What are your favorite phono cartridges?

Dear Dover, Either I misspoke or you misunderstood my comments about Koetsu Urushi. Prior to the MM/MI odyssey, I was very happy with the Urushi. It was my only cartridge for 4-5 years. I still think the midrange is to die for and that the bass is not so soft as that of lower level Koetsu's, e.g., the Rosewood and its variants. However, after sampling a wide range of cartridges on several different tonearms in the past 2-3 years, I would concede that the Urushi can be beaten. I need now to go back and listen to it again on some of my present rigs, especially the SP10 Mk3/Reed 2A, because I think those complementary pieces may lift the Urushi up a notch or two in its performance. I have yet to hear ANY cartridge that has a clearly "better" capacity to reproduce the midrange frequencies, however, but this is based on now distant memories. (You know how the fog of romance can color one's fading perceptions, over time.) I have never yet heard the Urushi via my present modified Sound Lab speakers. I also rebuilt and upgraded my amplifiers since the last audition of the Urushi. So, all bets are off at the moment.

Koetsu Urushi..I have yet to hear ANY cartridge that has a clearly "better" capacity to reproduce the midrange frequencies,

That is simple. Look for a cartridge which has no high frequency area, a very limited low end and you have another midrange-pusher. A Linn LP12 is similar, btw.

Syntax - the older Koetsu's generators were held inside the body with paper shims. The Garrotts would glue the generators in & replace the stylus with microscanner profiled diamonds. These modded Koetsu's were far quicker and more transparent than original, without losing the "midrange magic". I suspect the modern Koetsu's of today are quite a different cartridge now.

About 12 years ago.....I had a Koetsu Urishi 52nd Anniverary.
Not only did it have limited bass and treble extension......the (supposedly) famed midrange was about as flaccid and uninspiring as a rectors' retirement village.
I have usually only been able to sleep listening to my system when the vinyl was sounding its very best.
The Urishi was the exception.
And no question marks were hurt in the above statements.

'Et tu Brute'! Without a single question mark? My 'son'
Nikola will inherite the Urushi as well as the (slate)
plinths, Julius Lew.