Advice needed on MC cartridges

Unipivots are just a pain to handle-they jump all over the place whenever I’ve demoed one. I guess you can get used to it, but gimbal arms are a breeze. I’m a Rega owner for 15 years or so, and their arms IMHO give the best bang for the buck. No VTA, but I dont think that is a big deal so long as it is set up correctly initially with a spacer if needed if the cartridge is higher than Regas (I am not a big fan of their cartridges).

Mulveling, thank you much for mentioning VPI’s dual pivot mod. I’d not heard of that before and it may come in handy if I need to address Raul’s concerns about unipivots negatively affecting cartridge performance somehow.. Just read a long post on the dual pivot mod on the Steve Hoffman site and will have to look into it some more.

Appreciate your recommends too, although I think I’ll be going the expensive route. At age 70 in a few weeks, I’m beginning to realize it’s time to try and get the best you can afford while you still can and still have time to enjoy it.

Ghdprentice, that would be great to get double the usual MC life span out of a Van den Hul Frog. If I had to purchase today I’d be leaning in the Frog’s direction, but more research after identifying alternatives at that price point is probably a good idea.

If anyone has any suggestion in that $3,500 price range please let me know. Thanks,.

Mike

I tried a 2M Black in my system some years ago, and it was nice but not for me. I’ve honestly liked every single MC cartridge I’ve used (some 20 now) more than it. Certainly no need to spend several K.

A new Benz Zebrawood L from the classifieds here (it ships from HK) at 1500 is a pretty great bang for buck to get that really good "lo MC" sound for not too much money. At 0.4mV output and 12 ohms ohms it’s fairly easy to match with either an active MC stage or a SUT. Its mass and compliance will work well with your VPI arm (the "dual pivot" to improve stability seems like a very good addition for their unipivots btw - I’ve personally heard good results with that and my Koetsu RSP). Hard to go wrong with that Zebrawood, and you’re not in too deep if you want to pivot elsewhere for any reason. Really pretty cartridge too!!

When I bought my Frog he said you could get twice the play time out of them. I know I got at least 2,000 hours without retipping… when I traded it in still sounding great.

Andrei_NZ- Thank you for your recommendatons. I just finished looking them up.

Sokogear- Thank you for the recommendation on the Vanden Hull MC One Special. Ijust finished reading up on that model too plus the pricier Frog model recomended earlier. I like that Van den Hul will re-tip their MC cartridges if need be for $500 (that price was quoted in one review). which apparently isn’t the norm for MC cartridges from what I’m gathering. VPI does carry the Van den Hul line which is a good thing in that they must feel they complement their turntables.

Safebelayer- Thank you for the link and the recommmendation on the ART9. I was reading up on that one too last night.

Raul, I’m going to take the plunge on a cartridge in the $3,500 dollar range. I’ve been reading up on the Van den Hul Frog (about $3500) ghdprentice suggested, and others in the Van den Hul line. Also I’ve read a little on the Lyra Kleos and the Hana Umani Red. Do you, or anyone, have any other suggestions or preferences for other cartridges to research in that price range?. Any input would be appreciated.

Also, I’m still wondering why you don’t like unipivot tonearms for these more expensive cartridges. I called VPI yesterday, who sell the Van den Hul line. They said they hadn’t ever heard of any issue along those lines. I tried posting that same issue on the VPI Forums site, but apparently that site has been down for months with technical issues.

Mike

Dear @safebelayer : Any cartridge advise needs that the OP change his today tonearm for the cartridge can shows at its best and that change could means to spend between 3K-5K in a decent tonearm and when he has it could be better to go for the Umami Red or the Kleos or Colibri. The ART can't take out per sé the OP of that average big sea.

Yes, only an opinion.

R.

@skyscraper

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/audio-technica-at-art9-phono-cartridge

+10 for Audio Technica ART9 (art9xi appears to be replacement, though lpgear.com days art9 is the flagship above the xi).

Read the comments in the audiogon thread attached above. The only two things necessary to know with this cartridge is proper setup (similar to all micro-line stylus) and break-in. The latter takes anywhere between 50-150 depending on who you ask. In the interim it’s still really really good but it does come into its own after that time period.

