I bought a Nagoaka mp150 as a cheap backup cart and was shocked how well it performed.
So much so that it has not left my deck since I installed to see what it sounded like!
The pair of $1500 and $2900 MC carts are now the backups.
Great deals to be had on Nagoaka on eBay for sure.
Highly recommended! |
I'm not sure what "a lot" is as far as your budget, but the Hana cartridges are really nice for the money. I have the SL ($750).
For really inexpensive I recently bought a used Shure V15 IV with a broken stylus for $135 and put a new JICO SAS stylus ($199) on it. Sounds great!
The Denon DL-301 MKII is also nice and can be found for around $300- $400.
I have a Nagaoka MP-500 and admit that I've only tried it on one of my cheap tables (Music Hall 2.2) and got a good deal on it when Kazu was still selling them. It's good, but for the money, these other options are as good or better to my ears.
Please note, I'm not familiar with your gear so don't know how any of these would be from a compliance standpoint. |
I’ve heard/auditioned a good number of Koetsu, Kisekis, Miyajimas and whatnot up through the years and frankly my ART9 gives them all a run for the money. Yes, it’s exactly $1k cartridge, considered cheap MC compared to ART1000 for example (or to those $15k new ortofon:) . AT is great with their exchange policy, much better than any manufacturers, considering the price for ART9, the factory exchange (when the stylus is worn) is great option (but only from official dealers). AT150MLX is not even near the old AT-ML170 or AT-ML180 series. The statement that all new cartridges are good is false and there is absolutely no reason to stick to the new production when old available in NOS or Mint. Curious people and true audiophiles are normally comparing different equipment. Everybody knows all new models , new cartridges, the list of recommended products is the same, always. But some vintage models are unknown to most of the audiophiles, i think it’s worth to mention some great discoveries on this forum. Those gems are vanishing slowly, why the shops are full of new cartridges and will be sull of them for decades in the future. |
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"I believe anything under $1k is a cheap cartridge for audiophiles."
Couldn’t really disagree much more, unless "audiophiles" is used as a synonym for "people with delusions of grandeur and/or obsessive/compulsive disorder"
I’ve heard/auditioned a good number of Koetsu, Kisekis, Miyajimas and whatnot up through the years and frankly my ART9 gives them all a run for the money. Many of the former sacrifice precision and neutrality for obvious emphasis on midrange, "body" or whatever else the maker(s) subjectively consider desireable. If that’s what you’re after then that’s well and good, but to say it makes them "better" is simply folly of the highest order.
My current favourite by a very, very tiny degree is the Allnic Puritas, since it reproduces the timbre of stringed instruments and female voices better and more accurately than anything I’ve heard up until now. It’s a $5000 cartridge, but quite frankly I’d say it’s worth maybe a couple of hundred more than the ART9 purely in terms of its sonic qualities.
As far as I’m concerned an AT150MLX or Sa (no experience with the VM series yet) properly set up will provide sound quality equalling most MCs up to several times its price and take you most of the way to audiophile heaven. Provided, of course, that audiophile is used to mean what it actually means.
All in my opinion, with my (very good) hearing and in my system (or rather systems through the years).
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The Sumiko Pearl works for me (Linn Basik/Akito)...I like these enough that I've replaced the stylus once for 50 bucks or something, but for whatever they sell for now ($120 maybe?) as I assume they're discontinuing these things, they're a bargain as they're a great sounding MM cartridge that seems to suffer from the fact that it's so inexpensive. |
@rauliruegas It's the 540SH - $400. |
Dear @pops : You don't need to look for vintage cartridges when you can own today really good cartridge performers coming from many solid and well regarded manufacturers as: Ortofon, Nagaoka, Grado, SoundSmith, Audio Note, Audio Technica, Goldring, Clearaudio and others. With the advantage that you have a manufacturer warranty for your unit and for the replacement stylus when you need it. Only you need is to go to those manufacturers sites, here Audio Technica:
https://www.audio-technica.com/cgi-bin/product_search/cartridges/cartridges.pl?lang=eng Btw, @noromance it's obvious that a 249.00 cartridge can't compete with that Decca but for its low price is better performer that what we can think. Audio Technica has all alternatives for any audiophile but other manufacturers have good options too. Audio Note MM are excellent. Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
The Audio Technica has great depth and etched high frequencies. But there's some grain or slight harshness in the rendition.
