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First Moving Coil (MC) Cartridge Acquisition

I have been listening to MM carts my whole life. I am interested in dipping my toes into the MC stream to see what sonic improvements can be had. I am looking for recommendations in the $1K range. Currently, I am running an Ortofon 2M Black and Shure JICO MM. Turntable is a Merrill Super 12 Polytable, Jelco 750 tonearm, into a Herron VTPH-2A phono stage and Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum 2 integrated.

I would appreciate any recommendations. I am entertaining Hana MC carts or something with .5mV or higher as I don’t want to get a SUT. Please provide any feedback on the Hana that A’goners have employed.
arturos73
jmolsberg's avatar
jmolsberg
467 posts
 
You have some nice gear! I’ve been using a dynavector 20x2L with a Herron vtph-2a and have no desire to make any changes. The 64db is plenty of gain in my setup, exactly as Keith recommended. Besides the dynavector being a great sounding cart, it is easy to set up, quite rugged, and very long lasting. Dynavector also offers a rebuild path. 
soundwatts
221 posts
 
I went from a koetsu black gold line to ortofon cadenza bronze to a soundsmith and couldn’t be happier 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Good to hear. No complaints with my Koetsu. I'm in no hurry to replace it after just one year. Its not high, but its on the list. But not because of the Koetsu, but because of the Hyperion. I just get the feeling its in another league. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
There goes that stylus jitter again. Millercarbon, can you name me one reviewer who uses a Sound Smith as his primary cartridge? You see the occasional Grado but I have never seen a Sound Smith. This is not to say they are a bad cartridge. I can't say that as I have never used one. But I sure have yet to hear stylus, "jitter." I have heard miss tracking. 
agrippa
160 posts
 
I am looking for recommendations in the $1K range

In my opinion, in that range the Audio-Technica ART9 is an absolute no-brainer.

In my system it plays as well as my VdH Colibri XGP, Benz Ebony TR and Allnic Puritas and when I've brought it along with me for testing in other systems, it's done equally well against offerings from Lyra, Zyx and others.

The Herron offers 64dB or 69dB gain, so I see no need to restrict yourself to .5mV or more.  If you've got it set up for 64dB you should be fine down to 0.3mV or even less, while 69dB should be be fine down to 0.2mV or even 0.1mV depending on how quiet the Cronus Magnum 2 is.
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