best mm/mc preamp under $200 and best mc cartridge under $500 for an SME 3009 S2 arm ?


I guess the title says it all.  The arm is on a Linn Sondek LP12.

- Has anyone had any ACTUAL experience with a moving coil cartridge on an SME S2 arm, which is very light and hence needs a hi compliance cartridge ?  $500 is the max I want to spend.  Bass slam & needing extra treble to the point of being too bright  is the most important factor to me.  At my age, my ears are not what they used to be :-)

- Also, can anyone suggest an under $200 mc/mm simple preamp ?

Thanks

128x128cakyol

Showing 1 response by sleepwalker65

I’ll second the Audio-Technica VM540ML, in fact I own two of them and love them. The 740ML is basically the same thing with an alloy body, which in my opinion is a negative when it comes to electrically isolating the cartridge wiring (often bonded to the body with one of the signal negative leads) from the tonearm ground.

The NAD PP2 is a nice platform for upgrading with a Burson V6 Classic discrete op-amp and replacing the wall warts with a beefy regulated power supply. You can also replace the input RCA connectors with nice Neutrik XLR jacks and replace the interconnect to your turntable with a nice shielded, balanced cable to extend the tonearm wiring as it should be all the way from the cartridge to the phono stage.  That easily puts you in the ballpark of the midrange phono stages, but you don’t have to do all of the upgrades at once.