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SME 20 SME V cartridge

Recently I bought myself a new present for my birthday. (as listed in the title). Until now I've had a heavily modded Gyrodec with Technoarm.

Needless to say I'm over the moon with the new table but have a few more quid to spend on a decent cartridge. (but not too much)

Looking for any suggestions for under £1500 considering I play mostly jazz, opera, electonica and sometimes classic rock.

I have my eye on a Cartridge Man Music Maker since he's local. Any ideas? Nothing too esoteric, please.

Cheers from sunny London.

misnomer
diggory
38 posts
 
William Thacker sells the Ortofon Jubilee for just under £1000 which works excellently with your SME and at that price is a bargain. You don't say though what phono stage you use. If you're mm only then forget about the Jubilee.

http://www.zum-shop.de/Ortofon-MC-Jubilee-Tonabnehmer_c32-317-319_p4506_x2.htm
dhcod
710 posts
 
I'm sure a Lyra Kleos can be had for your budget or close to it....I'm sure someone is discounting it a bit in the UK. Sings on an SME 20.
vusi_khumalo
72 posts
 
Misnomer, I think your arm will work well with most carts under 15g. This probably means you have a choice of over 100 carts in your price range. I think it would help to narrow that list down if we knew the Phono stage you are using, maybe even the rest of your system. I say this because carts sound different depending on the rest of the system, especially the Phono stage. You probably cant go wrong with any of the carts mentioned above, incl. your own suggestion. I recommend you start there and get one to audition. Maybe also not a bad idea to come up with your own top 3 or 5 carts and ask us to rate them, otherwise this thread will have 20 carts by the weekend and you'll be more confused. just my 2 cents, good to hear that London is sunny this week :-)
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rauliruegas
13,052 posts
 
Dear Misnomer: That Sumiko is very good advice due that's a " matched dream " with your tonearm. The V was used for the Sumiko voicing.

Lyras performs good in the V too and other good alternative is Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood where you can save money for increment LPs in your collection.

Regards and enjoy the music,
R.
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
I have an SME 10 with SME V arm. I used to have the Sumiko Celebration (Pear)
and as Raul says, it was a very nice combination with the SME V. I replaced the
Sumiko with an AirTight PC-1. The stylus is a line-contact rather than elliptical,
so it requires a bit more effort during set up, but it is worth it. It is more
refined, has more detail, is faster, and more dynamic with great tone. Better in
every way. The SME V and AirTight is an excellent combination, though this
might be a bit more than your budget.
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