cartridge recommendation

The Grado MI's typically have 1/10 the inductance of most MM's - 45 millihenries vs. 450 mhenries. Smaller coils, faster transients! Way back when, the Grado FTE ($15!) was an easy recommendation for a "best buy" cartridge! Present day Grados are still great values! And they are USA-built!

whart - maybe it’s because my English is not perfect, but i didn’t understood clearly your recommendation .
especially between mm and mc.
as i wrote i have the monster alpha 2 cartridge.
right now, connected to a build in stage, it has wonderful details but sounds very thin.
a mm ortofon i have sound very colorized to me.
i totally agree with you that the well tempered is a bit pain in the ass with the fluid and other enlightenment's. 

roberjerman - grado is one of several that i consider, but i’ll try to make some more research.
that inductance , or hum that both of you mentioned is something to worry, isn’t it?

Grado can’t compete with any cartridge from my list above.
I have Grado Signature XTZ as the reference Grado

i think i prefer a new cartilage.

None of the new MM/MI for $500 is equal to those rare ones from the hey day of MM/MI. Manufacturers ask much more today for entry level cartridges build with entry level parts. It’s day and night compared to those vintage high-end MM/MI cartridges if you will look at the stylus type, cantilever material, coil wire etc... even the specs if you want to.  

None of us buyin’ used or worn cartridges when it comes to the old ones, but even NOS (New Old Stock) unit must be checked prior to sell just to make sure it works properly. Even if a cartridge has been opened and used for 5 hrs it is considered "used", but in fact a burn-in process for any NEW cartridge is about 50hrs minimum.

If you really looking just for a brand new modern cartridge then look for Garrott or Audio-Technica top models. You can secure yourself with a warranty, but the overall quality of the modern MM is not better than vintage MM for sure.

We do not have anything at affordable price equal to the quality level of Stanton 881, 981 or Pickering 3000, 4500 for example.

People will tell you about those Nagaoka, Grado, Goldring, Ortofon, Shelter MM , but you limit yourself when you’re considering only modern cartridges.

The golden age of analog is not today, it was 30-40 years ago and some of the best phono pickups produced in the golden age when each big company tried to make something special.

can anyone say something about the benz micro gold/silver they offer me with some discount?

https://www.analogueseduction.net/benz- ... ridge.html

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/benz ... ver_e.html

@chakster - first, the article about Doug Sax is a bit old and I think that things changed from there.
btw the photo you put of Stanton 881s says some other model.
from my experience i usually don’t pay much attention to technical build spec, only sound.
by that i’m not saying that you are not right, just that i need other factors than legendary vintage, or build.