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Best Budget Phono Cartridge?

After upgrading my system for CDs and SACDs recently, I pulled my old turntable out of storage to see how it would stack up. It sounded pretty sick, and my best guess is that an old (very old) Stanton 681EEE is the culprit. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on this experiment, but if I can find a decent cartridge in the $100-250 range it would be fun to see how my old vinyl compares. I’m looking at the following new or NOS cartridges:


Audio Technica AT7V MM or AT-F2 MC

Denon DL 103 MC or DL 110 MC;

Grado Prestige Gold1

Sumiko Pearl MM  

Ortofon 2M Blue MM  

Shure M97xE

 Would any of you like to weigh in on this list, or add a favorite of your own? I’ll be inputing to a Parasound New Classic 2100 preamp.


cheeg
cheeg's avatar
cheeg OP
247 posts
 
@williewonka -- thanks for your post on the Denon 103 -- it does sound like a strong contender in the budget cartridge category.  I initially decided against it because one of the Agon replies said my Parasound 2100 would not provide enough output from its phono stage to work well with the 103's 0.3mV output.  But if I get inspired, I might look into how much it takes to set one up a decent SUT...
cheeg's avatar
cheeg OP
247 posts
 
PS to @viridian: I meant to ask you earlier in this thread when you brought it up -- how does the tone arm mass enter into the setup equation?  Could you provide some rules of thumb for different tone arm masses, or send a link to a relevant article? Thanks again.
cheeg's avatar
cheeg OP
247 posts
 
@czarivey -- I can't find anything by Googling "ADS Type III and type IV cartridges" -- are you talking about Shure cartridges? If not, please send me a link to ADS cartridges, as all I've come up with is advertisements ("ads") for cartridges!
Post removed 
cheeg's avatar
cheeg OP
247 posts
 
@viridian -- thanks for your opinions, as always.  I have a few follow up questions:
- I'm tempted to return the AT440, since a) the sound is not blowing me away, and b) it will probably be a year before I'm ready to buy a new TT.  Your post makes it sound like I should just stay with it until it's broken in, and hope that I like it better then; wouldn't I be better off returning it, and getting an equivalent or better cart with my new TT?
- Regarding the tone arm mass, I'm trying to get some simple "rules of thumb" to guide my next purchase.  Your post made it sound like higher mass is generally better than low -- is that right, or does it vary with the arm/cartridge combination?  I've also heard that the traditional "S" shaped arm is now out of favor; do you agree, and if so, do you know why it's not as good as a straight one?  Is a single bend in an arm better than an S, or should I just look for a straight arm?  Inquiring minds want to know...
Thanks again,
Casey 
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