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Moving coil cartridge advice needed

A friend recently acquired a VPI Aries turnable with JMW Memorial arm and asked my advice on a good but not outrageous MC cartridge, say around $1,000.

He has a phono pre that will support the lowest output cartridges. He listens to a broad range of popular music, although I've gotten him sampling some jazz and classical lately. Accuracy in soundstaging and transients, deep well controlled bass and good tracking are important.

Ones which came to my mind - Benz Micro (Ref 2 silver, L2, Glider L2), Clearaudio Sigma Wood, Dynavector Karat 17D2 Mk II, Lyra Lydian Beta and Shelter 501. I've only heard the Dynavector personally (excellant cartridge, IMHO). Read that the Benz's are very "warm", which if true, may not be optimal given his listening tastes. Comments on these or
other recommendations most appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Doug
grandpad

Showing 1 response by extremephono

extremephono
123 posts
 
The JMW and VPI tend to be warm, so don't pair with warmer cartridge like Benz. With Lyra, they tend to be neutral. And with Van den hul, you get very good complimentry qualities, being fast and airy.

The Frog, especially the one with gold coil is a very good cartridge, and gives up very little from the Colibri/Beauty series. You can also 'nude' the Frong (voiding the warranty), and it will look like a Colibri/Beauty.
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