First Moving Coil (MC) Cartridge Acquisition


I have been listening to MM carts my whole life. I am interested in dipping my toes into the MC stream to see what sonic improvements can be had. I am looking for recommendations in the $1K range. Currently, I am running an Ortofon 2M Black and Shure JICO MM. Turntable is a Merrill Super 12 Polytable, Jelco 750 tonearm, into a Herron VTPH-2A phono stage and Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum 2 integrated.

I would appreciate any recommendations. I am entertaining Hana MC carts or something with .5mV or higher as I don’t want to get a SUT. Please provide any feedback on the Hana that A’goners have employed.
arturos73

Showing 1 response by paulleellama

I decided to purchase a used Denon DL110 MC cartridge that had a bent cantilever for practically nothing.  The cartridge was still able to be used because it was bent right at the diamond which was a nice relief that it could be re-tipped.  I heard and read so many great things through the years about the sound and the frequency range it covered.  I recently had it re-tipped by Sound-smith with a ruby cantilever and nude fine contact line diamond. I have to say it sounds amazing on just about any condition record I throw at it.  I have owned Ortofon 2m bronze, black, blue, red, Shure V15 type IV with original stylus, Audio Technica 216EP, MicroAcoustics 530 MP, Denon 301MKII, Pickering XV-15 625e, & Sumiko EVO BPS III, blue point no. 2.  In the end, I have to stress synergy is paramount. I have a tone arm that uses a angular contact bearing for vertical support and a radial bearing for horizontal support (static-balanced type, S-shaped pipe) with a total mass of 22g with 6g cartridge and the Denon line seems to work extremely well compliantly speaking. The before and after sound was just astounding. I also want to explore the Sound-smith line too because I am very curious about the MI tech and its benefits.  What I have been able to surmount is that the best way to judge a cart purely on paper is the channel separation spec. Higher than 30db is extremely good.