Moving Magnet Phono Cartridges

+1 @elliottbnewcombjr on suggesting a Jico and a Shure combination

There is a Stanton 881S sans stylus for a good price on that well known classified site. This might be the sound you are looking for there is really no way to know without actually trying it. The 681 and 981 have a little more of a audiophile curve but the 881 is ruler flat and would be a great match for a DD TT espically in the bass region.

Jico has a good shibata tipped stylus and if the combo does not work out for you I would definitely be interested in purchasing the used stylus from you.

https://memory.loc.gov/master/mbrs/recording_preservation/manuals/Stanton%20Product%20Catalog.pdf

The Stanton specs are listed at the end of this catalog. Cheers

How are you going to achieve Stanton 881S specs without an OEM stylus, which I think was a Stereohedron?

Thank you @lewm good point, a Jico stylus will give the OP the best chance to see if this is the direction he would like to go without actually owning a OEM stylus. There is nobody I know of with the equipment or the propensity to test a Jico replacement stylus for dynamic compliance so it is hard to say if they do not match OEM or if they do in fact come close to matching OEM specs so using factory specs to check compatibility with tonearm matching is common practice. I believe Jico does do a good job copying Shure stylus’s so I believe their Stanton copy should be as close to OEM as they can get it. Maybe somebody else could chime in here and say what their Jico D81 is tracking at, if it is tracking close to 1g then it is possibly pretty close to OEM. A shibata is also apart of line contact family alongside stereohedron so that should not be a problem but yes most say the sterohedron is a little smoother. Cheers

For everyone who is still following this post, I purchased an AT VM540 moving magnet cartridge pre mounted on a headshell. This way I can still use the ZU cartridge as well. I received it on Saturday and have been thoroughly enjoying my Rock records. I was leaning heavily on the AT VM760 cartridge until I read TAS review comparing it to the one I bought. The reviewer did say the 760 cartridge was tipped up in the treble compared to the 540 and also said the 540 was the sweet spot in the line up. I received many PM’s telling me to look at the AT line of cartridges for Rock music. I had never owned an AT in the past and hadn’t ever considered them.

I did have one member here trying to get me to purchase one of his used MM cartridges, and when I declined, he took it quite bad. He started off nice enough and sent me a list of around 10 used MM cartridges. I quickly realized I didn’t want any of them as it wasn’t what I wanted. He resorted to insulting me saying that “did I ever hear of the internet?”He tried to goad me into buying from him. I explained he didn’t have anything I was interested in yet he kept hounding me trying to sell me one of his Signet cartridges. He sent me quite a few messages. Keep in mind he contacted me via PM, I did not initiate anything. Also I do not like going outside of Audiogon. It was only after I told him I would block him and report him to Audiogon administration did he leave me alone.

At $300 including the headshell purchased right from AT, I am ecstatic. Thank you to everyone for your help and tips, very appreciated.  Now, if I can find a used Shure VM35 body, I will snap it up and get the Jico stylus for it.  It would be nice to have a third cartridge in the rotation. 

Glad you enjoy the AT!

I have both a Clearaudio Maestro V2 (mm) and a Hana SL (mc) cartridge which I switch out every now and then for variety's sake and to save wear and tear. The Hana is better at imaging while the Maestro casts a wider soundstage.