2. analog
  3. 147039-2484

What's your go-to cheapie cartridge?

Let's say $300 or less. This would be your "y'know, this thing is pretty darn musical even though I've got higher end carts" cartridge. In my case I'd have to say it's my 103R. Not as transparent or fast as a lot of my better carts, but it sails smoothly through the grooves and just sounds good. 
tonyptony
big_greg
6,674 posts
 
I just mounted my old Shure M97xE with JICO SAS stylus on my "new" JVC QL-Y66F and it sounds great!  It came with a Stanton 981HZS cartridge, which was nice sounding also, but it seemed to be more sensitive to airborne vibration and was less forgiving of surface noise. 
tonyptony OP
619 posts
 
Thanks for that, @big_greg . I was wondering about the Stanton 981HZS. 
big_greg
6,674 posts
 
@tonyptony The Stanton is not a bad cartridge by any means. Everything I've read about it is very positive. I don't have any history on the one I have, it came with a turntable I bought recently, a JVC QL-Y66F direct drive. No idea how many hours are on the stylus. As it is it's very detailed and has great channel separation.  
raymonda
855 posts
 
Denon DL 103. 
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