What are the most balanced relatively neutral cartridges at each price level ?


Say,

level 1 - up to$1k.

level 2 - up to $3.

level 3 - up to $5k.

level 4. - any price.

Personally, I wouldn't want much colour at the source level.

inna

Winfeld guys, not Windfield.  A wonderful cartridge.  

Windfeld, not Winfeld. Definitely not "field", though ;) 

https://ortofon.com/products/mc-windfeld-ti

Interesting, mine is one of the original type and it is clearly Winfeld.  Anyway they are terrific.  Case in point, back to the subject of this thread, when I compared mine to the original AT1000 it would have come in the lesser of those two in sound quality, IMHO.

Around $3K (Level 2)


ZYX Ultimate Exceed Airy 

I’ve had this cartridge for 1yr now and it’s very neutral with a little air on top. I guess that’s why it’s called Ultimate Airy. It does live up to its name. It’s been my favorite cartridge for a long time.

Save your money. Look at the Audio-Technica AT-VM95ML or the Goldring E4. Fabulous sound from both. Not fancy but they do the job really nicely.

I consider the Dynavector house sound to be neutral, and I moved from a 10X5 to 20XH, to a XX-2.  Not too warm, not too bright.