Need a new cartridge recommendation for clearudio concept black.

for a MM-only phono preamp I prefer the Hana EH over the Ortofon 2M Bronze.  Both are at the same price point.

The Sumiko Moonstone has been a great cart for me.  Easy to set up, smooth and engaging sound, and replaceable stylus when the time comes.

These are great.  Thanks.  I think the clearaudio phono preamp switches easily between MM and MC.  Would you all suggest MC in that case?

Have you talked with your dealer? ClearAudio sometimes ? offers trade in allowances for upgrading their cartridges. Also, consider sending it to Sound Smith for repair. Well worth two phone calls to hear what they have to say.. . 

All the cartridges here are usual suspects, available in every online shop, all of them have been mentioned in every post here with the same question. I have no idea why people need any of them, this is what dealers will offer to you everywhere by default, all those new Grado, Ortofon, Hanna, SoundSmith .... you name it.

For $400 you can’t buy anything special if you’re looking for NEW with retail price under $400 in the shops.

What you can do is to buy a vintage MM or MC cartridge and spend your money on something superior (much better value). If you’re looking for MM or MI then most top of the line cartridges from the 80’s are much better than anything new at the same price today. You can have better cantilever (like Beryllium ...which is not available in any modern design), better diamond profile (like Stereohedron or MicroRidge...) and the cartridge still can be NOS (New Old Stock, unused).

You can’t buy ANY new cartridge for this price with advanced cantilevers/diamonds under $400. What you can get is overpriced cartridges with huge distributors margin included in the price, but the sound quality of those cartridges are average and most of them considering entry level today by the media. The choise is better if the budget is more like $600-1000, but anyway i think most of the spectacular vintage MM/MI or even MC cartridges on the used market are superior. Especially if the price is something like $400-800. I’ve been buyin them for years and always happy about the result.

Let me mention a few killers you can find (hopefully):

Audio-Technica AT-ML150 OCC with Berrylium/MicroLine
or AT-ML170 OFC with Boron/MicroLine
Grace F9F, F9U, F9E or F9L
Victor X-1IIe (Titanium Pipe cantilever) or X-1IID with Beryllium/Shibata
Ortofon M20FL Super (FineLine diamond)
Garrott P-77
ADC TRX-2 Sapphire
Stanton 881s mkII or Pickering XSV-3000 with Nude Stereohedron

You can’t go wrong with any of them! Take in count mid or high compliance (depends on the model) for your arm.

And the list of MC can be that big too

P.S. Clearaudio got the MM generators for their overpriced cartridges from Audio-Technica (Japan)