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Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

Yeah, another dumb "what's your opinion on these cartridges" thread. Back in the late 80's we had dealers where you could listen to the stuff.

So anyhow I have a Linn LP12 with Ittok arm and a 30 year old Audioquest B200L cartridge. I'm running it through the phono stage of a Jeff Rowland Coherence One into a Spectral DMA90 through a set of Kef R300's.

I prefer a little more laid back sound (err on the side of forgiving instead of fatiguing) but I like a lot of upper end detail, precise soundstaging, air, etc.

So far I'm considering an Ortofon Quintet S Black, Hana SL or a Benz wood - something at or below the $1k level.

I'd love to hear any opinions, suggestions, and experiences with those cartridges or others in the price range. I could possibly go higher if there is something out there that really shines for less than $1,500.

Thanks.


klooker
luisma31
516 posts
 
Ralph, I get it, I'm just saying that to me (a learning noob with analog) is fascinating how mechanics (including proper tracking) will provide 80% of the magic while electrical parameters the remaining 20% (using these values as an example).Now you guys are talking unipivot / gimbal, just realized my Technics uses a gimbal design


rauliruegas
13,125 posts
 
@atmasphere : it " dance " at microscopic grooves tracking levels, no matters what. magnets can't stabilize the unipivot designs, the tracking friction movements/forces are extremely high.

@millercarbon Origen Live designs are really good.

This link is a learning one for every one:

https://www.originlive.com/hi-fi/tonearm/renown-tonearm/

R.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,103 posts
 
The Micro Benze did indeed work fine on my Graham 2.2. So did the Benz Ruby. But then it sounded even better on the Origin Live Conqueror.  
I found the Micro Benz worked better in my Triplanar as well. It was quite a trooper- I ran it for about 14 years.

just realized my Technics uses a gimbal design
Yes it does. The new Technics arm is actually quite an improvement over its predecessor of a few years ago, even though it looks identical. 

rauliruegas
13,125 posts
 
@atmasphere  : "   blanket statement..."   Really?

What's blanket is your knowledge levels in this specific tonearm and as you follow posting about as you show and confirm it.

Certainly you are way far away to be a tonearm expert, not me either but I have better and higher knowledge levels and for very good reasons.

R.


daveyf's avatar
daveyf
3,012 posts
 
@klooker  To get back to your OP, with an Ittok, a good cartridge would be Linn's own Krystal. The Benz Wood cartridges are all good, but not that easy to source these days. 
BTW, Linn's philosophy on upgrades is from the inside out...so the tonearm is less important than the power supply which is less important than the bearing etc., the tonearm is more important than the cartridge. 
A cartridge that would be a step up over the ones mentioned would be a Lyra Delos, BUT you would need to be able to have it set up with greater precision than the others.
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