@mulveling , My experience pretty much mirrors yours. rauliruegas is right about phono stages. I think there are stages that sing with moving magnet cartridges but do not do so well with MC and vise versa. But, it takes a great moving coil to match the rock performance I get out of my old AR PH3 SE and the Clearaudio Charsima. I have yet to here a MC top that level of punch. No, the high end does not quite have the air of a good MC but the bass more than makes up for it. The Soundsmith Voice almost displays the same dynamic but sounds more like a MC cartridge. High output cartridges with top stylus/cantilever assemblies can do an amazing job considering the low price. The Goldring 1042 has got to be the best cartridge for the money made. I am about to order a Channel D Seta L Transimpedance phono stage in red powder coat. Galen Carol has ordered me an Atlas Lambda SL. God knows when it will show up. The combination has a reputation for being extremely dynamic and I am hoping this gets me past the Charisma for dynamics with all the magic the cartridge is known for. It is a sure bet for 20 large. There is no way in h-ll that this is going to be16 large better. Aren't there much more important things to spend that money on? Second thoughts? The problem with ordering items that are not going to show up for 6 months is the 6 months you have to argue with yourself.
Any truth to my feeling that MM carts are possibly better than MC on rock recordings?
I have an Ortofon Red on a Project Debut Carbon and a EAT C Sharp with an MC Ortofon Quintet Black. I have two systems and I've switched the tables between the systems and tried a few different scenarios and I hear a little more punch with the Ortofon Red. I know all things aren't equal here but I'm trying to explain this somehow. One system is Dynaudio Evidence Temptations with JC 1 Monos and JC 2BP Pre. PS Audio Stellar phono or a little Project MM phono. The other system is PrimaLuna 400 Evo Integrated with same phono stages and Salk Sound 3 speakers. The Project and Ortofon Red sound great to my ears. More punch and solidity of sound.