Cartridge for 45's


I have recently been given a large quantity of mint condition Decca Records 45's and want to set up one of my turntables to play them. I really don't want to play them on my current rig. Too much detail. I need something more forgiving. The tt I plan to use is a thorens TD 160 HD and the arm is an Ortofon 212D. I will also use this table for old and questionable albums.

The person I received the records from was an executive for Decca from the mid 50's to the mid 60's. Most of them have never been played.

Any help would be appreciated.

Matt

mwilliams
Use a Denon 103, or 103R. They are relatively inexpensive, tough, and will play anything that is microgroove. Best of all, they provide 95% of the performance that one finds in top cartridges. I play 78 RPM microgroove records with one.
The Denon is a great choice as long as you have enough gain. It has an output of only .3mv.

Another option is the Shure M97xE. It's a high output MM and is really an excellent choice and is cheap.

If you can afford it, the Audio Technica AT150MLX is one of the best MM carts out there today and a huge step up from the Shure.
guess I should have mentioned it needed to be a MM cart. I have a pre with built in phono one MC and One MM input. The MC input is already taken

Matt
Would probably be best to go with a mono cartridge as most 45's from the 50's & 60's weren't recorded in stereo.
ENJOY!