Inexpensive MM Cartridge

@chakster I made a small typo - I meant a Pioneer PL-512. Nothing special, but still rated as a very good TT. I get the sense that it is on par with modern entry level TT’s. Does anyone think differently? I think replacing the TT and cartridge would cost between $300-$600, most likely used. Worth considering???

@yogiboy and @roberjerman, I had a Grado Black mounted on it and was not too impressed. I noted a hollow sound with poor resolution. No hum at all though. Is there notable improvement up the line?

@petg60 how about a Goldring 1042? Elliot, I will check out the AT offerings.

Other recommendations or votes? Thanks, Peter

@bkeske  A source of concern with the Goldring is the following:

1) The Cartridge is very sensitive to capacitive loading. Some experimentation with it will be necessary to get the best match to your system. I ended up with 51 kOhm resistive Load and 120 pf capacitive load (plus the Tonearm cabling - probably another 50 pf or so).

2) The cartridge is a little more than usual sensitive to VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) adjustments (for a Moving Magnet Cartridge), so experimentation is on order.

For this setup, there is not adjustability to cabling or capacitance in the phono preamp, and the tonearm has no VTA adjustment.  Perhaps there is a cartridge that is less sensitive to these non-adjustable features?

@mwinkc - thanks for your encouragement.  I am hopeful.

@jrpnde - I would agree that there are some advantages to pre-matched cartridges and arms.  Not that I trust the manufacturer's to provide the best sounding cartridge (there is a bottom line to protect, after all) - but I do expect that the cartridge compliance will properly match the arm effective match, and (if there is no VTA adjustment) the cartridge will match the required VTA.  There is no VTA adjustment on my TT, nor did I know the effective mass of the arm to match the compliance (hope I didn't shoot myself in the foot there).  But I think it's also possible that the cartridge I purchase will exceed the stock, and I do know how to set up a cartridge (despite my transgression above).  We shall see....

Thanks everyone for your excellent advice!  This is a thread I will keep aware of.  I ended up getting a really good deal on a demo Nagaoka MP-200 from a trusted dealer, but from the posts above, it may be better than the rest of the system benefit from.  Oh well.  Perhaps there will be another TT that comes into the throw, and we can swap cartridges. I think this thread will help others in a similar situation.

Update: it's pretty much impossible to find effective mass value for the Pioneer PL-512 S-tube tonearm. The  Nagaoka MP-200 seems to be a low compliance cartridge (though I read that Japanese specs for dynamic compliance are taken at 100hz rather than the required 10hz - the whole things is a spaghetti mess!).  I can always use a test record to determine resonance frequencies and if I need to increase the tonearm mass use some blue tack to optimize and then order a heavier headshell to increase the effective mass.

This thread has been very helpful, and should be useful to many others in the future.  For me, it was a toss up between the Nagaoka 200 and the AT740 and perhaps the Goldring. Truth be told, I probably could have gone with lower cost models in the same lines.

@chakster - I just want to point out that the dynamic compliance of the AT740 is 10, whereas the Nagaoka is 7.2 (they do not actually state 100hz, but that's probably a reasonable assumption).  On a scale reaching up to 35, the difference b/t 10 and 7.2 seems small. Yet 10 is still almost 50% higher than 7.2.  Anyhow, if necessary, I'll add mass to the tonearm. If I were really seeking a higher compliance cartridge, perhaps the AT740 wouldn't be enough of a change?  Thoughts?  Here is a scale from Ortofon Support:

Low compliance < 10 cu.
Medium / moderate compliance 10 - 20 cu.
High compliance > 20 - < 35 cu.
Very high compliance > 35 cu.
Note: Dynamic compliance @ 10 Hz.

Thanks everyone. 

Thanks @rauliruegas   I had reported the compliance in the specs (7.2), but the specs didn't reference the frequency, and I didn't know how to convert a 100hz dynamic compliance to a 10hz value (roughly double, I now read).  Looking forward to the  Nagaoka!

Thanks Elliot for your information. Good to know that an elliptical stylus is more forgiving of setup issues. Although I have the tools and knowledge to properly align the cartridge, this turntable (and many other budget tables) does not have VTA adjustment.  I wasn't planning on trying to adjust VTA, so hopefully this flexibility will help.  Thoughts?

@chakster Yes, I do think there is a difference (~40%). 

What I don't know, is what is the effective mass of my S-shaped tonearm on the Pioneer PL-512, which is a from 1978.  Anybody have a clue on this?

BTW chakster - I'd appreciate it if you could remain civil here.  No reason to contaminate a thread with this kind of BS!