The greatest MM and MI cartridges ....

I certainly agree that there is a good number of very good performing MM and MI cartridges out there.
What I am missing however are a few MM/ MI cartridges which do display greatness.
Is there any MM cartridge (or MI) out there were you would say:
"that's it ! I could live with this one forever - no need for any other cartridge no more."
If there is any such thing out there which didn't trigger my attention so far, I would honestly like to know.
Me myself musing since a long time about having a MM cartridge made to my specifications.
As I for one still believe that the possibilities of this design haven't been fully explored yet.

Dear D,
Do you mean.......be 'faithful' to a cartridge for the rest of our lives to the exclusion of all others?
This was not a condition of the great MC cartridges and I don't think it's in the nature of a true audiophile to be 'monogamous'?
Let me just say that I could happily live with only one of the MM cartridges on my list than any single MC cartridge I have yet heard.

Hi Mosin,
**Mentioned was the AT-95. this happens to be the same cartridge as the Linn K5 or the Clearaudio Aurum Beta S. I own all these incarnations, and I assure you that they are really nothing to write home about. They not bad, mind you, but they fall way short of mind blowing. I'll probably never mount them on a tonearm again.**

What those cartridges share is the same housing and stylus plug. The generators are all different. The K5 has output of 4.5mV, the others are 3.6mV. The 95E has 2.8K impedance as opposed to 660 ohms for the CA. What is similar is the stylus/cantilever, cu, and obviously your listening conclusions. I suspect that if you put a different stylus assembly on the Aurum Beta S, you could equal or exceed the performance of a Virtuoso. The generators seem to be identical.
Regards,

Hi Halcro,
I'm curious about your list, specifically the Decca. Do/did you own one? Care to elaborate? I notice it's at the top of the list.
Regards,

Agree with Halcro.

I could live with the Signet TK7SU forever. With the right arm and phono preamp, it's a monster performer.

Interestingly enough, it performs much better in one of my less expensive tonearms (Hadcock 242) when compared to much more expensive tonearms (Triplanar and Dynavector 507 MkII.). Given the Signet is a mid 1970's model, perhaps this is not surprising as the Hadcock is a much older design than the others. YMMV

Dealer disclaimer