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Best Cartridge for VPI Aries orig + JMW 10.5 ?

I have a VPI Aries (original version) and JMW 10.5. They feed an EAR 834p phono stage, mccormack map-1 preamp, rotel 1095 amp, and vienna acoustics beethoven speakers (which are a bit "warm" sounding). I listen to mostly bluegrass, followed by classic rock and jazz. What is the best choice of cartridge at $1500 or less? (any views on the Sumiko Celebration in this set up?) Any thoughts welcomed as I am a bit new at this. (ps. will one day move to all tubes, but likely a few years off).
banjofan

Showing 6 responses by banjofan

banjofan OP
17 posts
 
i appreciate everyone's candor...that's one of the great benefits of these forums...everyone else's years of experience will help me avoid some expensive mistakes (i hope) besides, even though we are straying into denon land, as a newbie i'm still learning alot, especially as it still effects my newly acquired/yet to be set up vpi/jmw front end...still wondering helikon vs. celebration?
banjofan OP
17 posts
 
thanks everyone for the responses so far...based on what i've heard so far it seems to come down to helikon vs. sumiko celebration. can anyone besides ljgj compare the two? also, vpi is recommending the dynavector xx-2h...does anyone have any thoughts on that? thanks again for all the good advice...
banjofan OP
17 posts
 
to cmk...when you say "warm balanced" vs. "detail retrieval" which attribute belongs to which cartridge?
(btw, my speakers (viennal accoustics) are already a bit warm since they have silk domed tweeters, so i feel a bit cautious about overdoing the "warmth" side of things.
banjofan OP
17 posts
 
Is the Helikon or Helikon SL better with EAR 834P (fixed at 47k)?
banjofan OP
17 posts
 
EAR gain is 68db for mc. Is that enough for helikon sl?
banjofan OP
17 posts
 
Thanks everyone for the input. Its looking like a medium output Helikon (to save money over the SL) with the Aries/jmw10.5/ear834p combo is now the leading contender based on what I've heard here.
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