What VERY expensive MC cartridges have you owned, and are they worth it?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Warren Jarrett, Mar 4, 2018.

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  1. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    Linn Troika.
    Yes it was worth every penny
    When.Linn had a scheme where they would bebuild it for £500 i did not hesitate.
    It was a different beast when it was returned to me ,
    They do mellow with age .t. people do forget
     
    chacha likes this.
  2. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    I never looked at it like that!
    Good point.
     
    Fishoutofwater likes this.
  3. FLEMKE

    FLEMKE Senior Member

    Location:
    CROOK COUNTY IL
    I have owned Benz Ruby 3, Benz Ruby Z, ZYX Atmos, ZYX Omega Ultimate, and several others. My current cartridge is the Omega which I have owned for a few months now. I find the level of detail and realism to be top notch. The ZYX Universe 3 is on my radar after the Omega. You have to hear he different cartridges to understand.

    Tim
     
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  4. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    A dealer friend calls expensive carts "jewelry".
     
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  5. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    The SQ improvement curve vs. price (IMHO) really flattens out above $5K.
     
    alan967tiger likes this.
  6. All i know is that i have never had a cheap cart like i have now, but at the same time i have never enjoyed my LPs as much as i do now. Strange, but true
     
  7. Mister Pig

    Mister Pig I didn't Choose Farm Life It Chose Me

    Location:
    Olympia, WA
    I have been fortunate enough to have quite a few $1000 to $2000 cartridges pass through the system. Listened to my share of Gliders, Blackbirds, Denons, Shelters, Transfiguration, and so on.

    I have thinned my cartridge harem down to 3 that I find to meet all my cartridge needs. I also thinned down to two turntables, so I can only accommodate a small selection of cartridges. What I currently own is :

    1. ZYX 4D
    2. Ortofon A90
    3. Ortofon Cadenza Blue

    The Blue is my beater cartridge for casual vinyl listening. The other two are for those sit down and enjoy the music nights. Truth is the Blue is mighty fine in its own right, and I should have a less expensive beater cartridge. I used to use a Denon 304 for this job, but a friend of mine needed an inexpensive cartridge, so I let him have the Denon.

    Have owned other cartridges like a pair of Koetsu Urushi-Vermilion and Tsugaru, Transfiguration Spirit MK III,Clearaudio Signature, and Audo Technica 50ANV come to mind. The Clearaudio suffered a separated coil wire that could not be repaired, and I truly miss that cartridge. I also loved the Transfiguration and would like to have another.

    But I am content with the 3 i have, and they cover all my needs. So I am out of the cartridge shopping game at this time.

    Cheers
    Mister Pig
     
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  8. H8SLKC

    H8SLKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    I wouldn't be able to enjoy a cartridge beyond the $500 range. I would fret with every use and every passing of the machine by human or pet. I would also be driven into tweakdom, chasing every last drop of what the cart had to offer. Meh. No thanks to the OCD and anxiety tripping such pursuit would cause. I love playing around with carts as much as the next guy, but I enjoy the sound and value I get from the much-lower-end. I've been a part of several hobbies within which the most advanced partisans turned what had been their passion into a death march toward excellence, never getting quite where they wanted to be.
     
    slovell likes this.
  9. druboogie

    druboogie Maverick Stacker

    Location:
    New Jersey
    This is what I was wondering.
    I have a ortofon rondo red $649) but I can’t talk about carts below it’s pricepoint when the rondo is below the price point of the thread.

    But FWIW I will at some point find out of an $200 audio technica cart sounds as good or better .
     
  10. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I am using a Soundsmith Paua II and it sounds wonderful.
     
  11. LeeS

    LeeS Music Fan

    Location:
    Atlanta
    Sadly this is not true. A $10K cart can sound significantly better than a $5K one.
     
    FLEMKE likes this.
  12. Mister Pig

    Mister Pig I didn't Choose Farm Life It Chose Me

    Location:
    Olympia, WA
    There are so many upper tier cartridges being offered today that it is hear impossible for a simple country pig such as myself to explore all of them. Especially when you cannot walk into a local store and get to hear a few of them. At some point you essentially make your best guess, buy a cartridge, and then decide if that is your stopping point. I am pretty content with my two Ortofons and ZYX, but I have heard cartridges from Denon, Transfiguration, Shelter, and Dynavector I could live with.

    At some point a swine has to say this meets my needs...and that has what I have done.

    Cheers
    Mister Pig
     
  13. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    My favorite Linn cartridge. Wish they still made it.
     
  14. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    As someone who owns a DL-110, DL-103, DL-103R, DL-102 - thank you for that statement and observation!!!

    I know you are someone who has tried many things, I've often wondered about spending a lot more, have tried one or two north of $500... and still wondered. I have three TT's running now (GT-2000L, SL-1200, Denon DP-59L) and although they are very nice tables, they are still mid-fi level, and often wondered if a $1K cartridge was really a level beyond what I needed.

