Cartridge Opinions - Sorry


Yeah, another dumb "what's your opinion on these cartridges" thread. Back in the late 80's we had dealers where you could listen to the stuff.

So anyhow I have a Linn LP12 with Ittok arm and a 30 year old Audioquest B200L cartridge. I'm running it through the phono stage of a Jeff Rowland Coherence One into a Spectral DMA90 through a set of Kef R300's.

I prefer a little more laid back sound (err on the side of forgiving instead of fatiguing) but I like a lot of upper end detail, precise soundstaging, air, etc.

So far I'm considering an Ortofon Quintet S Black, Hana SL or a Benz wood - something at or below the $1k level.

I'd love to hear any opinions, suggestions, and experiences with those cartridges or others in the price range. I could possibly go higher if there is something out there that really shines for less than $1,500.

Thanks.


klooker

Showing 1 response by mammothguy54

OP,
I have owned some Audio Technica cartridges and they sound wonderful.  However, they can be just a little bit of a "zing" on the top end.  Not terribly bright, just a little bit of a zing.  You can do the research and maybe others won't have the same impression.  As you probably know, that all depends on the rest of your equipment.  I also own the Hana SL and found it to be one of the more "balanced" MC phono cartridges for the under $1,000 price range.  Tonally, very pleasant to listen to.  Channel separation is very good and provides excellent soundstage and imaging.  You really can't fault it, especially in that price class.  If you do buy one be sure to give it at least 50 hours of play time to break in the suspension.  It will then deliver its' best performance in the soundstage and imaging.  Really, a very nice phono cartridge.  FYI, it has an output of 0.5mv.