MC Cartridge Ideas
For high resolution modern soundThe Phonostage is Parasound JC3 and The Tonearm is Opera Consonance T1288 http://www.opera-consonance.com/products/tonearm/T988_T1288.htm |
My present go-to recommendation for cartridge questions, is to call Soundsmith with your system info and budget, and listen very carefully. You will get a quality US made product with a reasonable stylusI will ask Soundsmoth, but would prefer something Japanese.replacement cost and spectacular imaging. |
I recently acquired a Lyra Kleos and it checks all your boxes. I'm blown away by it. American designed...Japanese built. Squarely within your budget.What did you upgrade from? Also what other cartridges were you researching at the time. Ok have been offered the Kleos SL for a good price from a dealer but haven’t decided. Also being offered the Dynavector Kiatora. |
I will ask Soundsmoth, but would prefer something Japanese. Well then, I am truly happy with my Koetsu Black Goldline. The sound in my current system is to die for. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Right in your budget range. Maybe even well below it if you do like me and find someone with a killer deal. Then if you trick it out with fo.Q tape, TC, PHT and ECT like in the pics, man you will for sure think you died and went to heaven. To be more technically precise about it, there are no cartridges available new or used that will touch a Koetsu Black Goldline tricked out with all the above tweaks. None. En oh en eee. You could pay full retail for the Koetsu, plus the other stuff, you would be right at about $3200. Probably nothing under $10k in that league. Take it to the bank. Sign it. Cash it. Spend the money. |
Looking at your Opera Tonearm i think you can use a wide range of cartridges, but please make sure about effective mass of the tonearm, as i can see you can even swap the arm tube (longer is for lower compliance cartridges). There is a Dynavector KARAT on the image from tonearm manufacturer, this model with very short diamond cantilever must be excellent! I have DV KARAT-17D2 mkII , even previous model was great, i also tried 23RS Ruby and was very impressed. They are not very expensive. Maybe you can ask tonearm manufacturer why he decided to use Dynavector for advertising his tonearm online. |
Looking at your Opera Tonearm i think youcan use a wide range of cartridges, but please make sure about effective mass of the tonearm, as i can see you can even swap the arm tube (longer is for lower compliance cartridges). There is a Dynavector KARAT on the image from tonearm manufacturer, this model with very short diamond cantilever must be excellent! I have DV KARAT-17D2 mkII , even previous model was great, i also tried 23RS Ruby and was very impressed. They are not very expensive. Maybe you can ask tonearm manufacturer why he decided to use Dynavector for advertising his tonearm online. I actually bought the turntable with the 17D3 Karat, but the cantilever broke a few years back. It was an awesome combo and then I got the xx2 which improved on the bass. Time to get a new cartridge. |
@Kunalraiker The Koetsu RSP is absolutely beautiful in its presentation but its strength is in the midrange. It provides more of a musical immersion than a digital like reproduction. The Purpleheart is one of the most emotionally engaging cartridges I have owned. Again not as crystalline a musical producer as the Windfeld Ti, but I have found myself so enthralled with some pieces I have ended quite a few album sides almost holding my breath as the music’s emotions peaked. Each has a roll to play in my system. Both of these are twice as difficult to mount and optimize their set up due to stylus location compared to the Ortofon IMO. |
I actually bought the turntable with the 17D3 Karat, but the cantilever broke a few years back. It was an awesome combo and then I got the xx2 which improved on the bass. Time to get a new cartridge. I see, new cartridge is always good idea. Compliance for KARAT series is 15cu but most likely measured at 100Hz like all Japanese carts? If it was measured at 100Hz then when we convert it to 10Hz is will be about 27cu. For example Koetsu Black compliance is 5cu @ 100Hz (about 8.5 @ 10Hz) and this is very low, another heavier arm tube must be used for such low compliance cartridges. Here is more about tonearm/cartridge resonance |
“My present go-to recommendation for cartridge questions, is to call Soundsmith with your system info and budget, and listen very carefully. You will get a quality US made product with a reasonable stylus replacement cost and spectacular imaging.” Highly suggest this recommendation. Some really good suggestions such as Benz, but higher end Benz models unobtainium so to speak. What you want is a cartridge with a wide frequency response and if you want a digital equivalency I would suggest mid output or high output which due to their higher output allows you to use a wider range of phono amps. |
My present go-to recommendation for cartridge questions, is to call Soundsmith with your system info and budget, and listen very carefully. You will get a quality US made product with a reasonable stylus replacement cost and spectacular imaging. @oldears Peter at SoundSmith is recommending to avoid any MC cartridges in his lectures, none of his own cartridges are MC. His cartridges are Moving Iron, but the OP is asking for LOMC SS carts are definitely the best in terms of service, this is great, but they are not the best cartridges in the world. I will ask Soundsmoth, but would prefer something Japanese. That’s right, Japanese is the way to go. Before you will ask Peter at SoundSmith please watch his lecture. Most likely Peter’s the answer will be SoundSmith cartridge as he’s not a consultant in choosing cartridges from some other manufacturers for anyone. |
I would try a Current injection phono stage . I am very impressed by the 47Labs Phono Cube current injection type phono stage with my FR-7fz cartridge. Which one do you have ? |
I have the BMC MCCI phono stage https://www.stereophile.com/content/bmc-phono-mcci-phono-preamplifier |
Dear @kunalraiker : These could be very good oprtions for what you are looking for: https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa0380-ortofon-winfeld-ti-mc-new-cartridges https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis99edf-ortofon-anna-mc-as-new-cartridges Btw, you can wait a little time to appears the Dyna XV-1s that second hand is in your price range and I'm with the Kleos too. Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS, R. |
As previously mentioned phasemation might be a good idea, however *if* your arm can really swing a 20g low compliance cart pm me ;)I only use Audiophile pressings, I cannot use a 20 gram cartridge, the highest I can use is 15 grams. |
