Cartridge - sweet spot on the cost/sound curve?

This Grado!

https://gradolabs.com/products/opus3

This Denon is a legend. I remember owning one in the 1980s.

Other companies mod them (Zu Audio?) and resell.

https://www.amazon.com/Denon-103-Moving-Coil-Cartridge/dp/B0027426UE/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0_image?pd_rd_w=6nDWo&content-id=amzn1.sym.bb21fc54-1dd8-448e-92bb-2ddce187f4ac%3Aamzn1.symc.40e6a10e-cbc4-4fa5-81e3-4435ff64d03b&pf_rd_p=bb21fc54-1dd8-448e-92bb-2ddce187f4ac&pf_rd_r=DX32Z75V9A4RE0CRB3RD&pd_rd_wg=UecPo&pd_rd_r=fdef7760-d592-4f53-abb7-330fd3e4ba04&pd_rd_i=B0027426UE

I used a BPS for years before switching to an Audio Technica VM740ML and I have become an AT convert as a result. super affordable, with an easily replacable (and upgradable) stylus.

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/vm740ml

Time to play Sherlock Holmes, make notes

Imbalance: Assuming you are right, I would prove it is the cartridge, i.e. rule out other potential problems before I bought a new cartridge: Your phono: you have two sets of interconnects, and a variety of tubes in 2 devices and a specific preamp input that are all different than your digital source.

1. move the digital to the input you are using for your phono pre: still imbalanced, then it’s that input, not .... good, it’s somewhere in the phono chain, where exactly?

2. switch phono l and r, weak moves to the other side, tells you ......

3.

4.

Cartridge re-builders say the MAJORITY of cartridges they receive have had inaccurate anti-skate for years, uneven wear leads to uneven sound: the replacement needs to be right. Who will install/calibrate your new cartridge?

I also like AT MM cartridges with excellent sound and imaging specs (wide channel separation/tight channel balance) replaceable MicroLine stylus which have the largest contact surface, thus longest life and minimize wear on your grooves.

They track at 2.0g, I prefer lighter, and I prefer stiffer cantilever, I risk used vintage cartridges to get beryllium which is no longer used, recently bought two used AT, AT150e and AT160 bodies with ATN160ML stylus which track at 1.25g, each in your budget, but buying used cartridges is not for most people I know.

Swap the phono leads on your PS Audio phono to make sure the sound level issue reverses (to rule out an issue with the amp.)

EDIT: ^ Elliott got there before me!

Grado Prestige Green $125 is an easy recommendation.

I meant to say, when buying new, I prefer lighter/stiffer boron for cantilever material over aluminum

If your phono stage can handle low output moving coil cartridges a Denon DL 310 MK II can be had from a trusted seller 2Juki for $330. If higher output is needed then the Denon DL110 is in the low 200's. Output voltage is higher, but not as high as a typical moving magnet. You MIGHT have to add a bit of volume from where your typical volume setting was for the Sumiko cartridge, but it will work. These are the two most affordable moving coil cartridges I am aware of. Otherwise you are looking at moving magnets, typically the Audio Technica AT95 family, or the 540ml which costs in the mid to high $200's. 

@elliottbnewcombjr In the sub $500 new cartridge market I am interested in knowing what options there are for boron or other hybrid cantilevers. For awhile there was carbon fiber but that was more of a cheap as chips option for Audio Technica. 

@neonknight

The Nagaoka MP200 sports a nude elliptical on a boron cantilever, and is well within that range. It’s tougher to find, but I see an MP300H for very close to $500.

@elliottbnewcombjr In the sub $500 new cartridge market I am interested in knowing what options there are for boron or other hybrid cantilevers. For awhile there was carbon fiber but that was more of a cheap as chips option for Audio Technica.

Boron is not common at this price point, even used. Audio Technica makes one that’s (sort of) close - OC9XML, $600 new. There should be various used AT’s with boron out there. You can sometimes find a used Benz Ace or Glider at this price (boron, with either Fritz Gyger or Japanese MicroRidge stylus). A brand new Ace used to cost $550 (circa 2000s) but those days are gone and these models are no longer common.

That said - aluminum cantilevers can sound very, very good. Sometimes even preferable to boron, depending on the cartridge!

Everyone has their preferences.  As mulveling points out aluminum cantilevers can sound very good.  Personally, I tend to prefer them over other exotics such as boron or beryllium.  This is a personal taste thing, there is no right or wrong, just a matter of taste.  In your price range in addition to Audio Technica, excellent BTW, consider Ortofon, perhaps a 2M Bronze.  This assumes you determine that you do need a new cartridge after following Elliott's suggestions.

I have Goldring 1042 MM for my Nottingham Spacedeck/Spacearm. Bought it years ago from analogueseduction.net in the UK for $350. Now it is probably more, US prices are $600 or so. I doubt you will find an overall better cartridge in this price range. It does nothing wrong and many things right or I would've replaced it long ago.

I would get an Audio Technica VM540 MM cartridge.  It sounds fantastic and comes in around $280.00.  You will not be disappointed and I think sounds better than the Blue Point Soecial.  I owned one mounted on a Rega Planer3 turntable.   I found it thin and bright.  You could look into the Grado cartridges.  They have a moving iron cartridge for around $300.00.  

Grado at this level may give you a foggy unbalanced sound.

