I own both an MC2000 and an MC7500. I cannot recall what is the difference between an MC2000 Mk2 and the original MC2000, but it may have to do with the signal voltage output, 0.05mV for the MC2000. I rank the MC2000 as one of the two or three best cartridges I have ever heard in my life. Scuttlebutt is that the Mk2 version and the MC3000 were just attempts to increase the output voltage but that the trade-off was a loss of "magic". I rank the MC2000 ahead of the MC7500 (and ahead of most other LOMC cartridges), but the MC7500 is also superb. The big issue with the MC2000 is, of course, its miniscule voltage output. I have three high end, high output phono stages, and none of them really cut the mustard with this cartridge, even though the results were good enough for me to hear that it is special. As you probably know, the MC2000 was originally marketed with a matching SUT; I think it’s called the T2000. I have never owned a SUT, and the T2000 is at least as rare as the MC2000. So I was not about to go that route. Finally, Dave Slagle of Intact Audio and EMIA came to my aid. Dave built me a special solid state head amp with a very low input impedance. I think we calculated that it adds 24db of gain. I plug that into the MM inputs of a Manley Steelhead, set for 55db of gain, and this seems to work very well. Ergo, plan on 80db of total gain that you can get one way or another (phono plus linestage, for example).
Why is this cartridge so great? I think it could be because it has minimal turns of wire on its coils, resulting in very low moving mass (and also its tiny voltage output). It also is high compliance compared to nearly every other MC cartridge. You correctly surmise that you need a low effective mass tonearm, and, since I run my own MC2000 on a DV505 using a carbon fiber headshell, I can say the DV505 can work great. (Don’t use the OEM DV headshell; it is too heavy.) Finally, since the MC2000 has a very very low internal resistance of 2 ohms, it actually makes a good amount of current. (Current output = voltage output/internal resistance. 0.05mV/2 ohms = 25uA) It’s extremely well suited to drive one of the "current-drive" phono stages. I’d love to try that.
It’s instructive to re-read Gordon Holt’s original review of the MC2000 in Stereophile. He noted that in order to achieve the accepted range of resonant frequency, one in theory would need to use a tonearm with total effective mass of 5 grams!!! Because of the relatively high mass of the cartridge and its unusually high compliance.
Why is this cartridge so great? I think it could be because it has minimal turns of wire on its coils, resulting in very low moving mass (and also its tiny voltage output). It also is high compliance compared to nearly every other MC cartridge. You correctly surmise that you need a low effective mass tonearm, and, since I run my own MC2000 on a DV505 using a carbon fiber headshell, I can say the DV505 can work great. (Don’t use the OEM DV headshell; it is too heavy.) Finally, since the MC2000 has a very very low internal resistance of 2 ohms, it actually makes a good amount of current. (Current output = voltage output/internal resistance. 0.05mV/2 ohms = 25uA) It’s extremely well suited to drive one of the "current-drive" phono stages. I’d love to try that.
It’s instructive to re-read Gordon Holt’s original review of the MC2000 in Stereophile. He noted that in order to achieve the accepted range of resonant frequency, one in theory would need to use a tonearm with total effective mass of 5 grams!!! Because of the relatively high mass of the cartridge and its unusually high compliance.