Best MC cartridge ~1000USD

The OP did ask for the best $1000 range cartridge so I think anyone whose had experience with a handful or two in that range is well qualified to give their personal opinion about the subject. Thanks Avanti!

 

I think you get preferences here, which vary depending on persons. If you want the "best" you would also need to specify; best to whom? The other option is to look at measured spec as distortion, channel balance, cross-talk and frequency linearity.

 

All of the above plus compatibility with your turntable.

 

absolutely! just sharing my own opinions about what sound best to me! as for women- hoo boy. how about one that's having a good day? peace.

 

Haven't listened to the competition, but coming from a Koetsu, I heartily recommend the Hana SL. I am so stoked that it is beating all my expectations, esp at it's price point. Beautiful sound--not harsh, very well detailed, awesomely clear, delinated bass--just everything works well from top to bottom. I track it at the recommended 2 grams in an Ittok arm, fed into an NAD preamp loaded at the recommended impedance.

 

Do you think this cartridge would do well on fast paced music? Good bass?

 

There are some comparisons of files that can be listened to, e.g.

The Hana SL MC ($750) Versus The Ortofon Quintet Black S MC ($999)

 

I’m running the AT33SA cart. (Before that was the AT33 -Ptg II, before that was a dynavector 10x5, before that the AT 33E) do you have any experience with the SA?

 

Thanks Guys, the cartridge arrived from juki, just started setup and the breakdown process.
It sounds great, in every aspect better than my old clearaudio cartridge.

 

My Art9 has 25 hrs on it and it sounds like the artists are in my room! Super happy with it, and it still has run-in time.
Cheers, Doug

 

What do you think about the Rega Ania? Just curious? I have one coming in, in a couple of weeks.

I have a Rega RP6 with the Exact MM cart at present.

 

I would also be curious to know if anyone has put the ART9 on an RP6 (I have all of the groovetracer upgrades)? I currently have the 2M Black but I'm looking to upgrade cart and preamp. Any thoughts?

 

very sorry but i cannot recommend it. it sounds slightly better than the worst LOMC i have owned, the ortofon quintet blue. i had that one for a while but even after break in it was unrefined which is how the ania sounds compared to better LOMCs. the dynavector dv20 shreds it, for example and the at art9 kills the dynavector. please take that with some context. the ania could prove to be an enjoyable cartridge but it does not compete with the best at the $1K price level.

 

the art9 sounds its best at level or slightly tail up. you would need at least a 3mm tonearm spacer. with that it should sound awesome on the rp6

 

Good to hear. Things have since changed and I am no longer buying the Ania cart.

I have a Vinyl Nirvana, Thorens TD-160 Super, with an Ortofon 2M Bronze and Black MM cartridge, which I love. I have also recently acquired an Rega RP6, with some mods, it has an Exact MM cart.

I'm not at all unhappy with either of these MM cartridges, just curious? Since Rega changed from the RP6 and Exact cartridge to the P6 where they prefer to ship with the P6 Ania combination, I was wondering what an upgrade this may or may not be?

I really do appreciate your input for future reference. For the present, I am going to stay with my current MM carts.

But, Thank You!

 

It´s hard t recommend a cart without knowing what arm you have (compliance matching).

If you have a suitable arm I would recommend an Ortofon SPU. Needs a heavy arm to perform.
It´s superbly musical when given the right working conditions.

 

Good for you. The 2m's are very good cartridges but if you ever have the chance the AT-ART 9 is simply a true high end cartridge for not much more $ than the black. What that gets you is a cleaner more refined sound especially upper midrange through the top end as well as much more energy and dynamics. Peace!

 

After a few days of breakdown, the cartridge has about 10h on it and like vinyldoneright said:

It is rather unpleasant to listen to.
Fortunately there is a way to decrease the input resistance with a Y splitter RCA plug and a resistor.
So a made a couple of them to decrease it to 100,115,133 Ohms.
To my ears ART9 sounds the best with 133 Ohm, with 100 and 115 its a little to muddy and lifeless. But it also can be because of the brass screws with the ART9 being to heavy for my tone arm and that makes the sound a little woolly.
Gonna buy nylon screws and test it.


Heres a picture:

 

I take it you mean Linn Basic + ? I did not have good results using an ATF5 in this arm (on a Linn Axis) many years ago. I had the coils in one channel fail (which might be a coincidence) and the energy on certain passages caused some vibration. I think that arm is best suited to MMs while a Rega RB300 was fine with a number of MC models.

 

ClearAudio Basic+ with Accu battery pack

 

That's the phono stage? What is the arm and TT? Sorry didn't pick that up but if your asking advice on cartridges more important.

 

Yes i wrote it all in the first post.
My turntable has Stock Clear Audio Verify Arm.

The stock cartridge is just 0,5g lighter than the AT, but it used nylon screws that are a lot lighter than the brass ones i got with the AT cartridge.

 

The screw weight is fairly insignificant except I would not use nylon screws or the screws AT supply. I always use stainless steel allen bolts from a universal cartridge pack similar to this - UNIVERSAL CARTRIDGE MOUNTING KIT. Set of Bolts/Screws/Nuts etc for any Headshell 5060394890026 | eBay . Easy to tighten from below with an allen key.

 

I have used nylon, teflon, stainless steel, brass, aluminum... listen.. just get the arm/cart combo right and stop second guessing yourself! I use whatever screws the cart came with! I used the long brass screws that came with my ART9 and it sounds fantastic! And I have all the mentioned screws/nuts. I went down this path and it did not give me any perceived benefits.

 

Boy do I second that after accidentally running into that small miracle when I got my Soundsmith, after using AT carts the past few years. Night and day difference in installation ease. Wish I had seen that talked about in a thread but had to learn the hard way.