Rebuild or new cartridge with my zeta tonearm


Hey all,

im refurbishing my Gyrodec with Zeta tonearm. I have a Sumiko Talisman Virtuoso B . It needs a new stylus and possible rebuild from Soundsmith. My question:

is it better to rebuild the Sumiko or get a new cart? What carts would you recommend within tonearm? 
Thanks in Advance
128x128birdfan
Hi Birdfan, The Talisman Virtuoso B is a high output MC cartridge which I think I can safely say the vast majority of us do not like. They tend to be peaky and certainly do not track as well because the effective mass of their moving system it too high. You are better of with a high quality moving magnet cartridge but with your arm you do not want a highly compliant cartridge. A Soundsmith Carmen in medium compliance would do nicely. Any of the Clearaudio MM cartridges would be fine.Any of the Grade Timbre series cartridges would also be fine. 
With any of these cartridges you will have better tracking and a significantly more dynamic sound.
Post effective mass of your tonearm first, a cartridge must be choose accordingly. Do not waste your time and money with rebuild, you can buy a better cartridge MC or MM, just tell us your budget first. If you;re willing to spend under $800 then you'd be better with MM or MI. If you want to spend more on LOMC then you can also find something better than your Sumiko.  
@chakster the mass of the Zeta is 16 grams I believe. 
@mijostyn thanks for your thoughts I’ll look into those options