Cartridge Advice Please


I would love to hear from others that have traveled the same or a similar path.  

My system is the previous Gen of Audio Research REF gear with the 75SE amp, 5SE preamp and 2SE phonostage with the Rega P10 playing Wilson Sophia 1.  I listen to a lot of rock, R&B, blues, jazz, folk

My previous cartridge of about 2 years was a Benz Micro Wood SM.  I got it new and loved it from the first record.  My current cartridge is the Kiseki Purple Heart which I love even more and also have loved from the beginning.  I got is used with about 200 hours, lol.  So many people listen for 200 hours and then sell.  I am fine with used but have always found that 150-200 hour statistic funny.

It has been about 9 months and I am happy with every other aspect of my system so would like to experiment with a new cartridge.  Here are the ones that didn't work

SoundSmith Sussuro MkII ES - I liked it but with a 0.4mV rating it required my 5SE volume to be around 20 higher than the Purple Heart rated at 0.48mV.  That makes no sense and it caused a buzz to be audible from my speakers between albums/tracks when listening at moderately loud volumes.  Mr. Peter said there was  nothing wrong with it and felt no need for me to send it in so I sold it.

Rega Aphelion 2 - This came used on my P10 and my mind was set on selling to justify the P10 upgrade so not sure I gave it the best chance but it sounded bright to me.  

Rega Apheta 3 - Same deal as above, came on my previous RP10 and also sounded bright.

My initial thoughts are:

Koetsu

Lyra

Higher level Benz

Ortofon

 

dhite71

I’ve got a poor man’s denon dl 103 (not my sole cartridge) and I just love it. I've read Fremer's review of the LVB 2m black. I think I'll be grabbing one soon, at least the stylus thereof, as I can swap out the ortofon Bronze.

With your Sussuro, what load resistance did you use? That (MI) cartridge has a 10 ohm internal R but high inductance compared to any MC. Thus the typical MC load of 100 ohms is too low. That cartridge likes 400-500 ohms minimum. And it’s not meant for any SUT. Just wondered whether you considered those factors before moving on from it.

If a 0.4mv cart is causing you to have issues with hum, I suggest you have other more pressing issues.  I have three carts currently in use, two Sound Smiths and a Hana, all 0.4mv and all dead silent through my ARC SP-14.  I use Parasound JC3+ phono amps and attribute the silence largely to them.  Using a higher output cart to minimize hum is only a bandaid.  Where the problem lies in your system, cables, pre amp or phono pre amp is something you need to determine, but the cart is not the problem.