A good cartridge match for Thorens 150 mkII?


I just came into a Thorens 150 mkII in good shape and am wondering what modern cartridge would be a good match for this turntable with the stock TP 13 A arm? Price range I am looking at initially is $100 to $300, but would consider more if the gain in sound quality with this table would be justified. Current SS phono preamp has both MM and MC capability. I prefer warmth over analysis.
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Showing 6 responses by knownothing

Update.

OK - I recently took the Thorens into my local dealer that usually does the work on turntables to fix a broken cuing mechanism, adjust the suspension and upgrade the interconnect cable. Turns out the belt I had purchased from another vendor was the wrong one, and I replaced that with the OEM belt as well. While in the shop I asked the technician's opinion about the combination of the TD 150 mkII and the Grado Blue cartridge. He said that it was a combination they often recommend.

Long and short, I decided to kept the Grado Blue for now and fiddle with set up a bit further. In place of the stock rubber feet, I placed a 3/4 inch thick Oak block under each corner of the plinth to support the Thorens above the the wooden platform it has been sitting on. I then adjusted the VTA from clearly too low to too high and back, finding the spot where everything just "snapped into focus". Horns blatted like real horns, guitar bodies resonated, voices reverberated, etc. - everything was "just right". The best I can describe this if you haven't experienced it is like the aural analogue of getting the focus correctly adjusted on a pair of binoculars.

This particular experience of a cartridge "snapping" into focus was the most dramatic of any of the other five or so turntables I have owned and gone through the same process with. The wooden blocks seem to have cleaned up a lot of stray vibrations and stored energy, allowing the cartridge to better do it's thing. The appropriate belt also had a big effect on timing, and now the platter starts without chattering up to speed - a big improvement.

So for now, I am very happy with both the table and the Grado cartridge. If I make a change for cartridges recommended above, I will report back.
Thorman, Thanks. I actually think the stylus is the same for the Blue/Red and the Silver/Gold lines while the coils in the cartridge body are different - "ultra-high purity long crystal" oxygen free copper wire in the case of the Silver/Gold and "standard" oxygen-free copper wire in the Blue/Red. Do I have this right?
Sheesh, You must be right because the Gold stylus costs 2X ($55 more) than the Blue stylus!
Update.

I upgraded the cartridge a few years ago to a Grado Reference Platinum 1.  This is a lovely sounding cartridge for the price and certainly light years in my opinion ahead of the less expensive Prestige Blue.  Better deeper sounding bass and nice with voices and strings.

But while all frequencies were well represented, the Platinum suffered from some noticeable hum (as did the Blue).  I was able to clean this up to an astonishing degree by installing a Shunyata Venom Defender in my simple Wiremold power strip (why/how?) 

Another issue emerged when I started using the table with a subwoofer that extends below 10Hz.  I started to get real rumble problems that were especially pronounced on some records.  I attribute this to the Grado having too much compliance for the medium mass TP13a arm.  Interestingly, replacing the Platinum with the Blue again in this set up reduced significantly the rumble problem, perhaps because it has less bass capability or is a better weight/compliance for the Thorens arm?

I started cartridge search and landed on Shelter 201 based on user comments/reviews.  Even with only about 5 hours on, it is clear this is a better match zero hum, even with volume cranked up at the run out.  Perhaps more importantly the Platinum rumble problem is solved so I'm thinking this is a much better compliance match.

Generally this is a very good cartridge, faster and not quite a sweet sounding as the Grado Platinum, but super quiet, good dynamics and drive, nice spatial resolution and bass (but school is out on the bass till I have more hours on the Shelter).