Best all-around cartridge for 500.00 new

I would buy a VTA base if your Rega arm uses spacers.And spend the rest of the money on a Shure V15VxMR. Some are finding that the spacers work ok for them, or find they need no spacers at all, but adjustments in VTA that you can hardly see make a difference.The spacer thing is stone age VTA tech. I bet the Dynavector is very good as they have been making great cartridges for years, but this will sound great too and you can really get the angle correct for once. The Grados are wonderful too but can't match the tracking of the Shure and ARE prone to hum in many tables.You will never really know if you have ANY cartridge set up to it's full potential without the VTA base.

No sweat Sean, I would love to try the Dynavector 10X4 "Gold" that Music Direct sells. Under $500, Boron cantiliever, micro ridge stylus and available in a 2.5mv output version. It was a limited edition and may no longer be available. I usually love the boron,MR,MC's with a bit of output and Dynavector makes great cartridges.I am very interested in the Clearaudio MM's as well, like the Virtuoso Wood. I can't find reliable info on what sort of tip profile Clearaudio uses on these though. I have seen different info evry where I look, some say elliptical, some claim VanDenHul, some say fine line(another term for MR if I am not mistaken) what the hell is it?

Is the Denon 103D the black one with the conical stylus sold back in the mid to late seventies? It is nice unit but I am amazed the rubber suspension parts have aged that well even unused in the box. Its a smoooth number. Sean the Shure(I am confident you have herd every version) sounded better in my table than I could get the Grado Platinum VPI version to and it couldn't track with bloodhounds, no $300-500 cartridge is perfect. They don't make my favorite cartridge any more and I couldn't afford it anyway if they did, the ones still out there are decrepid by now. The Tallasman Virtuoso Boron, but I am confident you have some comment about that, perhaps a Pickering "smokes it". Wish I knew everything too!

Thanks Sean,I did. Have you listened to the latest version of the Shure, as I NEVER thought I would use one of their cartridges. The V15III was popular but you would never have caught me dead with one in my table as the sound was very middle of the road mid fi. Out of desperation I bought the latest one(V15VxMR) a month ago and it has been a surprise. Although it is not my first choice it was a matter of ecconomy. I tried to repalce an expensive MC with the $300 Grado, It sounded very nice but seemed to hate my arm and the elliptical stylus exagerates noise to a point where it was difficult to enjoy. My suggestion was for a cartridge that would allow for a VTA base to be purchased (which the Stanton would accomodate)within the budget and not hum in the Rega. The VTA base is a must have item, you may be able to mount a cartridge and find a point that sounds OK with the spacers, but you will never know if a point in between sounds alot better. VTA adjustments that are microspopic can make profound differences in the sound of a system with some resolution. The latest V15 uses a very stiff and very low mass ultra-thin wall(0.0005-inch) beryllium tube cantilever combined with a very low mass highly polished MR diamond. Something about objects in motion...? It's not your fathers M91ed any more. If the Stanton is anything like the ones I remember the cantilever looks like a short frameing nail. This too may have changed, as have the Shures. I would take almost any cartridge with a Micro Ridge over a cartridge with an elliptical in my own system just due to the noise. I like the thing,I like my Shure! I admit it, it seems to be one of those things you need to hide here I guess,"Don't ask, don't tell" It is one of those dirty little secrets, like saying you listen to MIT cables and like it.(I do that too! but that is another story) I guess I am out of the Audiogon closet. No, the V15VxMR would not be my first choice if budget was not a consideration, but I can enjoy my record collection again.