I have never read so much about a cartridge without a negative review. Again, the cartridge needs proper setup and break-in.

I found phono stage compatibility to be critical regardless of cartridge. Without playing the cartridge of your choice with your Luxman you’ll never know how your upgrade cartridge is going to sound. Each phono stage greatly affects the sound.

I also want to comment on what @mijostyn said about what one will need to spend on a mc to improve on a mm/mi cartridge. First, it's about what your ear hears. Second, it's what your ear hears in your system. @mijostyn has neither your ear nor your system. I'm sure with his ear and his system that his experience is true. His comment about the high and low level phono stages mirrors my thoughts above. Your phono stage may accomplish both levels well or not. Finally, many people will tell you that a $700 dynavector 10x5 will blow doors off of any comparably priced mm. It's a high output mc that does sound amazing. Similarly, I doubt anyone has heard a mm that sounds anything like a koetsu rosewood...smooth as silk. It all comes down to opinions and when it comes to aural opinions, you can only hang your hat on yours.

Goodluck in your search. If you can, find other people with your Luxman who listen to vinyl...even, better with a VPI. I’m sure they’re out there.

Dear @skyscraper  : Why so many posts about Hana cartridge?

Like almost everything the audiophile world moves inside what in stastistics is knowed as a Normal Distribution Curve ( a " bell " curve ". ). According that around the 80% of audiophiles live somewhere near the center of that " beell " live in the average/mediocrity space. So you will always find out thousands of advises around that average audiophile world that through our audio life we were there or still we are and nothing wrong with that: is a reality.

Now, unfortunatelly in analog is not easy to go out of that mediocrity/average world. We need money important money to do it but money is not enough we need high whole analog knowledge levls and certainly a very good know-how/experiences with live MUSIC events.

The audio world function inside that " bell " distribution.

You already arrive to that conlusion with the Hana cartridges and other " average " advises here that only permit that you " swimm " more time in that average/mediocre world till you decide you are already prepared to go out.

R.

@skyscraper - for $1850 (you should be able to get a 15% discount) the MC One Special from VDH should provide a big improvement for you, and because it sounds like you are a value (not cost no object) conscious audiophile like me, the fact that VDH stylus lasts 25-50% longer, makes it a no brainer. I always invest incrementally, so you should plan on a phono stage when you want to take your next step after getting a MC cartridge. It will make a BIG difference if you get a good one. Expect it to cost in the neighborhood of the cartridge at a minimum. It is very important.

VDH will do whatever service is needed for a reasonable price and sometimes VDH will do a total replacement at an attractive price which they did for me because of the pandemic. For some reason, they dont get the publicity in the US I think they deserve. 

@skyscraper its been mentioned in this thread already a couple of times, but I'd like to throw my recommendation behind the stylus upgrade for the 2M Black - the LVB 250 (boron cantilever with the same Shibata stylus).

Don't overlook this option or think that it will be only a minor upgrade - it's profound. Everything gets better. Soundstage, focus, detail and other objective parameters like greater quietness in the groove and increased composure. But there is also something far more important - timbral quality, natural balance and realism make great strides forward (and the stock 2M Black was pretty good).

Along with this is an innate ability to present the musical picture without highlighting/spotlighting. For instance you feel like you can move your focus anywhere so easily  - listen to the bass player in the background while a soloist is going gangbusters in the foreground. I'm hearing new things in old favourites, everything sounds so musical and communicative.  

The LVB 250 is for sure a great cartridge for not crazy money. The medium compliance and high output means it won't put stress on tonearms and phono stages like a low compliance/output MC and you'll be more likely to extract its best (from less than the best turntable/arm/phono). I'm using mine on a Technics 1200GR with a Parasound JC3jr phono and it sounds superb. 

I have the 2MBronze , and a Benz Wood SL and a Charisa Audio Ref1.  (Also the A3s)  The two MCs are a significant step up over the Ortofon.  Cartridges are one the Big Three: Microphones, Cartridges, Speakers.  They are transducers and make the most difference in sound.  Having said that I am unlikely to go the MC route in future - mainly for cost reasons.  Not only do they cost more but the stylus cannot be replaced.  A phono stage based on an LCR network (eg Vida or Allnic) is where you will get better value for money, because of the longevity - though to be fair they will not make as much difference as a cart upgrade.

