Best $250 max phono Cart

I would Highly recommend the Ortofon 2M Blue $236 on Needle Doctor. With this MM cartridge it will sound great on a Rega arm and no step up transformer needed, just feed it right into your amps phono input. The Denon 103 is not a good match for the Rega arm, The 103’s need a heavier/larger arm to have optimal compliance.


Matt M

I’d look at LP Gear instead and the Audio-Technica VM540ML @ $249. A fine match with the Rega arm and an altogether better cartridge than the 2M Blue in my subjective opinion.

They do, however, also sell the Blue for $210.

I have an AT VM750 at $400 and don't think it's all that great for rock. Look at the Nagaoka MP150 instead.

Thanks for the recommendations mattmiller agrippa noromance! I watched some cart shootouts on youtube from HiViNyws (Ian in Singapore), the Nagaoka MP-150 (~$300) sounds great, I agree with the few videos I watched that it outclassed at least the Hana EL but might be a little too $$. Funny story, I have a Well Tempered Labs TLC MM cartridge on my Amadeus, which is modeled after the Nagaoka MP-150.  Searching at the $100 level, I'm read that The Vessel A3SE ($99) is worth consideration. anyone have experience with the Vessel A3SE?  Whichever way he ends up going it will be fine, there are some really great choices available.

Like some other Audio-Technica moving magnet cartridges the VM540ML has a low recommended load capacitance range, in this case 100 to 200 pf. And the phono input of your amp has a higher than average input capacitance of 220 pf, while the phono cable, tonearm wiring, and connectors will probably add something like 150 pf or perhaps even 200 pf to that. So I would not recommend that cartridge for this application.

I suspect the total load capacitance would NOT be far enough above the 2M Blue’s recommended load capacitance range of 150 to 300 pf to be a significant issue. Not sure about the Nagaoka, for which I couldn’t find a load capacitance recommendation.

Good luck.  Regards,
-- Al

@mikld  looks like Nagaoka increased their prices by about 25% when I wasn't  looking.  The Nag 110 is still solid at $140.

Another vote for Nagaoka. Excellent sounding cartridge. High output, low price.

The MP150 beats out some 1k plus carts in my system that are now just gathering dust in the drawer.
Only cart that has supplanted it of late is a vintage nos Astatic MF100.

You can find deals on the MP150 occasionally on eBay.

Btw I run my MP150 at 0pf on my Chinook so just whatever the cabling adds.
Just to my ears it sounded ever so slightly more fleshed out than at 50pf.
Obviously YMMV.

And yes Al, trying to find that information for the MP150 is impossible as they do not provide it.
The older mp10 to 50 was listed at 100pf but they do not publish any figures for the MP x00 series carts.

Why not look for a gently used Denon 103. I've had great luck picking up low hr cartridges at about half the price of new.

Any Grado should be fine!
https://www.lpgear.com/category/GRADO.html

To my surprise those Nagaoka are all low compliance, why ?

Dynamic compliance for all models in MP series is:
from 5.5cu to 8.5cu @ 100Hz

I will convert it to 10Hz and this is it:
from 9.4 to 14.5cu, depends on the model

This is pretty low compliance for MM cartridge!

Also anyone should know that cheap models like Nagaoka PM-100 and PM-110 comes with BONDED diamonds, those diamonds are not "nude" like on higher models. I really don’t understand what is special about those entry level cartridges with Low Compliance, Bonded Diamond and Aluminum cantilevers ?

The life span of such bonded spherical or elliptical diamonds is very short, just look at description from Nagaoka (manufacturer):

" The stylus replacement interval varies depending on the using conditions. But for general use at home, the reference time is between 150-200 hours in which the stylus begin to wear and the tone quality deteriorates. Recommend replacing the stylus as early as possible to enjoy clear tone for a long time and not to damage the disc grooves. "

For MM/MI it is worth to look for mid or high compliance with nude diamonds only, at least Shibata or LineContact if you can find any at your price point. Some proper vintage MM will be much better than entry level new Nagaoka for sure.