If you are stretching for a 2M Black what about a SoundSmith Carmen? A little more than the Black, but only $200 for the rebuild. I think you may be able to order it as high output. The Otello may be a medium output cartridge.
New cartridge
Looking into upgrading my phono cartridge. Sumiko blue point #2. I have a pro-ject 2 Xperience turntable with a pro-ject phono Box ES phono amp. Emotiva XMC pre amp with a parasound 2125 v2 power amp and AV123 Strata Mini speakers with a SVS SB 300 sub.
looking at the Nagaoka MP-200, sumiko blue point#3, also might be able to get a slightly used soundsmith Otello from a friend.
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My BP#2 is 15 years old time or a change. A friend let me borrow his Soundsmith Otello. Really liked how it sounded, but again the gain forced me to turn the volume up more than I’m comfortable with. Thought about the Denon, don’t know if my phono amp would have enough gain. i could stretch for the 2M black. Also thinking of the Nagaoka MP-200 or 300 as well as the A-T VM740ML.
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My vote would be for the Soundsmith cartridge, only because I have a cartridge that was "upgraded" by Soundsmith and the improvements were night and day - it really sounds amazing. Here’s a clip from a review on Analogue Seduction
https://www.analogueseduction.net/cartridges2/soundsmith-otello-high-output-phono-cartridge.html Good luck with your quest - Steve |