Opinion on Turntables- MM and MC cartridges

Upon seeing a lot of reviews on Turntables (TT), and MM and MC cartridges, I decided to try out a few turntables and cartridges for myself to see which I like better. And I would like to pass on my opinion.

I got back into Vinyl about a year ago. In the 1980�s I resisted CD for a long time mainly because they were too expensive, but finally made the plunge and never looked back. A few years ago a friend of mine keep telling me about his vinyl collection and how Vinyl sounded better than CD; but I had forgotten the sound of vinyl records a long time ago.
Last year I started to read about vinyl and turntables in various magazines, so I got curious and started to look for a turntable. I went to a stereo dealer and he had turntables from $900 to $30,000.00 I almost drop, I thought he was crazy. I remember when I could pick up a Technic TT for about $150 in the 80�s. So I went online and start to search and I saw units between $350 to $1000 that I was interested in. I decided on a Music Hall MMF 5 that came with cartridge. I continued to read reviews on TT and decided to try out the Marantz TT, I then got a VPI Scout to see if I could hear what the reviewers were raving about. I listened to all three for several months, then decided to keep the VPI. I like the bass it produce, and the way it looked. The Music Hall was my second choice, but I did not like the Marantz because of its motor; it squeaked when I turn on the TT. I later found out that it was a normal thing for that TT to do.

Next came cartridges. I read about Dyanvector DX20L/H, Ortofone 2M series, Goldring, and many others and decided to hear a few for myself to see if I could hear what the �experts� were saying when they did their reviews. I got the DX20H moving coil, Ortofon 2M Black, and Goldring 1042. I listened to all three for a while and decided that I like the front stage, and the punchy bass of the Ortofon. It also sounded louder than the DX20H. The Goldring is very similar to the Ortofon, but I did not like how it looked on my VPI Scout. The DX20H have a nice silky sound, good front stage, and bass but not as aggressive as the Ortofon. If were listening to classical music I would definitely stick with the DX20H. But I could not hear most of the things described by reviewers for these cartridges. One reviewer said this about the 2M Black: He could tell the position of the musicians that were playing, but he was a bit disappointed that he could not hear the music bouncing off the walls. What is he talking about? I don�t think I have bad hearing because I just went to the Audiologist to get fitted for an ear piece to use with my Etymotic EP4 head phone to use with my iPhone. So far I really like the Ortofon 2M Black and I am glad that I tried out a few cartridges for my self, and not just take the reviewers word. What I am saying, is that we all should do that sometimes. I rather take advice and make a purchase based upon real users like you, here on the Audiogon; than depending solely on reviews from magazines. I am not saying that reviewers give us bad information, but I think they go over board to fill up the space for their article. Even so, I do read them to get a laugh sometimes. Have any one actually compared these units that I have mentioned above? I would like to hear what you think.