How are you playing your precious MONO Vinyl?

I only said “high mileage “. Was thinking >100,000 miles. Of course different engines react differently. I would not follow Elliot’s advice with a new or near new car. Plus, I’m not a BMW guy. 

For primarily listening to jazz my ears tell me that irrespective of manufacturer MC cartridges tend to be smooth, MM and MI cartridges tend toward more edgy.  The last cartridge I would choose to listen to jazz, maybe excepting a classic 1950 Ellington record, would be my Myajima.  

Bill, my experience is entire different from yours. Most MC cartridges do not accurately reproduce piano in either of my systems. My Koetsu Urushi and Ortofon M2000 being notable exceptions. The others are inferior to my best MMs and MIs in reproducing the attack of a piano note. And otherwise the latter are generally more”musical”.

So what octane fuel should I use in my Lincoln Continental?  It has the 400 HP 3.0 liter V6.  From Elliott's info it sounds like 93 octane might offer a marginal performance boost, but I don't drive it hard.  Since Lincoln went out of the car business and I don't like SUVs, I am more concerned with longevity.

Actually it sounds like our experience is quite similar.  It is the limitation imposed by the English language that is impeding communication here.  I used the adjective smooth to characterize MC sound.  You more precisely use the example of a piano and attack, or lack of same, as a limitation of MC sound.  It seems clear to me that our observations are converging.  My preferred stereo cartridge is an Experion, a MI.  We both listen to a lot of jazz.  My guess is that our favorite piano is not a Steinway, at least for jazz.  Something a with a little more edge to it serves jazz better.  A good Baldwin perhaps, or one of my favorite sounds from the past, a Mason & Hamlin?