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Entry Level MC Recommendations?

The househeeper's duster snagged the stylus of my SoundSmith rebuilt Clearaudio Virtuoso cartridge and yanked it clean out! Now that I'm done crying, I'm looking at it as an opportunity to try a MC cartridge. My budget is $200-300. I have a Clearaudio Emotion turntable with Satisfy tonearm. I like what I read about the Benz-Micro MC20E2-L. The Denon DL-103 has been recommended. Ortophon Blue? Sumiko Pearl? I'm open to anything that will give me an even balance between detail and musicality/tonal accuracy. I listen to folk, jazz and classical, as well as the occasional rock record. Thanks!
rosedanny
edgordon
2 posts
 
Another vote for Dynavector.
rosedanny OP
80 posts
 
OK, so here's what I'm going to do . . .

First of all, thank you so much for your replies to my questions! You all helped me to see that MC at the price point I was considering would have been a step down from the Clearaudio/Soundsmith. And I learned that when I do decide to test the MC waters, I will have to pay special attention to impedance/load matching with my amp. Thanks!

So . . . I'm going to suffer the wait and send the cart to Mr. Lederman for a second rebuild with the ruby cantelever. I'm not even going to get a cart to use in the meantime; I have a very satisfying music server (Squeezebox Touch/W4S DAC1) with nearly 2 TB of lossless/Hi Res music, so I'm not exactly suffering! And just imagine the joy my vinyl will bring when the rebuilt cartridge finally comes!

Last question: Does anyone know of a stylus guard that could be snapped on when I'm not playing records so this doesn't happen again?
rosedanny OP
80 posts
 
Any clever ideas for stylus guards? I'm on the lookout for small plastic boxes and cylinders I might be able to fashion into a stylus guard.
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