BTW, speaking of Le Son above, they also market their LS10 MC cartridge, which uses the same boron nitride ceramic cantilever, but with a nude Shibata diamond mounted on the end. It is housed in an ebony wood body, but is the same shape and cartridge insert as the cheaper ExcSoni cartridges I showed above. There must be a common Chinese supplier for these cartridge motor assemblies, and then these small Chinese audio companies just add the cantilever/stylus assembly of their choice, and the outer body, and whatever other details they want changed from the baseline OEM version. Anyway, the LS10 looks really nice, but price is rather high for a mostly unknown Chinese product at $1260 direct. It has received some notoriety, but very limited user info ...
Those look fun, though I think if I'm going to go up to the $1200+ range I'd be looking to get something that has a really solid support network/rebuild policy ie Soundsmith.
Yea, that makes sense, does Soundsmith still charge 20% of retail price for the retip? I don't know how much Le Son may charge, or exactly how they are handling the service, but they have 60 day return policy and 2 year warranty, and say in the FAQ ... Yes, the LS10 MC Cartridge can be retipped at a very advantageous price. Japanese stylus & cantilever manufacturers update their prices yearly, so when a retipping is necessary, please contact us and we will provide you with all the information. They are recommending tracking force at 1.6 grams too, and suggesting a stylus life of 2000-3000 hours, though I'm a bit skeptical on that last bit, 2000 hours seems overly optimistic even at the lower VTF. I'd definitely need a much higher level of comfort before sending over $1200 to a small company in Shanghai for a LOMC cartridge, but it is fun to talk about BTW, the ExcSoni and Le Son cartridges also seem to use the same motor assembly as the Skyanalog cartridges, which just use a slightly different outer body. The Skyanalog cantilevers are boron, ruby or sapphire, and with the same 5 x 150 um stylus dimensions as the very similar ExcSoni line, though quite a bit more expensive ... MC Cartridge G-1 Boron Cantilever € 1099,00 MC Cartridge G-2 Ruby Cantilever € 1599,00 MC Cartridge G-3 Sapphire Cantilever € 2099,00
I don't believe Soundsmith retips, just a full rebuild, and price is less than 20% of MSRP and I varies based on cost of the cartridge, the zephyr for instance is $2k but a rebuild is $350 or 17.5%, where Paua MKII is $4k and rebuild is $550, or 13.75%. I've heard Koetsu is great regarding rebuilds as well if you have proof of the original purchase or something? Wondering about trying to find a vintage Koetsu or Kiseki or something...
Benz Micro Ace. I also own a Hana SH, Dynavector 10x5, and Ortofon Black. After listening to the carts I think the Benz sounds the best IN MY SYSTEM!!!! I use a Zesto Andros Deluxe II pre.
With a compliance of only 14, the Benz Micro is not an option for my TT. It is for medium rated tonearms so potential buyers watch this. It will not work on light tonearms.
I used a Benz Micro Wood SL with the same 15cu compliance as the ACE for years on my Clearaudio Avantgarde with the lightweight Satisfy Carbon Fiber arm, sounded great, resonance around 10Hz, no problem. These compliance and effective mass numbers aren't really as restrictive as many people think, as long as you stay away from the obvious mismatches. And one can always add a little mass at the headshell via weights or heavier hardware to experiment.
This is a very useful thread as I am shopping for a new MC cartridge. With regard to my TT tonearm weight, the OC9XML is a no brainer per suggestions. Thanks all. BTW- my new SUT is Hashimoto H3.
Anecdotally, the OC9XML was a little hot for me when attached to a 1:20 ratio. That’s just me though!
My tube amp is a little softer sounding vs SS. OC9XML should be a perfect match. I also have tone controls, a huge asset.
Both my favorite MC cartridgess are long out of production: Fidelity Research FR1 MK II And a Denon DL 103s (the white one with elliptical stylus)
There was a 103S listed on hifido today for around $120 USD, but went on hold very quickly, all those 103 variants are in pretty high demand these days. Can't really tell much about stylus condition from the pictures, but most likely the buyer would just get it retipped right away, or at least professionally checked out ...
Hard to beat the Ortofon SPU 1 E or the SPU 1S for the money. I have both, along with a Denon DL103. Hearkening back to dawn of the stereo era.....
Denon 103D with a SS Ruby level rebuild. In general, a used MC cartridge and then a rebuild is the most cost effective path forward. Used MC cartridges are easily found, and prices tend to be reasonable. SS rebuild costs represent a great value. My 103D replaced a Audio Technica AT33ML-OCC...which was a former TOTL cartridge. AT OC9 series and a basic Denon 103R are difficult to beat if purchasing new.
With the current GBP to USD exchange rate, quite a few more nice cartridges enter the under $1000 market for US buyers, below are some that didn't make the list either because of price or I just didn't think of them or have enough poll choices, current USD prices without VAT below from Analogue Seduction in the UK ... Hana ML ............... $960 Audio Technica ART7 ... $924 Ortofon Cadenza Red ... $924 Van Den Hul DDT-II .... $923 Benz Micro Glider ..... $919 Phasemation PP-200 .... $919 Goldring Ethos ........ $827 Sky Analog G-1 ........ $827 ZYX R50 Bloom 3 ....... $739 Charisma Audio Eco .... $735 Just a sampling of what's readily available (though just noticed the Benz Micro carts can't be added to cart, so I guess not available), obviously not a complete list, so many cartridges out there now
Uh oh, the GBP is starting to regain a little value, snooze ya lose The Euro is still pretty far down, trading for less than the US Dollar now, so buying from Europe is still one of the best deals around, you can actually get the AT-ART9XI or XA for just a little above the $1000 limit of this thread now. Below is about the cheapest I've seen, this from Da Capo Audio in Denmark, haven't ordered from them before so don't know how reliable, but the price of AT-ART9XI shown with DHL shipping to US is around $1050 USD ...
Just bought an ATOC9XSL and fitted it 4 hours ago. I've had around 30 carts in my lifetime, but WOW this thing is as close to perfect as I can imagine. I had an OC9ML II a few years back and hated it. Sold it quickly. Was worried about this new guy being a bit too bright, but WOW again, it's so incredibly smooth top to bottom, but ultimately detailed. It manages to walk the line between detail, brightness, warmth, speed, dynamics and well everything. I'm sure it will get even better if that's possible as it runs in.
Voted “Other” because I have a Zu Audio Denon DL-103 Mk II and it is not the same as the stock DL-103 listed in the poll IMHO.
I bought my only low output moving coil, the Dynavector 17D3 for under $1000. Unfortunately, the current model is the 17DX at $2,350!
I voted "other" = Ortofon SPU#1s Supex SD900 +1 on the Fidelity Research FRI MKII aka Teac TC15 Other DL103 flavors
I'd like to try that Supex! I got a Sumiko Talisman A, Dynavector 23R, and Ortofon MC20 Super and MC30 Super. All were found for about $500 or less. I'm on a vintage cart kick. Kinda risky but sort of satisfying.
