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Help me choose a mono cartridge

Hi all.

I just got myself a Black Friday gift. The Beatles in mono box set at a very affordable price on Amazon.

I do not have a mono cartridge but would like to get one to take the full sonic advantage of this box set. I do not have very many mono records. Approx. 50 out of a collection of 2000 lp's.
Which mono cartridge would you recommend in the $500.00-$800.00 range new or used.

My analog front end consist of:

Sota Cosmos IV with Graham Phantom II
Stereo cartridges are Ortofon A90 and Dynavector XV1's
Audio Research REF3 LE with GNSC reference mods
Audio Research REF 2 Phono (not SE version) with GNSC reference mods

Any recommendation much appreciated.
Thank You.

smoffatt

Showing 3 responses by lewm

lewm
13,404 posts
 
Rshak, I was interested to read that you contemplate replacing a Helikon Mono with a 2M Mono SE Ortofon.  Would you care to amplify on the rationale for that?  I ask only because the Helikon Mono is much more expensive and has been highly praised. 
lewm
13,404 posts
 
I agree that all those are issues associated with choosing a mono cartridge or even just choosing to buy one at all.
lewm
13,404 posts
 
Smoffat, Please do report your results here.  Specifically, how does the Quintet mono cartridge compare to using just the mono switch?  And do you perceive an additive or synergistic effect for the better, if you use both?  Those observations would be very helpful.  From my reading and searching, I was unable to verify that the Quintet mono has been built such that it does not produce a signal in response to vertical modulation of the stylus, but neither can I say that it was not.
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