Top 5 favorite MM cartridges currently available

Dear Nikola,
I know your penchant for quotation marks......however, as a lawyer......I would expect your reading to be more thorough?
If you re-read my posting......I think you will find that I described the Empire 1000ZE/X as sounding 'euphoric'? Particularly in the FR-64s tonearm.
I neither described myself nor the Clearaudio Virtuoso as being 'euphoric'?

Happy as I am with Axel's excellent work on the Virtuoso and FR-7f.......I have not yet crossed the edge to euphoria.
That state is still reserved for the Professor's favourite Signet TK-7LCa mounted in the SAEC WE-308N with Dertonarm's special alignment dialled in.
Regards
Henry

Dear Henry, you made the comparison with blonds, brunettes,
red-haired,etc., to disclaim my own illusion about the 'fidelity'. There was some confusion in the MM thread between 'euphonic' and 'euphoric' but I thought that someone who is euphoric about the blonds, the brunettes,etc., and used this metaphor to explain his
preferences reg. the carts , should have more 'euphoric'
feelings reg. the carts then about just one or two. There
is this old conception about 'quantity' and 'quality'
but if both can be measured the (pre) assumed difference
does not exist. Kant and Hegel never got this right because
they thought that those are different 'animals'. The problem is/was with 'conceptions'. Those are not statements which can be true or false but only senseless
or useful dependent on our understanding or insight.
Btw I always read your post with indepted care.

Regards,

Slightly OT: Has anyone here compared the Soundsmith MI to the Clearaudio MM offerings in the $750-$1000 price range? I really like what I hear and hear about the Soundsmiths, but no local dealers sell them, and I would really prefer to pay for professional mounting. There is, however, an excellent Clearaudio dealer near me. Hence, the question. If you have compared these carts, please share your impressions. Thanks!

I've never heard the Clearaudio but I run the Soundsmith Zephyr on my Amadeus now and it's pretty incredible. I'm thinking about picking up an AT 150MLX or Nagaoka MP-500 to compare with what I have.

Im a big Shure fan as well...m97 is insanely good for the money...however...it is much more nuetral than what many claim...at least in my system...