I have had my van Den Hul MC One Special for 14 years - first one for 9 until the stylus completely disintegrated and I had the opportunity (probably because of Covid) to replace it instead of sending it to the Netherlands for maintenance for not that much more $$, so I jumped on it. The reason I am considering it is because I significantly increased my listening time because of Covid and continue to do so with great enjoyment.
In the past 5 years I am sure I have put at least 3000 hours on it (maybe 3500-4000) and I don't want to wait for an emergency and be without a cartridge possibly, even for a few days. so I think I am going to proactively replace it since the only other cartridge I have is far inferior.
I am considering changing to a different cartridge (including a VDH Frog if I can get a good deal) even though I am very happy with the sound, but after 14 years, it might be nice to try something new. I was wondering what other P8 (or P10 or Naia) owners are using, especially if they have had a few different cartridges to compare and how they like them, especially if they have tried a perfectly compatible Rega cartridge which I have heard are inferior and overpriced.
If others want to contribute you are welcome to, but I am not interested in changing my phono stage-Sutherland Insight with LPS, integrated amp-Plinius 8200MkII or KEF R500 speakers. As has been the case for the past 40 + years, the front end of my system is the best part of my system (because that is the most important IMO since the original signal starts out the best and can't be improved no matter how much you spend down the line).
The key factors for me are:
1) Of course sound quality - clean, detailed, with good range and dynamic with tight bass
2) compatibility with my phono stage - most likely a medium output MC, say .4-.7 uV so the Sutherland can handle it within its nice range of impedence and gain (100-47K ohms, 40-60 dB of gain, each with 3 steps between the min and maxes)
2) light weight to match well with the Rega RB880 arm - I am not interested in any tweaks to have to add weight to the arm or headshell to accommodate admittedly unlimited choices, although if I have to use a spacer for the non VTA arm, that's OK
3) good value with a long lasting stylus (the VDH is superb in that regard)
I can probably get something for trading in my cartridge and whoever buys it can send it in for a new stylus and basically have a new cartridge.
Thanks for your opinions/recommendations.
