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 go4vinyl

IMO the Denon carts are silly good for the price...I've had DL-110 and DL-160, both good enough carts...then the very low output DL-304 (0.18mV) - that one blew me away with it's musicality and 'live in the room' feel...

I have had Ortofon OM5 - great for the price as well, but of course FAR behind above carts...

Rega Bias was another great performer - as good as DL-110 and DL-160 but different...

Now I am a very content Shelter 7000 owner - I can stop looking for carts, it sure is good enough for me! It delivers the kind of sound that leaves me breathless (you know what I mean)...it sounded fab from start - I knew right away this was what I was looking for - but upped another notch after approx 200 hours...

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHO'S THE BEST AT REBUILDING A CART LIKE THIS (I live in the USA)? SOUNDSMITH?

WHAT'S YOUR EXPERIENCE OF REBUILDS?

Fortunately this is another 1000 hours or so away, still...