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Cartridge selection

I have an Oracle Delphi with an ET-2 arm and am looking for a cartridge. The cartridge should be low to medium compliance and have at least 2.5mv output due to the fact that I'm planning on using a Bottlehead Foreplay phono preamp. I would like it to be a MC cartridge, I do not want to use a step-up device, and it should be capable of good performance listening to all types of music. I'm not sure how much I'm going to need to spend to make this worth my while. $500.00? $800.00?

I know my choices are limited, so I am actually wondering if I might be better off getting a MC phono preamp or selling my LS7 and getting a full function preamp. This would give me a lot more options as I would then be able to use a low output MC cartridge.

I would love to hear what some of you think about this.
ketchup

Showing 2 responses by ketchup

ketchup OP
700 posts
 
Nsgarch,
Thanks for your thoughts. There is no Foreplay phono preamp, I goofed. It is a Seduction. I originally built the Seduction to use as a tape head pre but changed my mind at the last minute when I bought the Delphi, so maybe I will just go back to that original plan.

You mentioned that it's not desireable to settle for a high output MC cartridge. Are they generally inferior to low output MCs, or are you refering to the fact that I will just have too few choices in high output MCs?

Thanks again!
ketchup OP
700 posts
 
Would anyone care to comment on the effectiveness of using a .48mv cartridge with a phono preamp with 54db of gain and a linestage with 13db of gain?

Will this be enough gain?
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