Cartridge forgiving of "non-audiophile" recordings and pressings


I’m a record collector first, and I have stacks of vinyl of many genres that would never qualify as audiophile quality, either in terms of recording, pressing, or both. Note that this isn’t a problem of vinyl condition. We’re talking VG+ at worst.

I find that the various fine line styli are too fussy and revealing with these records. Nude elliptical have proven to be a better match here, a good compromise.

Anyway, I’m looking to explore some new carts in a second system and wanted some recommendations. I know it all comes down to subjective listening, but I like to hear about what others have experienced as a guide to exploring.

I want a forgiving cartridge but with good dynamics and a fast transient response. Quick, full, tuneful bass and rich mids are the priority over treble extension and detail.

For now, ignore tonearm effective mass, turntable, etc. Budget up to $1,000. MM or MC.

Thanks all.

funthings

Showing 2 responses by mulveling

Wow, a 2nd post of millercarbon that I agree with this week. Systems that purportedly make audiophile recordings sound "amazing" while making mediocre recordings sound worse -- these are actually very unbalanced systems that can only handle very simplistic slow snooze-fest audiophile demo tracks. A great system will make everything sound its best.
You can only get worse sound from "better" gear if you're listening to a recording that's literally more signal than noise, or if your system is imbalanced/mismatched in some way to e.g. cause excessive brightness/fatigue with less than stellar recordings. You pair a slightly bright, highly detailed setup with a bright pop/rock/metal recording and you are gonna have PAIN.

I've experienced the Ortofon shibata (boron/sapphire) implementation to not be my favorite (Jubilee MC in my case); it could certainly be interpreted as somewhat "ruthless", and I think requires matching to a warm downstream chain. Really all the boron Ortofons I've heard are something like that. So I upgraded to Koetsu and got both more detail AND a cartridge that works a lot better with mediocre recordings in combination with my downstream gear.

Cartridges in my experience that are good with most recordings, including rock/metal, and not too bright:
Benz LPS, Benz Wood
Koetsu (all models)
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (not the higher models)
Shelter