Jmarin, appresiate your recommendation.

Wspohn, the Hana cartridges seem to be getting a lot of good reviews here. Thanks for yours.

Sokogear, I’m wondering too how much difference there would be between two high quality cartridges with that much difference in price. I’ll really need to find a dealer somewhere that has both types, so I can hear what the differences may be.

I am willing to spend the money to get a significant improvement in sound. But I’m not guessing there would be that much improvement over the $700 Ortofon Black 2M MM cartridge I already have and MC ones, perhaps the Hana ML for example, which is a fine MC from what people here are saying, but costing only only a few hundred more. Especially if MC cartridges are already generically more expensive. I’m speculating there may be some differences in sound quality one might prefer, but that might not translate to the amount of improvement maybe a Frog or equivalent model could deliver.

Mike

I have the van den Hul MC One Special which I put in quite a while ago replacing a $500 japanese MM cartridge. Huge improvement in detail and depth of sound but when I put in a phono stage instead of using the MM/MC adjustable phono stage in my preamp, the quality improved substantially.

I wonder what the difference is between the VDH Frog and the MC One Special other than the price being double - the pictures look very similar except the Frog is green. The stylus of van den Hul's last very long due to their design, and I was thinking of a Frog the next time my stylus goes. There isn't much detail about the differences on van den Hul's web site.

I've listened to the Hana quite a bit in a friend's system and that is a good suggestion.

I recently picked up a third turntable and part of the package was a MC pickup - a Goldring Eroica LX (low output) that I had planned to swap out for something else - until I listened to it a bit. Very nice and worth considering - in the sub $1,000 bracket.

Denon DL-103R guts mounted in an lithium/aluminum Audio Musikraft shell.  

I did look up the Schroder CB mijostyn owns and it was in that price range you mention. He’s fortunate to have one. Thanks for the reassurance a good quality MC cartridge can work on a unipivot arm. I can save up to upgrade to a pricey cartridge in a reasonable amount of time, but although I'd like to, it’s unlikely I’ll ever be swimming in the deep end of the audiophile pool.

Mike

@secretguy +1 on the Denon 301 mk II. A really nice LOMC for the money.

Dave

The arm you have is not going to hurt a better cartridge. AJ Conti the genius behind the Basis Vector arms ( sadly RIP ) IMO probably wrung the best sonics out of a Unipivot. Look, Mijo absolutism aside, many, many audiophiles w unipivots and high end cartridges are quite happy with the musical enjoyment they provide….

But let’s get real, most of the arms Mijo mentions are > $6 K and up….

Secretguy, thjanks for the recommendation of the Denon. I’ll add it to the list of cartridges to research.

Jim, Thanks, Do you think it would be detrimental to the physical structure of an MC cartridge, perhaps the needle or cantilever, to have it on a unipivot arm or is it just that it would perform better on a different type arm.

Mjostyn, pardon my ignorance, but what is meant by the "compliance" of a cartridge?  I was starting get the impression to LOMC’s performed better than HOMC's, but since you mention having a compliance factor to consider with a unipivot arm, may send me back to the drawing board.

Thank you for your explanation of what constitutes a gimbal arm and how they work. I’ll look up the arms you mention, along with the nineteen cartridges suggested by everyone so far. Hope i don’t get an additional case of sticker shock. Acclimating to the thought of a possible $3000 MC cartridge purchase is unsettling enough for one day, and I’ve yet to research the MI type cartridges.

Thank you for the education and taking the time to post all the above information . I’ve been learning a lot so far from you and everyone else.

Mike

@skyscraper , I am pretty sure the VPI gimbal arm is a direct swap for the unipivot one. They use the same or close to the same base. If you are stuck with the unipivot for now you need to find the highest compliance cartridge you can get to work in that arm. Most of the high output cartridges have a higher compliance. For MC cartridges the VDH Frog Gold and MC-One have the highest compliance I know of. For less money the Ortofon LVB 250 2M Black is a good option. Even less the Grado 1042 .

