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HungryGuy's avatar

What is a good brand and model of phono cartridge?

Asked by HungryGuy (16044points) June 6th, 2010

I mostly listen to CDs, but I have an extensive collection of vinyl. My turntable has been in storage for a while, and when I hooked it up recently, the cartridge was shot—only one channel and an intermittent connection on the other. The little wires connecting the cartridge to the head shell were so brittle that they broke when I tried to clean them with Tweek. I shopped around Amazon, but most of the cartridges that I can find are for DJ use and not audiophile listening. Are there any high quality audiophile cartridges made for home listening any more?

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7 Answers

jaytkay's avatar

Last I was cartridge shopping, Grado hit the price/good review sweet spot for me.
http://www.gradolabs.com/50years.htm

I bought from these guys, they’ve been on the web forever (in web years) and specialize in turntables
http://www.garage-a-records.com/

And the Shure M97 line has been around forever.
http://www.shure.com/americas/products/phono/m97xe-audiophile-phono-cartridge

There are a ton of other choices on the high end, but I am not familiar with any, I’ve never spent over $60 on a cartridge.

HungryGuy's avatar

@jaytkay – Thanks! I don’t want to spend a ton either. Not over $100.

dpworkin's avatar

I have an old-fashioned preference for Shure, but I can’t really defend it.

OreetCocker's avatar

I have used Ortofon for years, always found them great.

HungryGuy's avatar

Shure has been around for years. So it’s the old standby. I’ve seen a lot of Ortofons on sale, but they seem mostly for DJ work.

IchtheosaurusRex's avatar

I had one Ortofon cartridge and didn’t care for it. Too susceptible to skipping. Went to a Shure V15 Type IV and was much happier with it. They stopped making it in 1982, but the one I have still works. I don’t play my records much any more.

HungryGuy's avatar

@IchtheosaurusRex – Right. They don’t make the good stuff any more. It’s hard to find any kind of high-end component audio gear that was so common back in the 80s. As a techno-geek, I prefer CDs to records because of the improved fidelity (frequency response, dynamic range, S/N ratio, channel separation, etc., etc.), but I have a lot of vinyl that I’d like to listen to once again.

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