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What cartridge?

Posted by gstew on November 28, 2004 at 21:56:20

My system consists of a Well-Tempered Labs Reference table with an Eminent Technology ET-2.5 tonearm, a Bottlehead Seduction phono, a home-built shunt passive volume control, a Counterpoint SA-12 amp, a pair of Eminent Tech LFT-VI speakers, and varioius MIT cables. All have been modded/tweaked... a process that will continue until they pry my cold, dead hands off my volume control!

My current cart is a an original Bluepoint modified with a glued-on p-mount adapter, carbonfiber stiffeners, and some lead and putty damping. It sounds much better than it has any right to... and is actually very satisfying. It has lasted through over 10 years of on-off use... probably equivalent to 2-3 years of moderate use... a good lifetime for a cartridge in my experience.

I'm looking to replace it. This is prompted by one of my current mod projects... I have a Alta-Vista Audio NP-220 amp (rebuilt Counterpoint SA-20) that I'm doing a few tweaks on. It will soon to go back into the system and it has 10db lower gain than the SA-12.

With the Seduction/SA-12/LFT-IV, the max volume available with my passive VC is adequate for most vinyl, but not all. With the Seduction/NP-220/LFT-IV, I'll need more gain for all vinyl.

I'd been using a higher-gain Curcio Daniel-based phono stage before the Seduction and may build another, but that's out in the future... and even after I build one, I may end up liking the Seduction better, so I'm not banking on that.

So I'm looking at carts with a higher output than the Bluepoint's (and Dynavector 10x and 20x) 2.5mv. Originally my list included the Cartridge Man Music Maker, Clearaudio Virtuoso, Decca Super Gold, and Grado Master & Sonota plus the lower-buck carts below, but I'm now leaning towards spending less now and waiting on a more expensive cartridge until after I've played around with and decided on phono stages.

Now I'm considering the Grado Platinum, Linn Adikt, Rega Exact, Roksan Corus Black, and Clearaudio Aurum Beta S.

Honestly, I'm leaning towards the Linn. It has reviewed well, I like Linn's design philosphy, and with the user-replaceable stylus, I've got some insurance against premature death. I've loved many Grados, getting one to work well in the ET has been spotty in my experience. I did try one of the lower-priced Rega's in an earlier version of this system back 10 years or so ago and while I liked it's drive, it just did not grab me. The Roksan is an unknown... no experience with them directly and not a lot of reviews I can find... also I suspect it's the oldest design of these. Finally, the Clearaudios review well, but I wonder how the lower-priced Beta-styled Clearaudios will fare against the Linn.

I listen to just about all types of music. I want a cartridge that'll give me great detail and separation between the different instruments and voices without sounding bright, hard, or strident. I also want good articulate bass and a sense of 'drive'and 'slam' along with good dynamics. I'm good with cartridge setup and can get pretty good results if the cartridge will work ok in my setup.

My tweakings are all designed to improve resolution and apparent detail while staying musical... my system does present a lot of detail now, but would never be considered 'bright'... can't stand that in a system. I want a cartridge that'll complement that too.

Comments on my leanings towards the Linn and away from the others? Suggestions on $300-$500 cart's with greater than 4mv output that I missed? Garrot P77 maybe?

TIA!

Greg in Minneapolis

P.S. I really miss what I consider the 'Golden Years' of phono cartridges, the middle '80's, when you could get a moderate output MC cart with an exotic diamond and cantilever for $400 - $700... you gotta pay upwards of $1000 for most of these today. My last fav's were a couple of Monster Cable Alpha-II HO's I had in the late 80's - early '90's... loved those carts, was surprised that I could get the Bluepoint to satisfy me after those died, but I did have to modify it.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Kimber Kable

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