Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

You can end all the threads mentioning 4 cartridges:

Denon 103 (MC)
Hana (MC)
Nagaoka (MM)
Audio-Technica (MM)

All of them are relatively cheap, affordable, not all of them are universal for all tonearms: Denon has the lowest compliance of them all and was designd in the ’60s, Nagaoka has pretty low compliance for MM, Audio-Technica are mid compliance MM. Hana is just one of the cartridges Excel Sound made, they have been making cartridges since the ’70s for many other manufacturers, but it wasn’s something special. Well what do you expect from a $400 cartridges?

The world of great inexpensive cartridges consist of so many different models from too many different manufacturers, but the knowledge and personal experience with different cartridges is so limited that we have always discuss the same models again and again.

It’s too bad. I wish people could inform each other about new discoveries, not just mainstream models from any online recordshop based on receit review chart.

Dear @kennyc :  "  I fail to understand the purpose of ranking components by value. I see often contentio.......... ""

Well that's you because other of us think different. The first post about was:

"  The big deal you're going to find is that if the tonearm properly tracks the cartridge, then the choice of cartridge is far less important than people make it out. "

followed by this other post from the same person:

" I discovered that the arm is more important when ".....


You said:

""  I also surmise that few check the accuracy of stylus to cantilever mating.  ""

I posted in the first page:

"  Every audiophile knows the importance to match the cartridge/tonearm combination and to make an accurated geometry alignment.  Now, we can have a great cartridge mounted in a great tonearm and even can't shows at its best if the TT/cartridge/tonearm overall alignment/geometry set up is not made it accurately "

I can add that almost everyone knows that it's the cantilever/stylus the ones that be align in the protractor.

These info comes from a tonearm manufacturer:


"""  Our Opinion on Component SignificanceComponentPerformance SignificanceTurntable 23%
Tonearm 17%  Cartridge5%  Phono Stage 25%   15% Amplifiers
15%Speakers   """


Your post about looks useless but is your opinion and I respect it.

R.





  

Dear @klooker :  What happens with what you posted in the OP:

"  I could possibly go higher if there is something out there that really shines for less than $1,500.  ""

Good luck with your Hana and that can fulfill your needs/priorities.

R.

@rauliruegas 
One thing I realized is that I needed to be able to do my own setups - hence the purchase of the protractor.

After that purchase my budget was reduced and so were my options. 

I spoke with a couple distributors who both recommended the Hana ML. One was out of stock and he still recommended it instead of trying to sell me something he had in stock. Maybe they make more margin on the Hana's, I don't know. Being able to buy a cartridge with a USA warranty also made me feel better. 

Anyhow, I'm not disappointed with the cartridge. The only thing I don't like about it is the shape of the body - it's difficult to gauge where the cantilever is without getting your face down to its level.

I'm sure this won't be my last cartridge.

First of all Raul, I did not denigrate the SME arm. It was a great arm in it's day. It is not as good as some others by virtue of it's geometry. I generally reserve denigration for uni pivot arms. I hate to say this but that turntable system? is a mess. You need to clean that up. A record clamp that massive is not necessary with vacuum hold down. It is bad for your bearing. Belts that long are also a problem.
I am grad for you that you can afford a Formula 1. Maybe some day I will be able to also. 
Value is an important issue for most of us. We want to get the most for our money but we also expect performance to be within a certain envelope. Those of us on a budget or who are married look for the least expensive item that will get us there. I am more likely to trust the opinion of someone on a budget than someone who can spend anything they want. For those people if it is more expensive it has to be better.