Just picked up three new cartridges to play on a KD 500 with Grace 707 with a Shure M75ED.


Empire 999 VE/X, Ortofon FF15XE, and an AT LS 400. My questions are any of these compatible with my tonearm regarding compliance?.Also will any have the potential to be better than the Shure? It is a PITA to mount and align catridges in the 707. I also have a Pioneer PL12D which I could play with. Thanks in advance.
128x128analogvm15
Also will any have the potential to be better than the Shure?

Surely it’s Grace F9, F14, LEVEL II
with huge potential over your Shure cartridge.

Also a Grace cartridge must be on Grace tonearm (you already have Grace arm) if you want the best synergy expected by the manufacturer. I don’t use Grace tonearms, but i use Grace cartridges.

The best Grace are high compliance cartridges, but it depends on the styli (not all of them are high compliabce). I would look at least for F9 line with styli like F-9U (Utility 4 LineContact type stylus) or F-9F (Discrete 4 Shibata type stylus) if you want maximum frequency extention on both ends, minimum record wear and long life-span. Those two are better than classic F-9E (Elliptical) which is very popular too.  

RS14 styli are latest design from the 80’s, they are better than RS9 and fully compatible with F9 body. Normally they are expensive, the most expensive are F14BR/MR (Boron / MicroRidge) or F14R (Ruby). There are also Sapphire cantilever models, but almost impossible to find. Their RS14L (Luminal Trace) is reasonable prices and very good if the budged is tight.

Grace LEVEL II is my favorite series of cartridges from this manufacturer. Extremely rare, sound quality is mind blowing!
Hi analogvm15,

all three of them will be fine mechanically suited to 707.
Sonically the Shure will be bright, the Orofon inoffensive and the Empire a better match (consider that 707 is a lively arm).