Stylus/Cartridge Advice/Suggestions

[aneumayr]

Hello all! I recently acquired a Yamaha YP-D8 and am in the process of getting a different cartridge/stylus for it. I have an Ortofon 2M Bronze on it, which pretty good, but I want more. Here are my 3 ideas:

Shure M95ED with Jico SAS, resonance frequency 6.238

Shure M91ED with Jico SAS, resonance frequency 6.913

Ortofon 2M Black, resonance frequency 7.138

I would like to try the Jico SAS, obviously, but all of these resonance frequencies are pretty low. Is this a big problem/issue? I'm new to this. Any suggestions/ideas? This table would be used to play rock, primarily.

Any help/ideas are welcome.

[Beobloke]

As far as I’m concerned, the 2M Black is a no-brainier.

Either Shure would be a big backwards step IMHO.

[Barry]

Hello Tony,

I agree with Adam: since you already like your Ortofon 2M Bronze, the logical choice would be to upgrade to the 2M Black.

I wouldn't worry too much about the low arm/cartridge resonance frequencies; they are calculated values only, and as to any possible disturbance caused by foot falls etc., that depends very much on the design of the turntable and how it is mounted.

[aneumayr]

Thank you both! Last night I decided to weigh my tonearm to get the effective mass, and it weighed almost a gram lighter than the manufacturers specs with the Ortofon Bronze. So, the resonance frequency did change by a bit, for the better. But, I do agree that the 2M Black is a very good MM cartridge. I'll try it out on the Yamaha today. I was just a little curious about the Jico SAS. Any HOMC suggestions that might compete?

[STD305M]

Ortofon Black
You need to spen serious money to get better

[RobbieGong]

Can only agree regarding the 2M Black.
A classy mm / cartridge.
It is the one that really opened my eyes to how good it can get and the importance of meticulous cartridge / stylus set up.
Its qualities and reputation are well documented all over forums and the net BUT and please note !
Its stylus profile has to be set up accurately,
It is very fussy regards set up - sra / vta etc have to be
spot on.
Its sweetspot window is very narrow but once found /accurately dialled in, happy days ! :)
Btw - I and many others have found the sweetspot within a a slighty negative rake, ie tonearm tail down as oppossed to absolutely parallel.

[aneumayr]

Decision confirmed. Ortofon 2M Black. Thank you all!

[curry49]

Another vote against those particular Shures.

[aneumayr]

I hear you, but they are tracking monsters!