What Cartridges

[Rare Bird]

Have you enjoyed using the most?

I'm not a Moving Coil fan, never have been but i did like a couple of High Output Denons, other than that a MM Man.

Denon 'DL110'/'160'
Grace 'F9E'
Nagaoka 'MP11 Boron'
Goldring 'G900IGC'
Pickering 'XLZ-7500S'
ADC 'XLM/3
JVC 'Z1'

[Batty]

DL110
Goldie 1042
quite like the DL103 through my SUT (only have MM input)

[Beobloke]

Audio Technica AT-110E - the amount of performance you can get out of this is absurd.

Decca Deram - sounds far better than a ceramic ought to!

Ortofon OM Pro S - they cost about £30 each and are meant for DJ use but are surprisingly capable in hi-fi terms. 3-4g tracking weight also means they can be used on older, massier arms.

Ortofon 2M Black - the finest MM I have ever heard that wipes the floor with most MCs up to £1000 or so, IMHO.

Audio Technica AT-OC9MLII - I may have the above 2M Black and a Kontrapunkt b MC (which is also brilliant) but I keep coming back to this one.

[MartinT]

Empire 2000E/III
Shure V15-II
Ortofon MC-20 Super
Ultimo 10X
Dynavector 20A
Denon DL-160
Audio Technica AT33PTG
Dynavector 20X2L

[StuN]

Grace F9E Ruby
Stanton 681 EEE
Denon 103R with Soundsmith alloy cantelever and eliptical tip
Ortofon MC20 with Garrott retip

[prestonchipfryer]

Ortofon VMS 20 and 30
Ortofon M20 FL
Ortofon MC20 Super
Signet MK 111
Sumiko Blue Point Special
Ortofon Rondo Bronze
Dynavector DV 20
Lyra Dorian
Denon 103R
Ortofon 2M Black

And agreeing with Adam about the 2M Black. A fabulous cartridge.

[Barry]

Over the past forty years I've probably had direct (that is, heard in my system at the time) experience of some twenty cartridges, both moving coil and fixed coil.

These are/have been (an asterisk denotes cartidges no longer in my possession), in rough chronological order:

Shure M3D (*)
Shure M55E
Shure V15 II improved (*)
Shure V15 III (*)
Ortofon SL15E
Ortofon SL15E/II
Ortofon MC20 (*)
Decca Mk. V (x2)
Decca Mk. VI
EMT XSD15
EMT TSD15 (nude)
Linn Asak
ADC10E IV
AKG P8ES (*)
ADC 25
ADC 26
Grado FTE+1 (*)
EMT TSD15 FLS
EMT TSD15 (sph)
B&O SP6
Denon DL103 (x2)

I have also spent time with the following (again in rough chronological order):

Shure M31E
Adio Technica AT66
JVC X-1
Goldring Eroica
Ortofon MC25FL

and

Sumiko Blue Point Special.

Bearing in mind the fallability of aural memory and recognising that one's tastes change with time (and finances!), of those I have listed the following
have given me (and continue to give me) the most pleasure:

Shure M55E
Ortofon SL15E and SL15E/II
All Deccas
All EMTs
AKG P8ES

and, because it was such amazingly good value for money, the Grado FTE+1.

I miss the AKG P8ES; it was great for rock 'n roll. I loaned it to a friend who later claimed to have lost it! Does anyone have one they want to sell me?

Biggest disappointments for me were the Linn Asak and the Sumiko. There was nothing technically wrong with these two; they just didn't engage me.

[Cliff]

Denon DL A100, Shindo SPU, Miyabi 47---in no particular order.

[Marco]

Gosh, I've had so many cartridges over the 30+ years I've been into 'serious' hi-fi (into the hundreds), I couldn't begin to remember them all!

However, the ones I've enjoyed most (that I can remember), kind of in date order of when I used them were:

Original Nagaoka MP10 (or 11 - can't remember - which one was out in the early 80s?)

That gorgeous sounding vintage Technics P-mount design everyone raves about now. Can't remember the model number?

Linn Trak.

Linn Karma.

Supex (something or other low-output MC, can't remember the model - again it was out around the mid 80s, and quite highly regarded).

All the various Denon DL103s (over the years, I've had them all). My favourite was the 'SA'.

Koetsu Red Signature.

AT-33PTG.

Koetsu Black Goldline.

Ortofon Rondo Bronze.

I'm sure there's more, and when I remember them, I'll pop them in

And of course all the cartridges I currently use:

Ortofon SPU GM classic, DL-103, Goldring G800, Shure M3D and Pickering XV-15 625E.



Marco.

[chris@panteg]

Gosh, I've had so many cartridges over the 30+ years I've been into 'serious' hi-fi (into the hundreds), I couldn't begin to remember them all!

However, the ones I've enjoyed most (that I can remember), kind of in date order of when I used them were:

Original Nagaoka MP10 (or 11 - can't remember - which one was out in the early 80s?)

That gorgeous sounding vintage Technics P-mount design everyone raves about now. Can't remember the model number?

Linn Trak.

Linn Karma.

Supex (something or other low-output MC, can't remember the model - again it was out around the mid 80s, and quite highly regarded).

All the various Denon DL103s (over the years, I've had them all). My favourite was the 'SA'.

Koetsu Red Signature.

AT-33PTG.

Koetsu Black Goldline.

Ortofon Rondo Bronze.

I'm sure there's more, and when I remember them, I'll pop them in

And of course all the cartridges I currently use:

Ortofon SPU GM classic, DL-103, Goldring G800, Shure M3D and Pickering XV-15 625E.



Marco.

Would that be the EPC 205 mk3 ? I heard one in my QL1 ,back in January

My Cartridge history , such as it is

Ortofon OM10 , upgraded to the OM30 stylus .

A&R P77

Linn K9

Linn Troika , Retipped by Len Gregory or ESC
the only genuine MC i have ever used , though i also owned a clapped out AN IO original Kondo version , given to me as a gift by my good friend Paul.

Music Maker MK1

Goldring 1006

All sold on ,but currently own ...

Denon DL160

AT 95HE LPgear stylus

P-Mounts
Technics P22/Jico SAS stylus
Technics P24/LPgear Hyper elliptical stylus
AT3482

The best cartridge of the lot ? Well i would have to say the Troika after its rebuild , but the one i have enjoyed the most and has surprised me the most , giving more performance than i would have expected is the Technics P22/SAS in the QL1 , where it belongs too

I would dearly love to get hold of a 205mk3 though , another cartridge i quite fancy is one of the pickering's with the stereohedron tip .