$200 Cart For Pioneer PLX-1000 Please..budget firm.

..either way...you can do much better I think.

 

Yes, no doubt about it.

 

it does seem to come with a decent ground wire however...

 

I was lucky to be able to grab one from thakker when he had them for $280!

 

The blue is a great cartridge but the bronze is much better as you would expect from the price jump. Its more focused sounding. Its been awhile since I last heard the blue but I remember noticing the change in the the bass was the most dramatic. The bronze is much tighter and goes deeper, more of that "kick you in the chest" sound. I think it's a great match for the plx, much much better than the pro-ject I had it on. I'm also using it with the LP Gear Zupreme headshell and aux weight in the back of the arm.

 

I'm using the stock power cable but for interconnects I'm using blue jean lc-1. Great cables that are pretty easy on the wallet. I cant believe it but I can actually hear a difference between them and the stock ones

 

Audio Technica AT440MLb. Nothing else in its price range comes anywhere close to its tracking ability. You will never, ever encounter IGD or sibilance with this cartridge unless the record is damaged or pressed poorly. The VM540ML and VM740ML will track just as well, but are more expensive. I'm pretty sure the Microline tracks better than the Shibata or the Special Line Contact that AT offers at their higher price points, so this really is the one to get. The AT440 line was just discontinued in favor of the VM540 and VM740, so grab it while you can. I run an AT440MLa which is nearly identical and it's just fantastic.

The Ortofon is surely a good choice as well, but I have always preferred Audio Technica's sound and I think this is definitely a better deal for the money.

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT440MLB-Phonograph-Cartridge/dp/B00OQUJ1QO

 

I am not surprised at all.

 

Hmmmmmmmm. ok, this needs investigation.

 

Some people feel that AT leans bright, and this is true to an extent for a brand new 440, but in my experience it breaks in and smooths out after a little while.

 

so the 2M Blue is a little mellower by comparison?

 

By comparison, yeah. All things considered though, the Ortofon is neutral, the Nagaoka is warm, and the AT is sort of bright. I personally value tracking ability over tone which can be honed with capacitance loading or even some EQ on your receiver if you so please.

 

thanks, very helpful.....tracking is huge..

 

Do you remember if the treble suffers with this bass improvement?

 

No not at all, it’s cleaner and has more “sparkle”. It’s very clear without being bright at all. Very balanced.

 

AT440MLB

 

You can get a Brinze for a shade over $300 from a German seller on eBay.

 

Audio-Technica AT7V phono cartridge

 

Any of the AT carts in the same series as the 440 (now discontinued and replaced by the 540ML) will sound bright with excessive capacitance in your phono stage and tonearm + interconnect cables (test with capacitance meter ideally). Properly loaded it shouldn't be an issue. If it is still a bit bright you can tune it by bringing the resistive loading down between 32K-39K.

 

Nothing tracks better than an AT440.

 

Did it arrive? How do you like it?

 

Yes, but I just only decided on the cart, the Ortofon Blue, and I need a good sturdy table to hold it.

So set up is a little bit away.

 

Nice, let us know!

 

I did some needledrops of these cartridges within your budget with the PLX-1000 here:

Needledrops: Ortofon 2M Blue & Nagaoka MP-110

To my surprise, Nagaoka MP-110 has more votes.

 

Comparing the two, it will come down to two different flavours of sound you're looking for: Ortofon 2M Blue for a more detailed and more treble sound or the Nagaoka MP-110 for a nice smooth sound with better bass reproduction.