Duvallite, allow me to add my two cents. I, too got back into vinyl after a few years away. I also had a Denon avr unit and i use Monitor Audio silvers ( s1 in my small room, s5i in my larger room). I have tried a number of carts from grado, audio technica, and nagaoka. When i finally upgraded to a seperate phono preamp and a decent Mc cartridge, i finally began to hear more of what a good analog playback system can provide. Today, my main system employs a Denon Dl304 cart into a simaudio moon lp3 preamp. If it were me, I would go for a Denon 301 cart or the audio technica oc9 on sale, and a cambridge audio preamp. both could be had for around $500, and you would have an excellent analog front end.
Recommend a cartridge for my new TT
I'm finally getting back into vinyl, and I need some recommendations for the best $500 or less cartridge (new or used) to get for a Clearaudio Performance SE TT I'm buying. The table has the Satisfy Carbon Fiber arm. For now, I'll be running the table thru the phono stage (MM)on my Denon AVR-3300 until I see how things sound that way, but maybe get a separate phono stage later if it would make a noticable improvement. Speakers are Monitor Audio Silvers. I tend to listen to older music, all on CD, like Donald Fagen, Boz Scaggs, Tina Turner, Garth Brooks, War, del Amitri, Patsy Cline, Robert Palmer...., well you probably get the idea where my tastes are, though some classical is appealing also.
Any suggestions as to what would work well with this setup?
Any suggestions as to what would work well with this setup?