Raul's assessment of unipivot arms is not overly harsh. They are unstable which you notice every time you lift the arm. It is much harder and more expensive to design and build an arm with multiple bearings. The party line is that they have lower friction. First of all friction only matters in the vertical direction. The friction of a jeweled needle bearing is essentially zero. Zero + Zero = Zero. Smoothness is far more important than friction. Any noise in the bearing will be transmitted to the cartridge. If a horizontal bearing has more friction you just lower the anti skating.

A gimbal arm has two bearings defining the vertical direction and two the horizontal direction. A gimbal arm can not rotate along it's axis. The rotational effective mass of a tonearm is very low. It takes very little to twist the arm. Your arm tries to deal with this problem with those out rigger weights in back. They increase the arm's rotational effective mass to keep forces applied by the groove on the stylus from rotating to arm. In the process they increase the arm's moment of inertia which is a bad thing to do to a device that has to accurately follow the undulations of your typical record. This is trying to fix a problem with another problem. The makers of the Two best unipivot arms in the market, the Basis Superarm and the Graham Phantom Elite go to great lengths to stabilize their arms. The Basis adds a second bearing and the Graham a system of opposing magnets. They are an improvement but I personally will not buy either arm. Arms that I would buy include the Schroder CB which I own, The Schroder LT, The Reed 2G, the Tri Planar and the SME V, all in their 9" versions I might add. Increasing the length of an arm for a few degrees in tracking error is worse than counter productive. 

Mike - First a compliment- excellent that you take time and care to acknowledge inputs by moniker / name. A wise practice….. i must adopt….

In general…i find unipivot arms vexatious… a very good friend says this about them : “ they are in a perpetual state of unsetting themselve up “.. I have heard a shockingly good VPI unipivot w Delos in a $100 k system…. so vexing….

So..eventually you could switch to VPI gimbal arm…

Hopefully your local VPI dealer can assist w cartridge selection…. You certainly have many viable choices….

Denon 301 mk II. Then spend the rest on records.

Thanks for the explanation. That is certainly not good news. 

Mike

@skyscraper  : because unipivot designs are totally unstable and unaccurated to handle the cartridge tracking needs to the cartridge can pick up the recorded information in the LP grooves and avoid developed added distortions for that tonearm unstabilities. probably unipivots is the worst kind of tonearm design not even for entry level cartridges.

VPI has gimball tonearm designs.

R.

R.

Raul, why would the Unipivot tonearm need to be changed out? That's no small matter to have to consider doing.

Mike

Dear @skyscraper  : Options on TT/tonearms are almost endless and every one has his own preferences in TT and preferences on tonearms.

With those kind of LOMC cartridges what you will need is to change the unipivot tonearm design by a VPI 3-D bi-pivot one.

R.

Ghdprentice, thanks again for the clarifications and advice.. I’d really like to hear your ’’Frog" cartridge.

Oldrooney, thank you for the differences you describe in listening to either type of cartridge.

Mr_m;, appreciate your +1 on the Hana ML cartridge. Seems to be lots of fans of that MC cartridge, and good reviews from what I’ve read so far. I’ve still to read up on every cartridge someone’s mentioned here so far, but hopefully will get on that today.

Raul, I very much appreciate you taking the time to answer my exact questions. That’s been helpful in determining how much I should be budgeting for an upgrade and what would be appropriate for the system components I do have.

Just out of curiosity what are examples of turntable(s)/tonearm(s) you might feel would be optimal for one of the more expensive cartridges. It’s possible with a little saving I might acquire one of those MC’s in the $3000 range that you indicate  could "put me in a different league". I’m not planning on upgrading my VPI Classic 2 any time soon, or ever, unless I win the lottery, but a person can dream. Again thank you vey much for your helpful input and links.

Mike

Your Luxman has very good design and canhandle that level of quality performance with no problem. Obviously that in any room/system always exist weak links in the system audio chain and yours is no exception.

Example; is it your TT/tonearm the optimum for any of those cartridges?. No, it's not but can works and latter on you can make the up-grades need it.

What's clear is that with your today system you will know for sure the high quality differences for the better.

R.

or this one:

R.

Dear @skyscraper  : "" on a MC cartridge before a noticeable, or significant improvement, might be heard in sound quality over the Ortofon 2M’s performance? ""

If you really want to make a true " differences " for the better you need to invest money through that LOMC you are looking for. Not for an entry level in that MC world.

