Direct Drive

@goofyfoot 

I use to sell a lot of Audio Technica OC9's which worked particularly well with the Rega arms.

The early Rega moving coils for me we're a bit "hard" sounding - partly I suspect because they had unusual impedance requirements and really sounded best with the Rega phono which used input transformers matched to the cartridge.

However I know someone who has run Shelters & Benz's with the Rega arms with good results and has just taken delivery of the top 2 Rega MC cartridges and is really impressed - they are way better than the older models and ahead of the Benz/Shelter's

Since VTA is not adjustable easily on the Rega arms going with the latest Rega MC's has a big advantage with ease of set up.

@dover Threaded VTA adjusters are available for any Rega mount. https://soundsupports.co.uk/Rega%20Related%20Products/

Of course Rega wants their customers to buy Rega cartridges but to me that seems limiting. I do believe in the compatibility factor, meaning certain cartridges perform better with certain tonearms. But Clearaudio cartridges with Clearaudio tables and Rega cartridges with Rega tables; on that I'm not yet sold.

I’ve used a van den Hul MC one Special with excellent results for about 10 years. Great stylus life and detailed dynamic SQ.

Threaded VTA adjusters are available for any Rega mount.

Yes but you need to be careful that they can be locked and rigidly mounted to the armband or plinth.

Some of the early Rega VTA adjusters ended up with the arm simply sitting in the hole.

@dover @sokogear  Know anything about the Rega 78 table and cartridge combination? Seems like the best option for 78 shellac records. Also, it's large leap in price from the Rega 880 to the 3000.