Phono Cartridge advice

I have agrado reference after years of lomc. Dynamics are wonderful! and once u get over aria of the low op cash eaters.you might find like me I am not missing anything.

With your current set up go with the Ortofon 2M Black. Remember cartridges have the shortest life span of any audio component.

thanks for your input you guys. One other question that a dealer mentioned was if you have a moving coil with a step up transformer into a moving magnet phono stage it might to many coils and sound a bit granny and you will lose detail?

Actually one gets better sound from a higher output cartridge...all things considered... Unless you have a state of the art pre-pre, you're better off without one.

I've been there and done it with both cartridges. They have very different presentations. The DV is more laid back. The 2M Black is brighter and analytical. That's not to pass a subjective opinion. Just noting my impressions of the differences.

There are some important technical points to take into account. First ... compliance. The DV is a medium/low compliance cartridge. Its compliance factor is 12. By contrast, the 2M is a high compliance cartridges. Its compliance rating is 22. I am not familiar with your tone arm or its effective mass. But you should check for compatibility. I think there's a calculator on the Vinyl Engine web site. And yes ... I had problems with bass ringing when I used the 2M. Just me.

Two ... cartridge output. As mentioned above, the 2M is hot ... rated output is 5 mV. By contrast, the DV comes in HO and LO versions: 2.8 mV and .3 mV, respectively. Personally, I'm not a big fan of inserting SUTs into the signal path because it's just another artifact. Others have different views. Just sayin'

Also, this may sound a little weird, but it may be possible that the 2M was a little too hot for my system as previously configured. ARC thought that the 2M's 5 mV output, as amplified by my phono pre (58 db), may have clipped my Ref 3 linestage. Again, just sayin'

Three ... stylus lifespan. I agree with Dayglow's point. The 2M has a replaceable stylus; the DV does not. I think most vinyl gurus would agree that on average, most styli have a useful life of 2000 hours, plus or minus. If you divide the cost of a retip/exchange/replacement by 2000, that will give you a sense of how much it is costing to listen to vinyl on an hourly basis.

I suggest ... just a suggestion, that you consider the Soundsmith VPI Zephyr (low compliance), if compatible with your TT. Peter Ledermann's retip charge is extremely reasonable (about $200). And ... the Zephyr is a very refined cartridge. In fact, it used to be my primary cartridge. Now it's my back-up. The Lyra Kleos is my main carty. I'm on the look-out for a Soundsmith Paua. I've read terrific comments about it, and here again, retipping will be very reasonable.

Good luck and feel free to e mail me through the A'gon system with any questions.

Bruce