Still looking for a new Moving Coil Cartridge

I cannot argue with the use of a proper mono cartridge, but that is not what the OP was asking about.

And if the avoidance of surface noise is the prime consideration, then proper record cleaning is the sine qua non.

As for satisfying MC sound with a $600 price limit, I doubt if there is a good answer. Any MC at that price is probably (here goes!) inferior to an MM/MI of the same price. I admit I have not dabbled in cheap MC cartridges, but I have gone up into the realms of 3-4k MC cartridges to find competition for good MI cartridges, and 5k before I was convinced I had found something superior.

Why would a spherical stylus be safer for LPs? Maybe in part because zenith error is not an issue. Safer yet is to leave your valuable LPs on the shelf. Don’t play them at all! This is getting ridiculous.

lewm

the idea of an advanced stylus being MISALIGNED can cause more damage than a spherical/conical Stylus. Thus they consider spherical as ’safest’.

Properly aligned, advanced is LESS groove wear, and LESS stylus wear, and better sound.

amateur/novices without the simple tools and skills to properly align advanced stylus do run a higher risk of misalignment.

pindac

The tank and brushes is supposed to be filled with the cleaning fluid, the brushes doing the cleaning.

I scrub aggressively with the baby scalp brush, and the tank is just distilled water for rinse, then light cloth dry holding the LP over the tank (so excess distilled water drips back down into the tank. Then on to the drying rack, they dry faster that way, off to the next batch of 10. 

I position myself centered between the speakers, for quality listening while cleaning, add a bit of joy to the task. A folding table with a plastic sheet would work for other setups.

@elliottbnewcombjr  I have a method where my Wife goes out, I then go for it in her Kitchen. I clear all work surfaces in the  and protect them with News Paper, I have a Pump Up Spray Bottle for Distilled Water Jet Nozzle Rinsing.

Lab Sponges and Micro Fibre Camera Lens Cloths are great for excess water removal.

Apart from her OCD on placement of items, I am not usually captured in the act🤣