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.


128x128cheeg
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Update for anyone still interested: the Stanton/Pfanstiehl combination is very disappointing.  My best guess is that the rubber in the cartridge has hardened, but it's possible the stylus is just not that good.  Either way, I think I'll wait until I can afford a decent new (or used) TT/cartridge, so I'm going to give up on this experiment for a while.  Thanks to all of you for your help; it's been a good learning experience!