A pragmatic view of cartridge expenses / many questions

My personal experience for what it is worth.
- I bought my first vinyl LP - Rolling Stones 12 x 5 - when I was 9. That is 57 years ago.
- when I was 14, I built my own “serious” system: Dyna PAS and Dyna 70 kits, Lafayette speakers, Grarard table and arm, Pickering cartridge.
- I graduated to Shure, Stanton cartridges in that system.
- my mature system can be found here: theaudioatticvinylsundays.com
- Over time, I have used maybe 20 different cartridges as that system evolved.
- for 25 years, I have relied on a Koetsu. First the Black. Then a Rosewood. Then an Onyx. I still have a Benz Micro from 35 years ago.
- I do believe in the law of diminishing returns. I did believe that there is no point in paying more than $1,500 for a cartridge. After that, it’s component interaction, and it is personal preference as I believe that we all learn to hear and listen differently. This was shown in a recent demonstration by Poppy Crum (neurologic scientist at Dolby) in the YouTube video “Audio Myths”. However, after continuous listening, the Benz sounded better than what came before it, the Rosewood sounds better than the Benz, and the Onyx sounds decidedly better than the Rosewood. (I still have never spent more than $1,500 on a cartridge: I bought the Rosewood used, and the Onyx was a gift from a California environmentalist musician as a thank you).
- a friend who has won 6 Grammys for his work with Deutsche Grammophon and has done some work on my amps for me (since undone by someone else, lol) swears by the Shure ... is it the V5? It’s no longer made.
- I send them to the Netherlands for refurbishing. Koetsu is too expensive, and even though Soundsmith is a 20 minute drive from me, It is still cheaper - a lot cheaper - to send them overseas.
- I have had a specific philosophical approach to the assembly of my system over a 50 year period. It hasn’t changed, it’s just been carefully upgraded, with costs kept under control by buying used or demos.
Hope that in some way addresses your concerns.

I neglected to add that I use the Onyx for serious listening, which is 95% of my listening, the Rosewood as backup when the Onyx is being refurbished, and the Benz for parties and certain monophonic and pop LPs from the 50s and 60s. 

@unreceivedogma,

'- a friend who has won 6 Grammys for his work with Deutsche Grammophon and has done some work on my amps for me (since undone by someone else, lol) swears by the Shure ... is it the V5? It’s no longer made.'


I think I remember reading somewhere that the Shure V15 mk3 was the exemplary tracking cartridge in its time. Perhaps this is what your friend from Deutsche Grammophon was suggesting? 

There's a little information here from the website Your Vinyl Destination:

'Shure V15 - the best cartridges of all time?'

http://best-turntables.com/shure-v15-series-explained/

According to J Gordon Holt, in the kind of review you're unlikely to read nowadays,

"In short, this is one of the two best pickups available, and is probably the best for most hi-fi perfectionists."

https://www.stereophile.com/content/shure-v15-iii-phono-cartridge#:~:text=Phono%20Cartridge%20Review....


Unfortunately Shure decided to pull out of cartridge manufacturing in 2018 citing the lack of availability of suitable parts.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnet.com/google-amp/news/sad-news-vinyl-lovers-shure-exits-phono-ca...

Cd318,

I found the Shure V15 type III, IV, V and MR on eBay. 

ONE of them is supposed to be the one, the others, also-rans. 

Supposedly useless without the microridge stylus. 

?

Dear @unreceivedogma : If by Netherlands you mean vdH then you already have a first rate Onyx refurbishing.

Now, Koetsu is expensive because what you receive in return is a " new " Onyx cartridge and this could makes a difference for the better but you have to pay for.

Btw, best Shure quality performance cartridges were the Ultra 500 and the ML140HE.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.