+1 Grado!
Best cheapo Cartridge
In a bind, I have 2 cartridges that have seen better days. My Ortofon Jubilee has at least 1500 hours on it and I’m starting to hear a drop in performance. My Transfiguration Proteus only has 450 hours but is on the fritz and they are OOB.
I have too many irons in the fire to spend alot and need one to hold me over for a while. Thinking about a MM, like Ortofon or Grado. Would be mating with a Basis Vector 4 tonearm, Basis 2200 sig, and either Allnic H3000 or ARC PH 5. Speakers are Thiels.
Analog heads please give me some advice. I have no experience with MM or MI or than many cartridges in my system for that matter.
I have too many irons in the fire to spend alot and need one to hold me over for a while. Thinking about a MM, like Ortofon or Grado. Would be mating with a Basis Vector 4 tonearm, Basis 2200 sig, and either Allnic H3000 or ARC PH 5. Speakers are Thiels.
Analog heads please give me some advice. I have no experience with MM or MI or than many cartridges in my system for that matter.
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- 72 posts total
Cheap modern MM cartridges is like listening to music with a blanket on each speakers. A waste of time in high-end system. Much better to pay more for a decent vintage MM if you really want to find out what this technology is all about. What is "cheapo" in high-end world today ? A $100-200 cartridge is like a free gift, some good MC cost $2k, some of them cost $5k and many of them cost $15k today. I believe anything under $1k is a cheap cartridge for audiophiles. Even a brand new japanese Coreless Straight-flux MI cartridge (invented by former Grace engineer few years ago) starts from $14k, they made two models :) For about $400-900 you can find spectacular MM from the golden age. Audio-Technica is only one of them, there are Grace F9, Victor X1IIe, Stanton 881s, Pickering XSV3000 .... and these brand made higher models too, more expensive, but simply amazing. Good luck in your search and if you need help send me a message. |
The Audio Technica has great depth and etched high frequencies. But there's some grain or slight harshness in the rendition. So I compared my AT VM540SH with my Decca Super Gold/Paratrace and Decca Garrott Export and both Decca's really are in another league. Dark, quiet backgrounds, voices that sound real, speakers disappeared, but most absolutely the difference is that the Decca makes music with emotion. No contest, notwithstanding the priced difference. |
- 72 posts total