Cartridge forgiving of "non-audiophile" recordings and pressings

I have to disagree with @gregm's suggestion of the Ortofon 2M Black. With its Shibata stylus profile it is ruthless in terms of showing off any and all warts on vinyl that is in less than pristine condition. It is a good cart though. 

I've found my Soundsmith Carmen2 a great sounding and forgiving cartridge. It tracks everything very well.

I’m a record collector first, and I have stacks of vinyl of many genres that would never qualify as audiophile quality, either in terms of recording, pressing, or both. Note that this isn’t a problem of vinyl condition. We’re talking VG+ at worst.

I find that the various fine line styli are too fussy and revealing with these records. Nude elliptical have proven to be a better match here, a good compromise.

This opinion is false. If you’re a collector then I assume your records are original pressings. Those records are second hand and nearly all of them have been played with average styli (conical or elliptical at the best) if they are not from another audiophile. Since vinyl was main format of music back them do not expect second hand records are from audiophile’s collection. So most likely deep groove walls are still virgin, because conical or even elliptical stylus simply can’t go there.

All you need is to clean your old original (secondhand) VG+ records for use with ADVANCED PROFILES like Shibata, LineContact, MicroRidge, FineLine, Stereohedron, Parabolic, Replicant-100 etc ...

... but never use them with the same conical or elliptical stylus that other people have been using them for 40 years!

Learn a bit about vinyl groove walls and about stylus radius (different profiles).

Only advanced profile (not a conical or elliptical crap) can make your used OLD records sound better! It’s because only advanced profile can ride in untouched part of the groove wall!

I'm not buying "audiophile" pressings, but I have some? I will never buy them again. Any original Japanese press is better that new audiophile reissue. However, most of my records are US originals from the 70’s, many of them are strong VG+ or better. Playing them with conical tip is only degradation in sound. Advanced profile is an upgrade for all vintage vinyl, even for mono.

For under $1k you van buy some amazing MM or MI cartridges from the golden era, with advanced profile and often with exotic cantilever. You'd better buy a spare styli for MM than just an MC cartridge (imo). 

denon 103

With a Conical tip on vintage vinyl you’re continuing to wear off same part of the groove walls that already worn out by previous user of your vintage records (an average listener with average equipment aka a conical bonded stylus on those cheap carts).

What you can do is to reach previously untouched part of the groove walls using advanced profile, very simple, isn’t it? That’s the basics and I’m wondering people still have no clue about it.

Never use conical stylus for vintage vinyl if you want them to sound the best.