Shortlist of best cartridges with VPI

Thanks all for your addtional posts. The Maestro and the Skala bear consideration.

Curriemt11, the very same thing happened to my vintage Van den Hul cartridge on my Oracle Delphi MkII with ET-2 arm.

Anyone had any experience with the Dynavector XV-1S and VPI tables and arms?

I had a VPI JW19 and got great results with a Denon 103R some years back (RB300 arm by that time).

Hope this helps

Fernando

Bob;

I don't like to play games with people's heads, but I did own a Virtuos, and do own A Maestro Wood, and the midrange is just great. What ever is in the grooves will be reproduced. The Maestro Wood corrects the Virtuoso's flaws and adds improvements. The Van den Hul MC 10 Special is very good and exhibits details and tones so good it is unbelieveable.

If you get 25 people to give an opinion you'll get 25 different answers. Many people have mismatched equipment such as cables,preamps,amps and speakers. Also improper break can cause miss judgements. Improper allignment is an issue. Speaker placement and room acoustics are yet another issue. If you have a great table, tonearm,phono stage,preamp,& amp, then I suggest you spend the extra bucks and get a cartride at a level of no less quality. No point in buying a Ferrari and putting bald tires on it.

I have had good results with Benz Micro - currently I am pleased with the M2 with Aries/JMW 12 combo.

i've used a shelter 501, a dynvector 20 xl, and a benz glider on my scout and now scoutmaster signature, but nothing has brought me more enjoyment that the sumiko celebration. incredibly easy to set up and very non fussy, it is by far the most musical cart i've ever heard. it has allowed me to stop listening to my system and start enjoying my music once again. i don't think i've ever read anyone say anything bad about it.