What cartridges would best sound an Ekos arm?

Hey Raul,

You say "There are some vintage MM/MI cartridges that for " penauts " are a challenge even for the A-90"

Are you serious? Really? What... ?

Yes, the A90 is "something". Something that I've never heard before in a cartridge. It's out there on it's own, in my experience. It is amazing.

Without a doubt a Expert stylus re-tipped Troika. It's a perfect combination - and I've tried many over many years. Nothing sounds as good.

No Rauliruegas I've not heard it with that one, but I have heard it with the following:

Linn Karma, Linn Klyde, Linn Arkiv, Dynavector 17d2, Audio Technica OC9, Shelter 901, Shelter 901Mk2, Shelter 90x, Zyx Atmos, plus some others over the years that I can't remember now.

I agree Rauliruegas, it's a superb arm, one of the greats.

You like rock Marcussantiago? With a Troika the Ekos sounds superb. I'm talking of 20 years of experience with an Ekos (and I have other arms including an SME V, Origin Live Conqueror and Ortofon 309-d). The others can sound "better" (whatever that really means) with different cartridges, but the combination of an Ekos and a Troika is magical as an all-round package. Probably why good ones still fetch high prices on e-bay ... I'm not the only one who's noticed!

My current "reference" is the Ortofon 309-d with an A90. But I still love the sound of the Ekos and Troika, it's the second arm on my turntable and takes the place of all the others I've mentioned above.

Good luck!

Point taken Theo, but I was talking about an Expert Stylus re-tipped Troika, which is a major improvement on the original. Major.

Anyway, interesting posts. Ekos + Troika (ES re-tip) is top banana. 20 years later - see my first post - I'm not saying it's the "best" arm/cartridge combination ever, I'm only talking about the Ekos as that's what this thread started as - However I keep coming back to this combination as my second arm, it's really special, especially for rock and has a amazing "thrill" factor.

What phono stage are you using Raul?

Good reply Misskuma, but in my experience a phono stage is the most important - assuming a decent high-end turntable (oh, endless discussions/battles maybe to come..!) is in place.

I'm assuming Raul has a good turntable Misskuma.

The phono stage is king to hear what's going on with a cartridge, if you already have at least a pretty damn good turntable and arm.

Raul - I'm assuming you do?