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Advice on best match MC Cartidges for these tonearms

Hi all,

I am re starting my vinyl life, cleaning all 700 odd albums and singles... big job!

I am asking for advice from all those with experience in matching cartridges and tonearms. I have an Ayre K3x pre-amp/phono setup.

I have the following tonearms on appropriate turntables and tonearms have matching original head shells.

Micro Seiki MA-505LS

Micro Seiki MA-505XS

Micro Seiki MAX-327

Kuzma Stogi Ref (currently with a CAR-30 boron)

I listen to a wide range of music, mostly rock, blues, electronic, alternative, classical, pop, 60's 70's 80's era, but limited jazz. I was considering the Ortofon Quintet Bronze, the looked at the Cadenza Bronze for its apparent technical superiority over the lower product lines. I like a warm mellow sound, but with high definition of the instruments. I have not heard the latest lines of cartridges available, but I do know of the much older Ortofon cartridges. I would want at least 2 cartridges that I could swap out with the arms. Any opinions would be really helpful. Cheers A.


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amg56 OP
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@sampsa55 @dover Thanks for the suggestions. I have been leaning toward the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze, in that it has some good technology used by higher cartridges from the same manufacturer, and is from what I have researched so far, not as "brash" or "clean cut" as the Blacks. I am still researching but numbers are just numbers.

People's experiences with different carts add to the whole decision. Lest not forget, there are some seriously expensive carts out there, and even the Bronze is reaching out over the cliff for me. I guess I need to look in the longer term also, the longevity and quality of the product and see if the sums add up.

I have heard that some enthusiasts have a drawer full of them to select from depending on the mood. Cool.

sampsa55
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@dover 's point is a good one: If you want to have multiple tonearms / cartridges in your system, changing between them should be easy. 

I have a turntable with three tonearms and I use one for mono, one for chamber & choral (more open & refined), and one for orchestral & jazz (more solid & dynamic). But there are lots of others who think one should choose a single neutral sounding cartridge as anything else amounts to adjusting the sound to your taste rather accurate reproduction.

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amg56 OP
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I have 5 turntables, 3 have cartridges which are well entrenched and those I won't be changing. The Micro Seiki BL91L (with the LS arm) is the one I would like to see sorted. The other is a Micro Seiki DDX-1500 on which I have 2 mounts, 2 arms, no carts. These are the 237mm (not 327 as I put on my opening spiel) and the MA-505XS.

I really appreciate taking the time to put words in virtual paper. Cheers. A.

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amg56 OP
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I thought I would get back into vinyl. I bought 4 turntables and 3 arms. Talk about an idiot! I only needed 1, but needed to work out which one. I will keep 2, the Kuzma Stabi Ref II and the Micro Seiki BL-91L.

The others are my trusty JVC YL-5F, a Micro Seiki DDX-1500 and a Nakamichi Dragon CT which is ship shape and great.

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