"" $3000 figure for a good cartridge. For my current system with a VPI Classic 2 turntable do you think a cartridge costing that much might be overkill for my system? ""

No, it's not and around that money figure you can really say: I'm in a different " league " and you have really good options around that budget:

https://www.lyraanalog.com/kleos.html

@skyscraper 

I too have recently got hold of a Hana ML low output  moving coil cart. mounted on a Sota Sapphire tt. The Hana simply out performed every other cart. I ever had. One sweet sounding cart. to be sure.

Skyscraper: I had a similar experience with the High Output Moving Coil Sumiko ‘Songbird’ cartridge, moving from what appears to have been a worn-out Stanton 500-II moving magnet cartridge. I also changed phono stages at the same time, but I’m pretty sure the improvement came from the cartridge. With a decent LO, neither 44year old son or myself could tell the difference between Peggy Lee on a CD and Peggy Lee at Basin Street East on an LP. For lack of experience, I couldn’t tell you how a Song Bird compares to an Ortophon Black (which I had [and still am] considering for my second system), but I can testify that a cartridge ‘upgrade’ is certainly worth the money. I have heard A-B comparisons between Moving Coil and Moving Magnet on YouTube; the MC was certainly brighter and ‘faster,’ but the MM was more mellow. If you have two tone arms, two turntables, or replaceable head shells, you could have the best of both worlds. Good luck on your journey toward High Fidelity nirvana— the perfect system! (I speak tongue-in-cheek) 🙂

👍 A really high end cartridge is a thing of beauty. It was truly a jaw dropping moment of how good a turntable could be. I just thought surface noise and pops were something you had to endure… then they just disappeared.

I now have a high-end Linn with a much better cartridge (better… but the biggest gain was getting out of the sub $1k range to the Frog). Just for fun I recently played some albums really loud… I just couldn’t believe how quiet the background was.

In choosing a cartridge the thing to do is to choose one who’s description matches your desires. If you want etched detail at any cost you will pay the price in scooping up unnecessary noise. The Frog is a beautiful, detailed and natural sounding cartridge… I enjoyed it very much.

Normanthagard, thank you for the recommendation on the Hanas cartridges.

Ghdprentice, Thank you for describing in what ways the Van den Hull Frog (MC) improved your system’s sound quality. Interesting how your record surface noise was so reduced. That’s always been an issue for me. Years ago I tried solutions like Carvers Phase Linear Autocorrelator and Burwens Transient Noise Eliminator, but never considered a better designed needle and cartridge could help in that regard..

Mike

Op. On my Frog. Previous cartridges… it has been a while, early on I had a Shure V15, Audio Techniques (?) a couple in the $500 - $750 price range.

The difference… like night and day. Surface noice vanished… wasn’t just a little reduced, vanished. Most ticks and pops vanished… or were so reduced they became negligible ( I attribute this to the stylist going much deeper into the grooves). The soundstage widened and depth increased. Amount of detail increased… the bass went up radically. I had my old ~ $750cartridge on my new VPI TT for about a week. I remember particularly the bass improved with the new table… but much of the substantive improvement came from the cartridge.

I, too, had a Hana SL moving-coil cartridge mounted on a JMW 10" Memorial Tonearm on a VPI TNT 3.5 turntable.  It was superb but one channel failed open after a bit more than one year.  Before that a Clearaudio Stradivari v2 lasted six years in the same tonearm/turntable and was still OK when I traded it.  Despite the Hana SL problem, I replaced it with the somewhat more expensive Hana ML cartridge, which is still going strong after three years.

The sound of the SL and ML was excellent.  In fact, the Sound of both was, to my ears, noticeably better than the $3,750 Clearaudio Strdivari, v2.

Thank you all for your input. I’m learning a lot from you all. I’ll try to respond to each of your posts one at a time below.

Noromance- glad you had good luck with your Decca stylus replacement

Jasonbourne- thanks for the explanation on the the MC’s low inductance coil, faster transient response, and their lower cable capacitance loading. I’ll be looking int the Hana’s as several here have recommended them.

Ghdprentice- you mentioned your $3500 Ven den Hull Frog MC cartridge took your system to a whole new level. Could you explain what improvement you have been hearing and what cartridge and type you’d been using previously?

