Dhcod, this is no game; if you are a music lover it is essential that you get as much as possible out of each and every time you play a record. Since this is for the long haul, go to the max on your budget. The Clearaudio Maestro V2 Ebony sounds like a good start. Cartridges are not an investment, they are for your supreme audio pleasure; bonds and stocks are for investment. |
Inna, $1000 is a lot of money to me to, but trading in my Sonata for the Grado Master 2 turned out to be the right way to go for me, and I have never been so delighted. I would try a new cartridge every other day if I had the dough, but that's not the case. My line of reasoning was quite simple; if I liked the Sonata, I would like the Grado Master 2 even better. |
@orpheus10 I would try a new cartridge every other day if I had the dough, but that's not the case. Why not? But only if you really like to discover some amazing cartridges. Grado MI cartridges are good until you will find something better, it's always like that. At the moment the best Grado i've tried was Joseph Grado Signature TXZ, flagship model from the 80s. Here is a good documentary about Grado Lab |
$1500 will buy one a London Super Gold. It's a Moving Iron, not Moving Magnet, producing an output voltage of 5mV! The Herron phono amp has enough headroom to handle the London's unusually high output; not all do. The cartridge is not for everyone, but offers an extremely dynamic, visceral, exciting sound. |
