Best MM?

I am sure that MC people will profoundly disagree. I am also sure that some of them tried many both MM and MC cartridges from all time periods. I am very neutral in this debate and couldn't care less about which ones are better or just different. But let's cut BS, anyone I have heard of who has truly high-end set up uses MCs. Certainly there might be many others I haven't heard of who prefer MMs, vintage or not. It is also hard just by reading posts to figure out who has'got good hearing and who has not. Hard but not always impossible. And no sales pitches, please.

Chakster,
+1 Joe should have been proud of the XTC. It is a great cartridge. 

Halcro,
+1 for the empire 4000 d/iii gold. In my system it has a little more precision than the XTC. That said, the XTC is probably closer to live music in that I don't hear instrument in precise locations at concerts.

FWIW, I picked up a NOS ebony virtuoso for cheap money & although it's not completely broken in yet is showing true potential. It's closer to the empire in regard to presentation. I mounted it on a new headshell with silver wire, so I've still got about 40 hours before making a true comparison. 

I am sure that MC people will profoundly disagree. I am also sure that some of them tried many both MM and MC cartridges from all time periods.

Yes they will disagree.......but no....almost none of them has compared vintage MMs with MCs using their current SOTA systems.
For the last 20-30 years we have all been 'brainwashed' by the MC Lobby and all the 'serious' audiophiles have blindly moved onto the next 'great' and 'even more expensive' LOMC as they are introduced.
Almost none of them (until recently) has even had turntables with multiple arms and very few of them (until recently) have had tonearms with interchangeable headshells to allow them to instantly compare cartridges side by side.
This is now changing (if you read WTBF) where the uber-system owners have now accepted turntables with up to four arms....and most are changing to arms with interchangeable headshells.

In any case.......Chakster's mission (if you dare to accept it)....is to tempt YOU yourself to obtain and listen to these vintage MM cartridges and make up your OWN mind!
Why blindly follow Reviewers or rich audiophiles who can afford to spend $15,000 on a cartridge?

Vortrex,

If I was going to acquire one vintage MM to compare with the Audio Note IQ3, which would it be? It must be compatible with a Kuzma 4Point (13g) and be somewhat easy to find, preferably NOS.

My standard recommendation for this question is:-

• Shure V15/III
• Victor Z1

Both of these are plentiful in the marketplace and economical (less than $300).
You can then mount a new Jico SAS stylus assembly in each of these and see if you agree with Chakster and me?

They will both sound wonderful in your Kuzma 4Point.....ignore the ridiculous Arm/Cartridge Resonance formulas.
What have you got to lose.....?

Calling them brainwashed imbeciles is a bold statement and an insult, unless you can prove it. You did say "we all", though. Who is we ?