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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
tyray
634 posts
 
https://www.stereophile.com/phonocartridges/507allaerts/index.html

As an added bonus, If you scroll down at the end of this link Raul provide, there is a collection of cartridge links/reviews of reasonably priced now vintage cartridges.

Thanks again Raul
andysf's avatar
andysf
269 posts
 
Second the suggestion of a Hana cartridge.  I have a Hana EL in my Technics 1200G and it sounds great.  Personally, I dislike the Ortofon Black but lots of people think it is wonderful.  If you want more for more, I think the Audio-Technica AT-ART9XI would be an excellent choice for around $1200.  (All this based on arm/cartridge compatibility, of course!)
klooker OP
16 posts
 
I wound up getting a Hana ML and a Feickert protractor so I can do my own setups = freedom to experiment with other cartridges as the opportunities come up.

I only have about 5 hours on the cartridge but I'm happy with it. This is my first microline & the one thing I've noticed  is how quiet it is. Surface noise seems dramatically reduced. I'm not sure if this is because of the microline or if my previous 30 year cartridges had worn styli and dried out suspensions that accentuated noise?

Thanks for all the replies.
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
There is no sense in question about ''all carts''. The most members
have experience with limited number of carts. Except Raul, J. Carr
and perhaps ''the well infomed memer from (Dutch) New Zeeland''.
Problem with Raul is that he get seduced in disputes about not
relevant details. So the question asked is answered with own
experiece and preference by individual members. Those are
worthless because there is no consensus about anything. 
Better is to ask questions about particular cartridges. Then only
those who know the cart can answer the question based on their
own experience. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,849 posts
 
 the Denon 103 is a pretty nice cartridge for the money.
It is. Lots of nice comments from our customers.
Second the suggestion of a Hana cartridge.
And a third. One of my employees uses this cartridge- tracks anything.
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