Warm sounding phono cartridge


Hello all.  I recently upgraded the phono cartridge on my Marantz TT15S1 from the Clearaudio cartridge that came with the table to a Hana Umami Blue.  I'm overall happy with the purchase.  However, while the Hana has made my well cared for and well recorded LP's sound excellent many of my albums now sound thin to me and noisy. Clicks and pops have been exacerbated to the point that I do not want to play some records even after a run through my Degritter ultrasonic.

I'm looking for a phono cartridge MM, MC or MI in the $1,000 range or less that is warm sounding and less revealing than the Hana.  Any thoughts?  

rfauto

I have 31,300 LPs of all ages.  I used Dynavector cartridges most of my life.  I went from a worn out Benz Ruby III to a "lowly" $1100 Dynavector 20X2 Low.  Well, maybe it's not the bee's knees but it makes both my mono and stereo records sound fabulous into my EAR 864, 912 and now using a 324.  I also used an Allesso SUT with another custom pre-amp.  When adjusted for impedance and gain, they all sounded outstanding.  Noise was a concern with worn or poor quality vinyl but did not overwhelm the music 95% of the time.  My great vinyl LPs, including nearly all my mint Japanese pressings sound as if they were quiet as a digital source.  My analog front end isn't SOTA with a VPI VI/Brooks Berdan highly modified SME IV and GroverHuffman phono cabling into an EAR 324.  The resultant sound and low /oor no noise into a near SOTA rest of the system is fabulous.  I was looking into the Sweet Vinyl products and they probably do the job of removing ticks and pops but I'm finding that a really flat frequency response in a cartridge is a big benefit.  I do not like rising high end Ortofons or the typical older Lyra cartridges I've heard.  I prefer a Koetsu to those brands.  If you want a really great cartridge for a big collection with noisier LPs, go with a Dynavector 20.  Please note that I clean records using just distilled water in a Kirmuss ultrasonic cleaner and dried with a 43 yyear old upgraded VPI 16.5 vacuum record cleaner.  No harm done except when an LP has imbedded dirt removed from a defect/wear and exposes it.  It happens occasionally with well used LPs but it also reveals more musical/sonic information.  

I have about 3000 LPs, but I don’t really know exactly. For you to be able to quote a number like 31300, which suggests you actually count them is impressive. The vast majority of my LPs have no or very tolerable surface noise. If not, and if cleaning doesn’t help (VPI HW17), out they go. I’ve never felt the need for the Sweet thing.

@lewn Do you have many 1950s and 1960s pressings?  I know audiophiles who have less than 100 LPs and SOTA audio systems, all repressings or mint original hot stampers.  I began collecting/listening when I was 3.  I had 3,000 LPs by 18.  I have inherited two collections of 3,000 and 1,000 LPs and purchased collections of 400 to 1,100 LPs for 50¢ to $3.50 each.  I counted the records when moving them four times (used 13X13X13 moving boxes).  I am an active listener (nightly 2 hours minimum) and still have at least 10,000 LPs to cull as duplicates and uninterested in hearing again.  I've disposed of 18,000 LPs and 78s in the past so I do get rid of records I don't intend to listen to again 3X annually (my own rule).  I'm 69 and had ample opportunities to buy LPs new or in the 1980s as distributors dumped them to wholesalers.  I bought about 100 direct discs that way for $1 each.