thoughts on the Madrigal Carnegie One

Just to confuse you, the Blue Point is the most disappointing of any cartridge I ever owned, in terms of its actual performance vs its reputation at the time I bought it, which was that it was a "giant killer". OTOH, the Madrigal still has an avid following among vinylphiles. I would however agree with the others that age of the Madrigal may be a problem. See if you can audition it prior to purchase, as Audiolui also suggests. If you do, give it a chance to loosen up before you judge it. For example, play a test LP or two prior to listening. Also keep in mind that if your budget eventually permits, the Madrigal can be re-tipped. If the Madrigal is in good shape it should blow away the BP, IMO.

Frogman and I are in complete agreement. It also comes to mind that there are a number of other cartridges in the under $500 category that I would prefer over the BP, including any single one of the best vintage NOS MM/MI cartridges that have been under discussion in the "other" thread. If you are afraid of "vintage", think about the Garrott P77i or the better Nagaoka cartridges that are available as new manufactured items. But to stick to the question at hand, Madrigal is the answer.