How are you playing your precious MONO Vinyl?

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?

this 16 minute video popped up,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb5VfiFy0kY

It says emphatically: ALL Octane Levels have the same energy level, the power difference is about whether you get good detonation or not (which includes clean fuel injectors).

At minute 16, this video makes a distinction between premium ’REQUIRED’  and premium ’RECOMMENDED’. I had a 1994 Jag XJS (that’s what he shows) it had the straight 6, not the masochist’s V12 that his example must be.

He says twice ’you can use regular in a vehicle that says recommended’.

I say: two cautions: if you sense knocking, irregular detonation, that would mean you tried, your computer, anti-knock is not handling it smoothly and go back to higher octane. 

additives, carbon deposits, clean fuel injectors is a separate issue, he shows dirty parts, injectors .... Watch your mpg, if it drops, you must/might be getting poor detonation must/might have dirty fuel injectors ...

Like most audio items, I would never buy a new .... BMW, the late 2014 model year 2015 sticker was $121K, I got it late 2024 for $33k (with 33k miles). Bought a 6 year warranty, used it 3 times already: window regulator; oxygen sensors; blind alley camera, there's a lot ot tech on the beast. 

All my vehicles: I put the recommended for several months, then try regular, ok, every once in a while run a tank of Premium, back to regular if I cannot feel/hear tell any difference, and drive hard up a hill frequently to verify you are getting good detonation, IOW make sure you are not unaware of poor detonation. The Volvo C70, just regular for 7 years.