thoughts on the Madrigal Carnegie One

Thanks Audiolui and Mepearson for the input. Although it seems obvious now, I hadn't really considered the actual age of the Madrigal regardless of how many hours it had on it. The dealer will mount either cartridge for me so I can probably run the Madrigal through a few tests before taking it home.

Lewm, you hit the nail right on the head in terms of why I even considered the Madrigal in the first place. At this price point it should be much better than anything new. The real kicker is its not a matter of budget but how much I can spend without alerting my wife :)

Mosin, Mepearson, Frogman, Lewm, and Breuninger,

Thanks to all for your feedback. It was very informative... and entertaining (Mepearson, I should have dropped the balls from my screen name a long time ago!)

I will have the madrigal mounted, make sure it isn't riding low, and then have listen. If it doesn't work out I'll probably make due with the goldring for a month or so in order to squirrel away some more cash and look for something in the $750 to $1000 range.

I should have the new table by the weekend and will post back on the results.

Thanks again
sballs

Thanks again for everyone's advice. I did eventually pick up the Carnegie One. Although I've only had it mounted for a week, so far I'm very pleased. The system is finally giving me the sound from vinyl I had hoped for but not quite reached with the mmf5 goldring combo. In fact I've liked what I've heard so much I just keep listenting to the same four albums over and over (J.Cash American 4 and 6, Dire Straits Dire Straits, and Jeff Buckley Grace).

My integrated amp's phono section has had no issue handling the low output. Although the cartridge rides slightly low to the groove, it's no worse that the goldring I had been using.

I guess now I had better start hiding away some more cash for the next time I need a cartridge so that I can get something new but with comparable performance.

Thanks
SB