how to choose a cartridge?

as it seems my Ortofon mc15 is damaged, I'll be looking for a new cartridge. having bought the whole deck/arm/cart together second hand, I haven't had to do this before - so how do you go about choosing? given these are consumables and I'm not going to be looking a megabucks jobbies, presumably you just have to go on a recommendation?

any hints welcome. the rest of the vinyl kit is Gyro SE/technoarm & weight/hr nc psu/trichord diablo. probably looking up to about £300, preferably less....

 

you liked the sound of the MC15, why not replace with something else from the Ortofon range (MC20, maybe - you may even be able to use your old cartridge in part exchange)? As an alternative, I've just purchased an Audio Technica OC9 MLII from here:

www.lpgear.com

Worked out at about £180.00 including shipping and customs/vat charges - well within your budget and would work very well on your TT I think, and would be easy to sell on without too much loss in the event you don't like it.

Failing that, have a word with Alastair or Andy at Signals Hifi, as they sell/have sold both the Gyro and Ortofon cartridges. (I've no connection to Signals, by the way, but see that you're in Suffolk, as are they).

 

The Denon DL103 is well regarded and can punch well above its weight. I have owned one and intend to buy another, (or a variant) when i've finished my current Cartridge 'experimental journey'. Available for circa £100, but don't let this modest price put you off.
It is also an extremely easy cart to install and set up due to its shape and design ( the cantelever cut out in front makes viewing the stylus very easy).

I thought thet Goldring Eroica LX wasn't a bad needle either, although I'm sure that the Elite at about £230 would be better...

 

To some extent you do yes. People will argue endlessly about cartridges ... this ones great ... no its rubbish etc. In reality, whilst its true that cartridges do have differing sounds its quite hard to buy a stinker these days. The more you pay, generally you'll see improvements in tracking, soundstaging and better performance at the frequency extremes.

So long as the cartridge is compatible with your tone arm - most will be with yours, so long as you don't get one with very low or very high compliance - and with your phono amp - ditto, then you won't go too far wrong on your budget, whatever you decide. Sure there may be some untried cartridge out there which would be better (or more to your taste), but whatever you get its unlikely to be bad. Goomer's Ortofon suggestion makes sense if you liked the sound of the MC15. The MC20 is no longer listed though. At £300 you are looking at an MC25FL or Rondo Red in this price range for Ortofon.

One thing I think its is worth noting though. If you have a lot of old records, some of which may be a little worn, then getting a cartridge with at least a hyper eliptical stylus or preferably a fine line/micro ridge/micro line/Fritz Geiger (whatever ... ) tip can pay dividends.

So long as the platform that's carrying it is good and stable - and your setup certainly fits that description, you would be surprised at how well even cheaper cartridges can perform. IME People often spend more on cartridges than they should for their given setup.

 

thanks for all the advice. I've only ever heard the Ortofon on that deck so have no real point of comparison. The Audio technica seems a bit of a bargain at that price (at least going by full UK prices), so I've just taken a punt on that......

 

Cool. Let me know how you get on with it - mine's only got about 60 hours on it at the moment and sounds excellent, and I think there may be a bit more breaking in to come.

 

Even if you hate it (which you probably won't) you'll probably get a reasonable proportion back on fleabay. Give it time to bed in though. I'm a bit sceptical of the old "it needs to run in" argument for a lot of things HiFi, but for cartridges its certainly the truth. 20 to 30 hours at least, minimum.

One of my carts is a Denon DL-160 I loved straight off, but it deteriorated and sounded pants 10 hours in. If I hadn't have given it 20 hours more I'd have cast it aside as an heroic failure. Its now my budget reference - top sound for pound. Your old MC15 will have been run in when you got it, so it might not be an obvious point.

 

I went from an Ortofon MC15 to an AT OC9 in a Michell Tecnoarm.
The former was good, the latter magnificent - very smooth right through the frequency range and utterly insensitive to surface imperfections. I got it at a steal price from Needle Doctor recently - I believe they've temporarily run out. I know I could have done better, but not at the price I paid.

 

Another vote for the OC9 which really is a bargain for <£200 - or £300 for that matter since this cartridge sold for £500 back in 1987!

The latest incarnation is even better than the old version.
Will work a treat in the tecnoarm.

Rob.

 

I'd echo the recommendations for the OC9 - I ran one for several years in a Gyro/modded RB300 and it sounded sweet indeed. Plenty of 'snap' and clean as a very clean thing. Also excellent on duff records/pressings. A genuine bargain, especially at lpgear's prices.

I went from this to a DL103 and ended up preferring the Denon, but it's a somewhat different animal and can easily understand why some folk wouldn't enjoy it so much. A stupendous piece of kit for the money though. I now use a 103R which whilst cleaner and brighter than the cooking 103, I'm not so sure it hasn't lost a little of the standard model's magic, so may be up for sale soon (thinking of going to a Decca).

 

well you've all set my expectaions very high!! it's just shipped from the US - so I'm waiting to see if/how much Customs clobber me for.

 

Unprompted, lpgear valued mine as $40 on the customs label, so it cost about £8.00 in charges.

 

I find testing cartridges always very difficult. The best way I found so far is to go to your local dealer and ask them to demo for you a few of them (not many as it is a tiring business to swap, realign, etc). This is not as good as demo'ing at home but if they can match most of your gear it's a good approximation. Some dealers accept the carts back if you are not happy after a few days use, but this is rare (and only for 2nd hand carts).

I started with the good old ortofon omb5 which did its job without quibbles. Then ugraded the deck and tried the ortofon 520MkII which was ok but not well balanced, a bit thin on the bass i felt. Same could be said of the Goldring 1006 which I find good value, with good top end but not full sounding as the high output MCs (these are MMs). Ended up with a Denon DL-160 and I agree with Uncle it is one of the best value carts I have heard, and would live with it happily even now. Unfortunately an accident meant a clean "shave" and the poor thing is now defunct.

I have since replaced my deck and am now using a Sumiko BPS evo3. The Denon was very good, even in the newer deck, but the Sumiko beats it (in my system) in every way. More extended highs, very solid, extended bass and real body and naturalness to instruments. The soundstage is a tad deeper maybe not wider. The soundstage of the Denon and its full bodyness are imho their greatest assets.

So I recommend both the Denon and the Sumiko BPS which are both in your price point. Just be careful with the Sumiko if you buy one, as it is a naked body cart, fairly easy to break...

HTH
Jack

 

I used a Dynavector DV20H for a few years and found it a superb cartridge. It has a very full bottom end, is very lively and makes music a really enjoyable experience. I am not too familiar with your spec Gyrodec but I understand that it is a good platform I think the dynavector would work well and really add "pep" without being ragged.

Only slightly over budget!! I did have a BPS before the DV and I must say it was roundly beaten by the DV IMHO.

 

Goomer - how long did yours take to arrive? mine was dispatched a couple of weeks ago but I've heard nothing since - presumably languishing in a Customs shed somewhere...

 

From the time I received the email confirming dispatch, it took about a week to arrive.

 

cheers - something must have gone wrong for me then, I'll have to see if I can track it down

 

well, got it today after some Kafkaesque interactions with Parcelforce.
First impressions are good - tonally natural and very quiet on surface noise, if somewhat laid back in character when installed from cold - will have to see what happens as it runs in...

 

Phew - glad it turned up in the end, and that you're pleased with it at the moment. I hope it continues to improve as mine has done.