Cartridge recommendations


I think I need to replace my MC cartridge.  It's a Madrigal Carnegie.  I'm no longer convinced that a replacement needs to be a MC.  That was true when I bought the Carnegie but time and technology have changed.  I read last night that under $500 you're better off getting a MM.  At the $500 point and up, a MC starts to make sense.  At the $1,000 point, absolutely, get a MC.  But that was one opinion.

I'm setting a tentative budget of $1,000 to $1,500.  At $2,000 I become Ukrainian (fierce resistance occurs).

I have a Grado cartridge that I use on my 'other' TT and have a preference toward Grado cartridges.  As an aside, I visited the Grado website last night and found it very difficult to navigate.  I wanted to start by selecting a price, then go from there.  I could not find any pricing in the brief time I spent there.  I know it's there, I've seen it.  I'll try again.

So I'm looking for suggestions.  MM, MI, or MC.  I prefer warmish (Grado is known for that), smooth and hopefully detailed.  Sound staging is irrelevant.

I've started a second discussion aimed at questioning if the Carnegie is truly dead, as I fear.  If you want to chime in on that I welcome your expertise.

listener2

Showing 1 response by djspinner

Here's a guide that's been posted elsewhere on this board regarding matching ET-2 tonearms with cartridges:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/eminent-technology-et-2-tonearm-owners/post?postid=1693347#1693347

I'm not aware of a boron arm wand.  The stock arm wand is aluminum.  The lighter one is the carbon fiber and the heavier one is magnesium.  Assuming you have the single leaf spring and the carbon wand, you'll want to use a low mass, medium compliance cartridge.

I use the AT-OC9XML on my ET-2 tonearm.  If I had the funds I probably would bump up to the ART9XI.  I'd love to try a London (Decca) Super Gold someday, but those suckers are hard to get dialed in on many tonearms, especially a linear tracking one on a suspended turntable.