additional processing and customs charges on goldring 1006 or nagaoka mp150

In my experience there are rarely any custom charges imposed in the US for personal items imported from abroad.

@yogiboy

LP gear sells both of those brands without those charges!

The charges are on the custom conrol on arrival, not by the shop on departure.

I’ve never heard about import tax in the USA, but there is always import tax in Europe for example. The shops just tying to say they are not responsible for any custom charges, that’s it.

I have bought stuff from Japan, China, Canada, Britain, Germany, Lithuania, Argentina, India ... without ANY custom charges! Regarding your TT: I too have a recently acquired Pioneer PLX1000. I use a Denon 103R mc cartridge on it. Way better than any MM cartridge! The PLX/Denon is competitive with multi-kilobuck gear!

@roberjerman

I use a Denon 103R mc cartridge on it. Way better than any MM cartridge!

Have you tried all MM cartridges to make such statement for a cheap MC with a conical tip and alluminum cantilever? Even DL-107 MM cartridge is much better than DL-103 MC, and BTW your low compliance DL-103 is a total mismatch with the tonearm of PLX1000 (you can measure the cartridge/tonearm resonance frequency if you don’t believe). DL-103 must be used on high mass tonearms only. If you use a conical tip then you don’t even know what’s on the records, or you may like rolled off frequency on both ends, if that’s your sound then it’s fine, but it does not makes your average MC any better. It’s never too late to learn a bit about different profiles of the styli, different materials for cantilevers etc ... to understand the progress and know-how in cartridge design appeared in the 70s and 80s. Or you can ignore it if you’re happy with your oldschool Denon cartridge designed in 60s for radio broadcast. You may also like 78rpm records, but it does not makes them better than MicroGroove 33rpm LPs. The difference between your conical Denon and a proper MM cartridge is huge! But you may never tried a good MM yourself.

United States has some of the lowest duty rates in the world. Consumer electronics is less than 3%. I never got charged for anything under $500, or so. But did get charged for items closer to $1000 and above. For example, there was a fee of $100 on a $5000 audio purchase. You have nothing to worry about. The world surely takes advantage of this. 

Speaking of MC cartridges. Some people do prefer them and it's fine. But just note, no MC cartridge sounds like tape. If you want that master tape sound, it has to be MM/MI. 

The best cartridges built today are Ortofon 2M Black, Audio Technica VM760SLC, and Nagaoka MP-500. 

There's nothing wrong with aluminum pipe cantilevers. Some of the best cartridges ever made used aluminum pipes. I sonically prefer them to boron rods. Rods always add coloration that's not on the original tape. Same applies for ruby, sapphire, diamond, etc. 

Boron pipes are the best. But they might as well be unobtainium today. Resonance character of a pipe gets the sound right IMO.