The Needleclinic NC-103 is less than $600 and it blows aways cartridges costing multiples of its price.

https://trackingangle.com/equipment/needle-clinics-denon-103-phono-cartridge

I swap between a NOS Shibata stylus equipped Audio Technica  AT 12sa and a Goldring E3. Both are MM's and the cost of both together is less than $500. I use the AT cartridge for older recordings as it will reveal more detail. The Goldring is used on newer, more balanced recordings as it has a very smooth midrange.I may go for the newer E4 stylus for the Goldring, when this one wears out.

Whatever you land on, remember to give it hours and hours of break in before you form an opinion. Often, I think people decide a cartridge sucks before they have heard it perform at its best. 

Happily, my 1st pick for a Moving Coil was/is a winner, and your Phono stage has MM and MC options

AT33PTG/II MC Microline on Tapered Boron: eBay $460.

I wore it out, bought a new one without hesitation (for 1/2 price from AT's trade-in program). 

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one method to get boron, is to buy a Shure V15 body, and a NEW Jico SAS on Boron

Shure V15V body, eBay $200.

Jico SAS on Boron $282.

It comes with the brush you can use up or down like the Shure originals, however, Shure's brushes were/are damped, Jico's is non-damped.

And, you can have VAS rebuild you a frankencartridge, I've got an advanced stylus Steve calls 'P', on boron, with Shure's OEM damped brush that I can use in either my 97x body or V15Vx body

What about the Hana EH or EL? Both MC but EH with high output depending of your phono stage capabilities. Hana makes great products at a very complétive price point. I have owned two Hana SL in a row. The EH is often in the list of annual best buys.Another option is to get a SL at a discount as Hana is replacing it with the Hana SL MKII…while quantities last. Good luck and keep us posted.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. I will do some detective work over the weekend to figure out where the imbalance comes from - duh Oh moment! I should have figured that out myself.

THANKS!

@elliottbnewcombjr 

Just a word of caution - there were several series of Shure V15 made, and they do not necessarily share compatible stylii. The V15 Type IV was the first with the built-in brush.  I inherited a V15 Type III and was looking for a Jico boron cantilever / Super Analog Stylus but I could get a complete AT540ML cartridge for the same price, so I did.

Then I spotted a Jico SAS/B stylus a bit cheaper from a seller in Japan, but they shipped a NUDE stylus worth only half as much instead!  Still fighting that one ...

Just responding the the title. The sweetspot is determined mostly by your financial situation. 

It is also determined by how good your table/arm/phono stage are. And by the rest of your system, for that matter. $500 cartridge in a $100k system is definitely not going to be the best value but $5k one can be.

Not quite. If a curve is traced where sound quality is on the X axis and cost is on the Y axis, there exists a theoretical infinite set of sweet spots ocurring at any point on the curve. By stipulating the budget of $500, the OP is looking for the best SQ/cartridge at that point on the curve. 

Just responding the the title. The sweetspot is determined mostly by your financial situation. 

richardbrand

"Just a word of caution - there were several series of Shure V15 made, and they do not necessarily share compatible stylii."

correct, Jico makes that clear in writing:

"There is NO interchangeability between VN5MR and VN5xMR. Please confirm your cartridge / stylus number and select suitable stylus."

they list which body the new Jico VN5MR stylus I posted (for the used V15V body I linked) fits:

"

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btw, another advantage made possible by SAS on lighter/stiffer cantilevers is LIGHTER TRACKING, these track avg. 1.25g,

the AT33PTG/II Microline tapered boron rod tracks avg. 2.0g. Larger contact area combined with lighter tracking: This is the major reason these advanced stylus have longer life, and of course less wear on the grooves.

V15Vx used body, $158 usd;

Jico new VN5xMR, $282 usd

$440. total

exactly what I did to mine. shure orig tracked at 1,0g, I use 1.25g with this combo

Soundsmith makes excellent cartridges. If you can find a low hours used one it’s well worth the purchase. They also offer a very generous rebuild policy.

Recent splurge, like a Cicada, I’ve got to go dormant for a long while now.

I made an offer, seller agreed to $338 for NOS unopened V15V-P which is P Mount version of V15Vmr (can be used as P or via 1/2" adapter) (same as V15Vmr except no brush)

New Unused Beryllium MicroWall Tube Cantilever with MicroRidge Stylus

If I live long enough to wear it out, or whoever inherits it can put a Jico Boron SAS in it.

used UA-7082 arm in transit; two used AT160ml Berylliums with two azimuth adjustable headshells;1 set of 4 AT616 TT Feet (arrived last evening, very nice, bigger than I realized); lastly this new V15V-P OEM Beryllium Tube.

found this:

"Post by dlaloum » 18 Jun 2012 00:36

If you have an intact V15Vp stylus there is nothing available today to match it...

Look after that stylus - the beryllium tube cantilever achieves an effective tip mass of around 0.17mg.

The nearest available current stylus is the Jico SAS which works out at around 0.3mg effective tip mass. - Still very good but not nearly as good as the original

The V15VP and V15VMR are electrically completely identical (I have both) - also the Jico SAS VN5MR stylus fits both, and works well on both."

Have you considered a Hana EL low output mc cart? The first generation ones can be had for around $475.00 which is within your range or the newer mark 2 version for $600.00 or so I believe. I have the Hana EL and it’s a very good cart for the money even though it has an aluminum cantilever which you said you weren’t fond of. I like boron cantilevers also but I don’t think you would notice on the Hana if you didn’t know. But the sound is rich, good timbre and detailed in the bass through the highs. Midrange is sweet, at least I find it so and it tracks well on my SME 309 arm. Just a thought if your looking for a good reliable cart for not to much money.