Socalm- thank you for your useful comparison of the performance of your Hana ML to the Ortofon Black 2M and the link. I really trying to get an understanding of how a MC might sound different form a MM so that comparison was spot on.

Richdirector, yes the Luxman. 507uX Mk2 does have a built in phono stage you can set for either MM or MC. Don’t know what setting a MI might use but I’ll figure that out as I keep learning from all.of you.

Mjjostyn and Dover, as a former Howard Johnson employer at age 16, I can attest to what mijostyns is saying. Interesting that you mention MC’s being brighter, generally speaking. I’ll have to listen for that if I’m able to get any demos. Thanks

Knock1, thank you for the comparison of the Ortofon 2M to your Hana ML. A lot of folks here seem to like the Hana’s.

LewM- Thank you for you long and thoughtful post. You provided a lot of pertinant information to consider. I’ve already read your post twice. Thank you. The low output type MC’s seem to get better reviews so far here. so i’ll keep that in mind. As you advise I won’t be buying vintage or used. If you don’t mind my asking How do you think a Audio Technica ART7 might sound differently than my Ortofon 2M?

Tim_p- i’ll definitely be looking into the HANA line.

Jim (tomic60)- Thanks, I am trying to dope out how much more more i’d have to spend to get a significantly better/different cartridge performance from my Ortofon Black 2M considering the components and setting of my current system. You mentioned an upper end $3000 figure for a good cartridge. For my current system with a VPI Classic 2 turntable do you think a cartridge costing that much might be overkill for my system? Or should I really be thinking of cartridges of that cost as suitable for my system .without any other system upgrades?

I’ll look up Lyra Delos cartridges too since you mention them.

Erikt, Thank you for mentioning the AT33SA and how well it matches it matches with the MC impedence of your Luxman-509x. That's definitely pertinent to my system and I’ll be sure to look up the AT33SA in short orfder. Thank you much.

Hope I didn’t miss anybody and thanks again all. You’ve given me a lot to think about and research.

Mike

I have the Luxman L-509x, Technics SL1200mk2 (tonearm rewire, damper) and I have the Marantz SA-KI Pearl player.

I went from the Hana SH on the MM input to the Audio Technica AT33SA (LOMC) and am really enjoying the sound.

While the Hana was a vg cartridge, I think the AT sounds more natural/relaxed.  That could be HOMC vs LOMC, but the sonic differences are there.

The AT33SA has an internal impedance of 10ohms and so matches quite nicely with the L-509x MC input impedance of 100ohms for loading.

Just tossing out my story.

@lewm nails it with a slight modification..no type is superior without careful consideration of the ecosystem it lives in…. arm, table, isolation, wiring and phono preamp / sut with appropriate and variable loading.

I suspect Mijo has never heard a properly setup Lyra Delos, but that is another matter…

Actually, we live in a world of fantastic cartridge values…. for under $3k, you have enormous choice of great sounding and technically excellent cartridges… As others have already named….

Enjoy your search and the music

Jim

@mijostyn  : rigth, a warning on LO MI and the warning    comes because the op is thinking in MC cartridges and the SS advise came from a MC cartridge owner that changed to MI. Of course HO SS can works through the MM stage.

Prolem with dover is that has a way different commonsense than you and me or it like to " hit " me every time he " can ".

Thank's for your post.

R.

Another vote for HANA, using the microline LOMC cartridge and love the detail and warmth it has provided. 

