If you are now considering forking over for a new Dynavector 20X2, that opens up a whole different price range of cartridges. You should look at the Hana ML (on sale now everywhere for $960), the Ortofon 2M Black LVB as mentioned previously, Clearaudio Maestro V2 Wood, and the Audio Technica AT33Sa or AT-ART7 cartridges. elusive DISC currently has a number of cartridges at discount.
Still looking for a new Moving Coil Cartridge
I noticed that Music Direct has 20% off cartridge sale on select cartridges. I am still using a ZU/Denon DL103 MC cartridge Series 1 with the cartridges tightest tolerances. I purchased it here from “Audiofiel” back in 2010 and have used it sparingly since. I had been using a Dynavector DV20XL cartridge which I bought a couple of years ago but my 6 yo nephew destroyed it (that’s another story) so I am back to the ZU/Denon.
My table is a Technics SL1200G which I truly love. I have been looking at the Hana Low out put MC cartridges. I am interested in the low output “S” series as the $600.00 price is right where I want to be. Now, the million dollar questions: I listen to 95% 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Rock and want whatever cartridge I purchase to make the records sound good without excessive surface noise. Will the Hana S be up to the task? My Mac C2500 tube preamp has cartridge loading from 50 ohms up to 1000 ohms so I should be ok. I just want to be sure this cartridge will be very musical and full bodied sound. I do no want a thin sound. So there you have it, yay or neigh?
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@knownothing , Thank you very much for the tip on Elusive Disc. I haven't been to that site in years, forgot about them. Not a big fan of the Ortofon 2M Black but the AT cartridges look promising. |
@stereo5 why MC in the first place? MC requires to invest a lot of $$ in SUT, phono-pre etc, and uses higher track force g settings (2g MC vs 1g MM). if you have $$ to spend, check Phasemation PP-200 MC cart |
Mostly because I have a very excellent MC phono pre built into my Mac C2500 tube preamp. I decided to go with a MM phono cartridge and purchased an AT VM540 cartridge. It came in around $300 on a factory mounted headshell. My Rock records really sing now and I couldn’t be happier. Thank you and everyone else that contributed to this thread. |
- 88 posts total