You may end up with something you like better than the others for most situations, and that will inform you as you experiment with different systems. As you gain experience and develop your listening skills, you can be more confident in your purchasing decisions, and, hopefully have more fun and satisfaction listening to your music.

I like my MoFi MasterTracker. It sounds great on my brand new Technics S1200 GR. I liked it better than the UltraTracker on my somewhat resolving system (Harbeths, Odyssey). I have an old Shure V-15 III on a Thorens fitted with a Grace tonearm that is perfect with the Dynaco and the Altecs. Sometimes I will fit an ancient Grado F3+ on the Technics and guess what... it sounds wonderful, especially with my old ’60s and ’70s rock records. I had an Ortophon M5e on an entry level Rega that tracked like a bloodhound and sounded great on more beat up records (that didn’t sound good using the MasterTracker). Years ago I had a Denon 103 on an old Elac/Mircord that was miraculous (and dirt cheap).

Yes, you can spend ridiculous amounts of money on cartridges. I would caution, however, that system synergy becomes more important as you move up the price ladder. Putting the Mastertracker on the Rega RP1 would be a waste of money, just as senseless as putting an AirTight on your MoFi table. I’m sure it would sound great, but you will not be extracting its potential on that table. As a famous rock band once claimed, it’s a question of balance.