I "hear" ya on the Ohms!! I purchased a brand new pair of Ohm Walsh 2s with match grain oak cabinets - the salesman's price was $199 directly from the Ohm factory. I owned and loved those speakers for the next 10 years...
However, the B&O MMC-1 cartridge that I won in a factory sponsored contest is right up there. And the best part was that I was able to choose my cartridge from among 30 that we had recently received from B&O. I spent a *long* lunch hour reviewing the specs and looking at each stylus under a microscope. I ended up with a cartridge that spec'd. absolutely flat (within 0.25 db) from 20 Hz - 20 kHz.
I sold that cartridge 20 years later for $800, it had < 150 hrs. on it and was only used to transcribe albums from vinyl to reel-reel or CD. My MMC-2 (came with a B&O BG 9000 turntable that I bought for $250) was used for day to day playback...
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However, the B&O MMC-1 cartridge that I won in a factory sponsored contest is right up there. And the best part was that I was able to choose my cartridge from among 30 that we had recently received from B&O. I spent a *long* lunch hour reviewing the specs and looking at each stylus under a microscope. I ended up with a cartridge that spec'd. absolutely flat (within 0.25 db) from 20 Hz - 20 kHz.
I sold that cartridge 20 years later for $800, it had < 150 hrs. on it and was only used to transcribe albums from vinyl to reel-reel or CD. My MMC-2 (came with a B&O BG 9000 turntable that I bought for $250) was used for day to day playback...
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