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Cartridge Opinions - Sorry

Yeah, another dumb "what's your opinion on these cartridges" thread. Back in the late 80's we had dealers where you could listen to the stuff.

So anyhow I have a Linn LP12 with Ittok arm and a 30 year old Audioquest B200L cartridge. I'm running it through the phono stage of a Jeff Rowland Coherence One into a Spectral DMA90 through a set of Kef R300's.

I prefer a little more laid back sound (err on the side of forgiving instead of fatiguing) but I like a lot of upper end detail, precise soundstaging, air, etc.

So far I'm considering an Ortofon Quintet S Black, Hana SL or a Benz wood - something at or below the $1k level.

I'd love to hear any opinions, suggestions, and experiences with those cartridges or others in the price range. I could possibly go higher if there is something out there that really shines for less than $1,500.

Thanks.


klooker

Showing 3 responses by nandric

nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
There is no sense in question about ''all carts''. The most members
have experience with limited number of carts. Except Raul, J. Carr
and perhaps ''the well infomed memer from (Dutch) New Zeeland''.
Problem with Raul is that he get seduced in disputes about not
relevant details. So the question asked is answered with own
experiece and preference by individual members. Those are
worthless because there is no consensus about anything. 
Better is to ask questions about particular cartridges. Then only
those who know the cart can answer the question based on their
own experience. 
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Dear chakster, your skeptical attitude against retips is curious.
First thing is the fact that no manufacturer use their own cantilevers
and styli. Those are produced by big Japanese jewel companies. 
The same apply for repair services. That is to say that retipers
use the same cantiler/styli combos. This part is then glued in the
so called ''joint pipe''. The aluminum part in which cantilever is
glued on which coils are fastened and in which tension wire is
fastened. Together those are moving parts by which one try 
to reduce the moving mass.  Preferably by reducing the coil
wire. To glue the cantilever/stylus combo in the joint pipe is
not ''rocket science''. Why should whatever manufacturer do this
better than an experienced retipper? 

nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
Dear Raul, My point is that questions about ''all carts'' make no
sense. This in contradistinction with particular cartridges. You
own the most carts among us while your capability is to judge
their quality. We all profited from your contributions about 
specific carts. I bought all MM carts which you recommeded 
despite the fact that I prefer MC carts. So, to use you own argument,
we can learn from your knowledge about specific carts. However
this does not apply for your many disputes. 



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