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Need cartridge advice for turntable

I had Dynavector 10x5 (that I liked very much and that met an untimely demise) on a Roksan Radius 5 TT w/ a Nima tonearm and a Dynavector P-75 phono stage. The rest of my system consists of VMPS MLS speakers, Ampzilla A2K amps, Placette active line-stage and Transparent Ultra MM cables. I want to spend between (or around) 1K-2K on an upgrade. Your advice would be really appreciated. Thanks.
largebard
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
The 103 and Nima are a very bad match due to the Denon's very low compliance. The accident is unfortunate but here's a chance to really improve your front end.

Nima is a unipivot with a medium effective mass. Consequently it works best with cartridges in the 12-15 compliance range. That being said, almost every Benz, Zyx, Clearaudio, etc. suits your needs well. If you prefer moving magnet, look at Goldring, Audio Technica, Grado, etc.

You have many choices.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,057 posts
 
Dear Largebard: As Audiofeil posted you have many choices, here are some of them:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1232217710&/Lyra-Skala--lightly-used-trade-in-
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1232212003&/Shelter-90x--retipped-by-Soundsmith--Ruby
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1231822785&/Benz-Micro-ruby-2-wood
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1231432819&/Sao-Win-SMC-10
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1231646149&/AudioQuest-7000-NSX
http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1231521537&/Cartridge-Man-Music-Maker-Classic

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
11-20-08: Audiofeil
Nima is a unipivot with a medium effective mass. Consequently it works best with cartridges in the 12-15 compliance range. That being said, almost every Benz, Zyx, Clearaudio, etc. suits your needs well. If you prefer moving magnet, look at Goldring, Audio Technica, Grado, etc.
Given that $200-400 Audio Technica and Denon cartridges can approach the sound and performance of $1K cartridges due to economy of scale, what would you get with a $1K Denon LOMC?

I've heard very good things about the Denon DL-S1. It's $949 at LP Gear, and has a compliance of 14.

Audiocubes2 has it for $849. They also carry premium Audio Technicas, such as the AT33R Limited Edition for $899. It has a dynamic compliance of 10, so it may be a tad too stiff.

At $449, this one looks intriguing, given its 6-nines PCOCC copper throughout and neodymium magnets, It only weighs 6.9g and has a dynamic compliance of 13.
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