Cartridge suggestions wanted.

[shane]

I recently made contact with an old friend I hadn't seen for many years, and it became quickly apparent that I'm a bit out of touch with the current hifi market. He has a Heybrook TT2 which is fitted with a Rega R200. I don't know what cartridge he has at the moment, but whatever it is, its knackered and needs replacing. My first thought was to suggest a Denon DL103, but I'm not sure if the budget will stretch that far, especially given the need for a step up device of some sort. I then realised that I have no idea what's good and what's bad in the budget cartridge market.

Any recommendations? Musical tastes as I remember include Prog rock (we are both knocking on a bit), some jazz and classical.

[macvisual]

I've been using two cartridges for a while now, a AT440MLa and a recent purchase of a Len Gregory Music Maker 3, you can pick either of these up for not a massive amount of money, both moving magnet and sound very musical.

Enjoyment factor --- high!

[Wakefield Turntables]

Old brown bodied Shure M55E + the new £40 JICO stylus and you'll own a cart which can easily out-do something in the £500 price bracket. Total cost? <£100 if you shop around. There happens to be a decent thread on this very combo if you do a search of the site.