MM Cartridge or MC Cartridge


I'm embarrassed to say that after owning a ClearAudio Maestro cart for only a month, I had a mishap and damaged the stylus. It's gonna cost $600 to get it replaced. Does anyone have any better suggestions as far as a better cart for the $$, or is this the best for this price range? Also, what are the advantages to a MC cart? I'm just getting back into LP's and have not done the research. Besides, I trust your opinions more than reviews. I will have the opportunity to buy up, so now would be the time to go to a MC cart. Will I have to have a step-up transformer? My phono stage is an Audio Research PH-3 SE.
handymann
Hey Stanwal and Audiofeil.....In the interest of world peace and creating a better planet, can you guys please kiss and make up ? Let's all learn to play nicely together in the same sandbox.
I doubt it; I just got the following message:

No you won't Stan.

You want no part of a physical confrontation. I'm in far better shape than you. You have no idea what you'd be getting into.

Be that as it may, if you really want a shot at the title my address is

9405 Meriul Lane
Clarence Center, New York

I'll get an open room at my gym or I can reserve some time at my judo studio.

That's it. No more talk, yapping, or insults.

He doubtless is in much better shape, I have an irregular heart beat which limits my own exercise; nevertheless, I still do not respond kindly to physical threats or the mentality which offers them. I also spent 3 years in NYC and learned that residents there are quite different from us Midwesterners in trumpeting their abilities. I'll tell you what Bill, why don't you work your way west punching out all the other guys you don't like; by the time you get here I will probably have passed on anyway.
Well,
I don't know if I'm being ignorant. I can start a new thread or I could be stopping a fight from starting. I just wanna know what would be a good cartridge for my Denon 60L. I have a straight arm and a OM Super 30 cartridge

Thanks,
Robert
Dear Handymann: I don't know if you still use that PL-71 but if you still did then maybe it is not the best time to LOMC cartridges.

In the other side if you fulfill the specific MM/MI cartridge needs then IMHO maybe you don't need to go with LOMC cartridges .

Anyway, for less than those 600.00 you can buy two very good MM/MI quality performers here on Agon ads, these cartridges are the Azden one and the Ortofon M20FL Super, both IMHO compete easily with cartridges in the 3K price range..

Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.
To get back to serious business; there are conflicting notions about what is "RIGHT" in audio. Some, including my esteemed sparing partner, think that all that is necessary to lift the scales from the eyes of the erring is for them to hear THEIR system. If I ever thought this it has been so long age that I cannot recall it. My firm conviction is that if you have a panel of competent listeners [anyone who reads this is qualified] listen to MC vs MM, Tube VS SS , Godzilla vs Mothra, whatever; that there will be a range of opinions, none of which will be "wrong". I do not mean that there is no difference between good and bad gear; I am talking about preferences among good gear. Far too many engage in a protracted search for the "best" instead of looking for what THEY like. In my more active dealer days the first thing I would do was attempt to discover what the person was looking for, not what I wanted to sell him. I was not a terribly successful dealer as most people want to be told what is good; I knew many that excelled at this. All ears differ, all tastes differ, all equipment is flawed to some degree. When my friends, all of whom are longtime audiophiles,and I listen we usually agree on the character of the equipment we listen to but often differ as to which is better. Of course this extends to the music we listen to as well; they may listen to my choices with toleration and I do the same with theirs. I have my personal preferences but I don't expect them to be shared universally. I am not ego involved with my choices to the degree that I become violently upset when these are not shared. I profoundly wish this was the norm.