BEST cartridge money can buy?

"Best of" thread are senseless and seldom show any form of unanimity.

You'll receive dozens of answers each with its' own merits.

Rauliruegas, you the man. Three turntables, nine tonearms, and a bunch of nice cartridges. Can't say I have ever seen anything like that.

This type of question comes up all too often. I'm glad to see Raul and Audiofeil comment so I'm not the lone curmudgeon!

Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla, Fords or Chevys (MB or BMW), blonds or redheads??? If might be nice for such a simple standard but since we are individuals, having different standards, perceptions, experiences, etc. means that identifying any single best audio component is impossible, not withstanding claims on the cover of Stereophile. 8^)

best is a bad word to use.....it belongs on magazine covers where no one will take it seriously.

for years i enjoyed the vdH Colibri.....i owned 6 different Colibri's. i felt it was more detailed and energetic than any other cartridge i had heard. i still feel that way. when everything is ideal it has that magical connection. but my tastes evolved and i have found that the Colibri seems too extreme......it is transcendant on the perfect Lp; but has too much high end energy for many Lps (and many listeners). it requires perfect set-up.

for a small group of Lps it might be hard to beat.

so to find the ideal cartridge involves finding the best compromise. or it involves multiple tt's, arms, and cartridges (which is my current direction).

currently i like the Lyra Olympos as an ideal all around performer among cartridges i have listened to in my system. but it cannot equal the Colibri on certain Lps.

so which is better? who can say? even in my own limited experience i cannot pick out a 'best'.

there are many cartridges out there which i have not heard so i would not have any idea of which would be my favorite.

I can't answer that, because the priority from everyone is different.
I want (not prefer) a true reproduction of the real thing, the Living presence in front of the Listener. I few carts can do it, most have other strengths. I don't listen to records from 2000+ which were mainly digitally mastered nor to current reissues. I use for example Classic Records 1. batch, 180gr LSC, Originals or old Deccas for my rating. With the right cartridge, in the right System I can count the rows in an Orchestra, the musicians have a physical body and the Listener has a view into the presentation like the microphones have.
Well, one of those which impressed me, is the last fidelity Research Cartridge from their famous FR-7f series, the fz.
It does not work with modern Arms but I am working to find something similar which can do it with a Phantom II Arm...a tough task .-)