So I compared my AT VM540SH with my Decca Super Gold/Paratrace and Decca Garrott Export and both Decca's really are in another league.
Dark, quiet backgrounds, voices that sound real, speakers disappeared, but most absolutely the difference is that the Decca makes music with emotion. No contest, notwithstanding the priced difference. |
I 2nd the Nagaoka suggestions. Just picked up an MP-200 a few weeks ago, and it's fantastic.
Super fine elliptical diamond stylus, and boron cantilever. Quiet, smooth, and nice warm details. Listening to it is a real joy. |
Price is not an indicator of performance above $500 for MM cartridges and above $1000 for MC. Law of Diminishing Returns applies here.
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Cheap modern MM cartridges is like listening to music with a blanket on each speakers. A waste of time in high-end system. Much better to pay more for a decent vintage MM if you really want to find out what this technology is all about. What is "cheapo" in high-end world today ? A $100-200 cartridge is like a free gift, some good MC cost $2k, some of them cost $5k and many of them cost $15k today. I believe anything under $1k is a cheap cartridge for audiophiles. Even a brand new japanese Coreless Straight-flux MI cartridge (invented by former Grace engineer few years ago) starts from $14k, they made two models :) For about $400-900 you can find spectacular MM from the golden age. Audio-Technica is only one of them, there are Grace F9, Victor X1IIe, Stanton 881s, Pickering XSV3000 .... and these brand made higher models too, more expensive, but simply amazing. Good luck in your search and if you need help send me a message. |
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Thanks guys for the reponses, I will probably give both At VM540 and Najaoka a try. @noromance and @chakster I am intrigued by vintage MM and will start investigating.
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Nagaoka MP110. Can't do better for $100
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Second vote for the Audio-Technica VM540ML. I have 2 of them and couldn’t be happier. Detailed midrange is one of its greatest attributes. But it’s a category killer in pretty much every respect. The micro-line-contact stylus is the crown jewel.
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The At-150 is a giant killer MM! |
The Audio Technica AT95, Ortofon 2M Red and the Nagaoka MP110 are all solid choices on the cheap... |
@chakster is right. Except, the old classics are hard to find and relatively expensive considering you are looking for "cheapo cartridges." The 540 has a microline stylus. |
If you want something very special with huge potential over your expensive MC then look for vintage MM cartridges with the best cantilevers and styli. This is the best performance for reasonable price, none of the modern MM can compete with Audio-Technica AT-ML170 (Gold-Plated Boron Cantilever and MicroLine stylus), it’s cheap compared to overpriced modern MC, but not cheap compared to some modern MM (most of them are nothing special btw). On the lower side the next model to the mighly AT-ML170 is the AT-ML150 (Beryllium Cantilever with MicroLine tip). Both cartridges will destroy all that Nagaoka, Sumiko, Grado and bla-bla-bla. Vintage AT-ML series (models 150,170,180) from the 80’s are killer MM. Industry professionals have been using them for disc mastering, read this article. Look for the cartridges with Boron or Beryllium cantilevers and the nude diamonds with the longest life-span (such as MicroLine, MicroRidge, LineContact, Shibata). Ignore the cartridges with aluminum cantilevers and elliptical diamonds they will never get you there. MM technology is not a trend of today, it was a king tech back in the 70s/80s. Ignore all the cheap MM of today, it's just a waste of time |
You can't go wrong with either an Audio Technica VM540ML (brighter) or Nagaoka MP110 or 150 for bang for the buck.
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