Cartridge recommendation for the working class?

Or go in between what you have and the black with the bronze.

I have one - love it. Can be had for a tad more than you're thinking of spending.

 

Factor in stylus life.
1000 hours is general figure.
I personally believe 400 - 500
Expensive cartridges £300 - 500
Every 18 months.
Expensive does not mean better.

 

AT-100E best bang for buck. And later on if you want to go to the 120e or 440 they will fit on this. Maybe this link will work I am on my phone at the moment but at this price it can't be beat. If link doesn't work go to Amazon and search for AT100e. Look for the one that comes with the pre-aligned head shell.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B017...rds=at100e&dpPl=1&dpID=31-XIZqpaaL&ref=plSrch

 

I agree with this point of view. I use a cartridge i really like and its very cheap. To my ears it outperforms everything else that i have tried up to 500 pounds

 

With m = 8,5 g ( Pro-Ject Audio Systems arm mass) and M97XE compliance = 25 (µm/mn),
you get : 8,2 Hz resonance freq ( optimal = 7 ÷ 12 Hz ) and so is ; btw M97XE is good with
bright old rock record and his brush is helpful, not only to tame resonance
or to drop the first groove, but for static and warped LP too ...

 

I could put cheap tires on my car and sacrifice performance or I could put on expensive tires knowing I'm getting the best I can out of it.

Both tires and cartridges are consumables.

 

Its not just a question of price, i have had expensive carts and "cheap" carts. I have often been left wanting by expensive ones. My current cart; about the cheapest i have ever owned always leaves me smiling. Often its a matter of taste IMO

 

For Rock- Shure M97xE as others have suggested.

 

I like the SUMIKO sonics. Sadly the prices for the models I would suggest were set up 100 bucks. That means, that even the BLUE POINT 2 is above 300 and my cart the EVO III costs twice as much-I got them thanks to a very low pound vs Euro for less than half the price. This system sounds great with Rock, Reggae and Classic. Just beautiful. The BLACK would be with in your price limit. Another good brand is BENZ - The GOLD should be a nice alternative. Finally DENON classic 103-SA ! I had ORTOFON carts for decades-trust me you find other carts with a different tone. It is a personal thing, which sonic fits best to your taste.
Look around for a shop, that got a bunch of different carts pre-mounted, so you can compare them before you buy ...

 

Denon DL-110 is a no-brainer purchase, AFAIC. Is it the best cart available for less than $250? Answer- yes. It is.

 

For a bit of context, I've actually auditioned a few of the high-rollers that have been mentioned in this thread. Some basic thoughts-

M97XE- very boring sound signature and has trouble tracking inner grooves
AT440MLB- tracks extremely well, but is way too bright.
Nagaoka MP-11- tracks OK, but is rather thin-sounding
Dl-110- tracks perfectly & has a very pleasant sound signature as well

 

......but I'm not the only one it would seem. I call it the ¨dead¨cart.

 

Excellent, hard to pass up at that price especially since you can also upgrade to the 440 on that cart and it's got a head shell

 

M97XE- very boring sound signature ... please, can you develope, elaborate boring , or it is a slogan , a clichè ?

 

Interesting... I sometimes see these (Sumiko and Benz) carts listed on used turntables for sale, but you're the first to actually mention them in this thread.

The Denon 103 is not compliant with my tonearm unless I add some weight (which I could possibly do), but is it going to be noticeably better than the DL-110?

 

Unfortunately, ships in 1 to 2 months... I wouldn't count on that ever being available

 

i am a great fan of sumiko; superb value IMO

 

It's available from other sellers , turntable labs has it for 69$ and change

 

For the last 18 months i have used a Shure V15 MK3
With a Thakker stylus
VTF is increased to
1.75 but i really like the sound quality.
I have used costly MC,S but prefer
This cartridge.

Warm detailed with excellent bass.
VERY good tracker.
I would be very interested to know how the M97XE compares. It's not so high
End as the V15 MK3 but as theThakker
Costs £29 or thereabouts , the 97
Has the more expensive stylus.
And its a genuine Shure.
I may mount a 97 into a spare headshell
To compare.
I cannot speak for the other cartridges
But these Shures are very musical.

 

I'm currently using a Nagaoka MP-110 on my Rega RP-1, and I couldn't be happier. When I need to replace the stylus, I'm going to upgrade to an Jn-p200 elliptical stylus, which will work just fine on my MP-110 cart, but the standard cart and stylus combination sounds great, tracks great (it does really well on inner grooves), and picks up less noise than most I've heard. In short, I think it does everything you could ask of a budget cartridge. And it goes for well under $150 in the US.

I have not heard the MP-150, also recommended above, but I would expect good things.

 

People that don't like that cart, and don't like other Shure carts find them too "warm", with not enough top end detail. If set up wrong, or used on the wrong system a cart like that may sound "boring" and put you to sleep with the rolled off treble.

 

I love the Shure M97XE - as far as budget carts go - and it's a great match with my ol' Dual CS5000. No complaints at all with that setup.

Maybe on a different table I wouldn't be so happy. I never bothered installing the M97XE on the VPI Aries I once owned.

 

Same experience on my P1.

 

I am a Shure fan, and the m97xe is a really solid cart for the money. They have had some QC issues with the styli in the recent past, though. I managed to get two replacements with weak cantilevers and gave up for the time being. However, there are some (albeit more expensive) alternatives which I've had better luck with. I've been impressed with this one:

LP Gear N97xVL ViVid Line replacement for Shure N97xE stylus »

The price on this stylus has been fluctuating wildly lately. I got one for about 80 bucks (IIRC) maybe five months ago, then it went up to 150+, now is back down again.

 

When I was researching cartridges a while back I was 1 click away from buying a Denon DL-301-MK2 and their only a hair above your budget at 329. Supposedly warmer than the 2M Bronze I ended up with. I may end up with one yet though I am really liking my Bronze.