    If I were running a $15K TT, and equipment to match, I guarantee my outlook would be much different, the Denon sure hit the price to value IMHO, great carts for the money.
     
    H8SLKC likes this.
  15. Mister Pig

    Mister Pig I didn't Choose Farm Life It Chose Me

    Location:
    Olympia, WA
    Actually I don't think Linn ever made the Trioka. :evil:

    Cheers
    Mister Pig
     
  16. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    Ok ScanTech then.
     
  17. Subvet

    Subvet Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern Maine
    I wish it was easy to listen to cartridges such as these. I thought of going to the Paua when I went with the Zephyr MIMC. I was working on a hum issue and didn't want to spring for the extra 2k. So now I have 2 $2000 carts (also have a Dynavector XX2 MKII) instead of 1 $4000 cart. I don't really like messing with the setup, so until I really get bored, the SoundSmith will stay put.
     
  18. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Not the Audio Technica ART 1000.
     
  19. John Mee

    John Mee Forum Resident

    Location:
    West of Carthage
    It is interesting to read the range of opinions on this thread. Warren and I had a similar discussion a couple of months ago.

    I have owned about 4 serious cartridges, starting with a Sonus Gold Blue in the early 80s on my Rega Planar 2. As I moved up the scale, I noticed incremental changes but the real shocker came when I put in the AN IO Gold to replace the IO2. The difference was night and day. With that in mind, I really believe that you will only hear those kind of differences (anywhere in the price continuum) if the rest of your system is of a similar capability. I believe the principle of the weakest link is alive and well in audio.

    In other words, don’t spend $5,000 on cartidge in a $500 dollar system-you’d never get $5,000 worth of sound out of it, but with a $50,000 system....
     
    Gavinyl likes this.
  20. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    Not sure of the exact numbers / ratio, but this is the key IMO.... I own many cartridges, most under $500, and the ones I tried north of that (like the AT OC9iii, AT PTGii) with my mid-fi level system (which is definitely a lot more than $500 - more like $9-10K range for amp, preamp, speakers, TT, phono preamp) it seems the law of diminishing returns kicks in north of $750 range for the cartridge, even less. It would be interesting to audition an ART9 (which I don't own) next to the DL-103R / AT PTGii (which I do) for the long term to see if I notice any audible difference.

    In my level of system, the noise / distortion level of my gear will offset / cancel any gain that a $5K cartridge would provide, and pretty sure that is not just opinion.
     
    Kristofa likes this.
  21. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I have used and continue to use "expensive" cartridges. "Worth it" is relative, but in my experience the cart is where most of the "magic" is in my record playing. I think the first expensive cart I tried was a Dynavector XX-1. It really opened my eyes (ears). I didn't know all that extra information was there in the groove, especially all that extra air around the voices and instruments. I've also owned a Koetsu Rosewood in the past (nice, but too dark for my equipment) and continue to use and love Lyras.

    For a while not too long ago I moved back to a Shure V15xMR cart, which, while perhaps not a "budget" cart (I think I paid around $400 for it new around 15 years ago), it's a very good cartridge and has a huge number of strengths going for it, not the least of which is a lovely mid to go with its high MM output. But at the end of the day the detail, imaging, air and "life" just aren't there in comparison to the "expensive" carts.

    Do I wish these devices were less expensive? Sure. I dearly wish that, especially considering the stylus/cantilever isn't user replaceable with a MC. You're stuck with having to get a rebuild that's damn expensive as well.

    But the thrill in hearing, maybe for the first time, or after a rebuild, what the device can pull out of the grooves is just that: a thrill.

    And, it almost seems like the better the cart the more music it's able to retrieve which begs the question: how much is in there? Has the end point been reached, or will better refined design and re-thought materials continue to progress to ever higher definition in vinyl record music reproduction?
     
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  22. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    Amen. The alternative is a third party, like Soundsmith. I haven't used him (though I know Peter). I did have a Van De Hul rebuilt years ago by A.J. but cartridges weren't as hideously expensive then. The cost of a factory rebuild in some cases isn't far off from the price of a new cartridge at a discount.
    Third party rebuild/retip is certainly more cost effective than a factory rebuild, but I don't know that it is the same.
    The cost isn't the cartridge, it's the 'consumable" nature of it. Like car tires, they wear out, and can be dangerous if you are running on worn items.
     
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2018
    Mr Bass likes this.
  23. Thorensman

    Thorensman Forum Resident

    Me too. They are available 2nd hand of course. Explert stylus company uk
    Refurbish them.
    Expensive though.
     
    chacha likes this.
  24. eflatminor

    eflatminor Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nevada
    Benz Micro Ruby 2...and yes.
     
  25. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I've had rebuilds courtesy of SoundSmith and I recommend them very highly. However good what you get back is, it will sound different than original. Comes with the territory when the cantilever and stylus are changed. But when the funds aren't there for a factory rebuild, SoundSmith is an excellent alternative IMO.
     
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