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Cartridges - what have you owned and your opinion

Saw this on audiocircle and thought it may be fun to list some cartridges that you have owned and lived with and your opinion of them.
These are not reviews, just your observations of how they sound in your system.

Dynavector XV-1 - owned this since the turn of the century and my favorite cartridge of all time. Mainly due to its ability to sound natural and un hifi sounding. Slightly loose in the bass, and naturally detailed in the higher frequencies with nice dynamics.
- I load at between 100 and 250ohms and track at 2.05 grams. Currently getting rebuilt for the 3rd time.

Lyra Helikon - very detailed cartridge which tended to float from note to note, but ultimately a little too leading edge for my tastes so sold it a few years back.

Audio Technica OC9-II - closer sounding to the Helikon than the cheaper price should allow. The OC9 has terrific transparency and detail, but also smooth. Somewhat lean bass and incredible bargin for the price. Ultimately connects with my head more than my heart.
I load at 25 or 50ohms and track at 1.75 gms.

Denon 103R - another great cartridge, which in direct comparison to the OC9 sounds a little grey and grainy especially in the higher frequencies. But and a big but, it connects with the heart and has a very nice ripe bass with lovely mid range. lower treble can be a little etched. Overall a great little cartridge that is very musical and to the heart

Benz Ruby 2 - don't really have anything positive to say about this cartridge - grey, grainy, undynamic and unmusical.

Koetsu Rosewood - lovely musical sounding cartridge. Not as transparent as some cartridges, but has a nice robust sound which is quite pleasing to some mediocre recordings. Tracks adequate, but not as well as my other cartridges. Another cartridge which plays to the heart.
- Hates being loaded into a high primary transformer load of say my EAR 834 - 40 ohms. Impedance loading sounds nice around 100ohms.
downunder

Showing 1 response by bhoage

bhoage
112 posts
 
Lets see, I haven't used anywhere near as many carts as most of you but I've had a Rega Exact which I used briefly until I picked up a phono stage capable of handling LOMC's.

I then got a good price on a Dynavector Karat 17D2 MKII. I liked it but it was a little bright on my Scout/Scoutmaster but there were other factors at play there I think, different cables, speakers etc than my current system. I did like it but I suppose I didn't love it.

I then got, (and still have), an Ortofon Jubilee. I like but as Downunder said, it's better with a step up than an active gain phono stage. It seems to have more emotion with the transformer than without, although it could be just that my current phono stage is better than it's predecesssor.

Finally I'm now using a Dyan XV-1s. I love it. Quiet, dynamic, not lean but not overblown. Lets the emotion of the recording through. A great cart and when I wear it out I'll be getting it rebuilt or replaced with another.
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