Good cartridge for playing rock

On your table, I'm not sure. On a Rega, a Rega cart plays rock well.

try the Sumiko Blue Point, Blackbird, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood. That's a nice list to start.

Dynavector Karat 17D3

Shelter.

Not the last word in sophistication or finesse but lots of power and drive.

No idea why they continue to use elliptical stylii.

I've got a similar set-up. What is your budget? I'd say for a budget unit, shure 97 (GRIMACE where are you?). Stepping up, I'd say Goldring 1042gx. Clearaudio doesn't have the "bite" that a rocker is looking for. Personally, I'm not a Bluepoint fan, especially for the money.

I was looking at a Dynavector DV-20X, Shelter 501, Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood or maybe a Sumiko Blackbird

Alan4545,

Looks like you are already on the right track, not too expensive, and high quality. I currently have a Blackbird and love it.

Actually, you may want to listen to Thomasheisig, if you look at his rig, he has probably forgotten more about cartridges than most of us will ever know.

Go with the experts.

Sorry Elevick, I can't answer this one. I can honestly say I've never listened to a rock and roll album on my table. Well, Us3, but I think of that as 3/4 jazz anyway.

But for what its worth, I have a Star Saphire with a AQ PT6, which I believe is similar to the Sumiko arm (both rebadged Jelco arms?). I'm using an Audioquest OC-9 cartridge wich I like, but it might be too smooth for R&R.

I recommend the Shure M97xE (at 47 k resistive loading). That cartridge handles particularly 'hot cut' rock albums very well. Regards, Fap.

I agree with Fap. Handles jazz very well also.

Grimace and Fap are on the mark. I have several shures including the Ultra 500. Rock is what it loves, does jazz well too. Tracks extremely well and with rock that is very important. Very solid dynamics.

I had a Shure V15VxMR and it sounded muddy this setup. I am not sure if the other Shures would sound the same.

If it sounded muddy, did you have the VTF too heavy? I had a Shure M97xe just prior to the AT and found it be somewhat sensitive to variations in tracking force. It gets poo-pooed here a lot as not being hi-fi enough, but I found it to be very pleasurable to listen too. I could see it being a good choice for pop/rock records.

But then if you were using a v-15 before an m97 would be a step down I suppose.

Why not try a Dynavector 10X5?? That cartridge rocks pretty dang swell to me...and it would be a bit cheeper than a DV-20X.

Nagaoka JT-555 - crazy, biting fire guitars, loves dense music.
Micro Acoustic 630/830. Very fast cartridge, scary dynamics.
Audio Technica AT155LC - no need to care or listen - music just flows into you.
Audio Technica AT20SS - to add body and wet dry and tipped recordings. Has soul.

I believe I set it for 1.75G. I moved it to another turntable I had and it worked fine at the same VTF.

Do you know the recommended VTF for the V15? I think the M97 was 1.35g on the low end, but again, I may be comparing apples to oranges, never having used a V15 myself. In fact, I think I might be only person on here who hasn't used one at some point.

It looks like it is 1.5g, but I had use up to 2.0g with no problem on another turntable.

Anyone know the correct VTF for a V15?

http://www.cartridgedb.com/docs/shure_v15vxmr.pdf

If you are using the stabilizer set to 1.5-1.75g if not set to 1.0-1.25g

Would the Denon 103R or the Audio Technica 150MLX be a good choice?