Anyone who tells you that MC cartridges are categorically better than MM and MI cartridges is at least lacking in experience with a variety of cartridges. That’s the nicest way I can put it. Since I cannot agree to the inherent superiority of MC vs the two other major types, I also cannot agree that we know the mechanism; low inductance is nice in theory, but it is clearly not the sole determinant of best sound quality, for the very reason that there are so many superb sounding MM and MI types that have much higher inductance. Compliance, moving mass, cantilever material, stylus shape, resonance control, and black magic all seem to be important. There are 100s of very good sounding cartridges from which you can choose, and 1000s of opinions about them, but don’t assume that the 2M Black is the best you can do in an MM cartridge, and certainly do not discount the excellence of MI type cartridges, like those currently made by SoundSmith. Among MCs, the "low output" type in general sounds better to me in my system than did any of the high output versions I have ever heard at home (Benz Glider X2, Transfiguration Esprit, any Sumiko). Among reasonably priced LOMC cartridges that you can buy new, I really like my Audio Technica ART7, which is now sold as the low output version of the ART9X series. For about $1K, you cannot go wrong with that choice. The Dynavector 17D3 is excellent, so the latest version 17DX is probably good too. As a neophyte, you probably should not buy a vintage cartridge, so I will refrain from listing the many that I own and love, and for goodness sakes don’t buy a vintage FR cartridge, no matter how good, just because there are pros and cons regarding that vintage. Audio Technica, Ortofon, Dynavector, Hana, Grado, SoundSmith and a few others are quality companies currently making excellent cartridges that you would fall in love with. I can’t honestly name any current production MM types that are sure to out-do your 2M Black, because I don’t own any; mine are all vintage. However, if Ortofon make an MM rated above the 2M Black, it is probably superior. Raul named some Clearaudio MMs he likes, too. AT make superb MM cartridges, too. AT makes at least one of the cartridges marketed by Clearaudio, for Clearaudio. In the end, you have to make the buying decision. Consider it a step in your own evolution as an audiophile. Over time and with more experience you will begin to know what you like without input from others.

Switched from 2M Black to Hana ML which I think is much more relaxed, still detailed and melodic but not as aggressive as Ortofon. Overall much better experience for me. There were few recordings i.e.. Tina Turner's What's love got to do with it, that some notes from Ortofon were simply cringing to my ears.

@dover , @rauliruegas  is warning skyscraper to get the right output version for his phonostage, high or low. The cartridges have different internal impedances. People do make that mistake buying a low output cartridge for a moving magnet phono stage and wonder why they can't get any volume. 

Moving coil cartridges tend to be brighter which many people like but many recording engineers will tell you moving magnet/Iron cartridges sound more like their master tapes. Like always, a generalization is likely to fail somewhere. It all depends on what you like to hear. It is why Howard Johnson's made 28 flavors.

Presuming the Luxman 507 has the same phono input (or better) than the 550axII then a MC low will be fine - I am using Rega Apheta 2 on my deck which is 0.35 and the MC input works well  - The Hana SL or DV MC looked great but meant I would need to use shims on my deck so I stuck with Rega

I went from an Ortofon 2M Black to the Hana SH (high output) MC.  As much as I enjoyed the detail of the 2M Black, I found it unforgiving and revealing of every flaw on a record.  The Hana is more detailed and surprisingly more forgiving.  I can't say how pleased I am with the Hana and I was able to plug into my IA's MM port without the need for a phono pre-amp.

Hana SH

I moved to high quality cartridges about 30 years ago… a Van den Hull Frog (MC)… about $3,500 on my VPI Aries. It completely took my system to a whole new level. I think I put a couple thousand hours on it and 20 years of use with no maintenance. I now have a Koetsu Rosewood Signature ~$5,400. There is no comparison with reputable high end cartridges with budget oriented stuff.

There are several Fidelity Research FR-1mk3 mc cartridges available on EBay for around $400 from Japanese sellers. I have owned the FR's and like them very much! Any cartridge, tone arm and SUT from the late Ikeda-san is a worthwhile acquisition!

Spending thousands for a cartridge is insane! They all wear out and need replacement! The most I would spend would be about $1300 for the Hana ML with the micro ridge stylus. But I still think that the SL at $750 is just about as good for a considerable cost savings. I have been using moving coils since 1977. IMO there is no contest compared to any mm or mi (Grado/Sound Smith) type - even the vaunted Shure V15mk5 with the micro ridge stylus. I have a NOS one I am saving for posterity! The big advantage a good mc type has is low inductance coils. Superior (faster) transient response compared to mm types with their inductance measured in the hundreds of millihenries. Low inductance mc types are also immune to cable capacitance loading.

System 2. This weekend, I got my Decca Gold back with a new line contact stylus. I first played a few tracks with the stand in replacement, a VM750SH which I am fond of. I expected it to beat the older Decca. Well, the Decca blew it away. Whole different level.