agree with @noromance , at that price point the AT VM540 is pretty tough to beat. Very musical sounding cart.
Need help with MM cartridge choice
I've stumbled across a good deal on a Rega Planar 3 fitted with a Grace G-747 that looks to be an excellent choice for my second / MM table. It has an old ADC on it that almost certainly needs a new stylus and I was never very fond of the ADC sound to begin with. I've had good luck with B&O, Ortofon, Grace, Empire and Shure, but everything except Ortofon is ancient history now.
This table would be used for vinyl that can't really benefit from being spun on the Sota. Think fair-to-good condition second-hand albums cleaned ultrasonically with minor visible scuffs that have seen a lot of play. I prefer a neutral tone balance with flat frequency response. Specs in the tonearm manual are pretty thin; 4 to 10 gram standard cartridge weight and nothing more.
Presuming the table & arm meet the mechanical, operating and geometry inspections when I go back tomorrow, I'd like some suggestions on an appropriate modern-era cartridge match. I'd like to keep the investment ~$300 and definitely want something for which replacement styli are still made. For those of you who haven't seen my posts before or checked my system page, I run a McIntosh C50 with a MC302 amp into Rogers Studio 1 speakers. My primary table is a Sota Sapphire with a Graham Phantom Supreme and a DV XX2 MkII.
Thanks for your consideration and I look forward to your replies!
This table would be used for vinyl that can't really benefit from being spun on the Sota. Think fair-to-good condition second-hand albums cleaned ultrasonically with minor visible scuffs that have seen a lot of play. I prefer a neutral tone balance with flat frequency response. Specs in the tonearm manual are pretty thin; 4 to 10 gram standard cartridge weight and nothing more.
Presuming the table & arm meet the mechanical, operating and geometry inspections when I go back tomorrow, I'd like some suggestions on an appropriate modern-era cartridge match. I'd like to keep the investment ~$300 and definitely want something for which replacement styli are still made. For those of you who haven't seen my posts before or checked my system page, I run a McIntosh C50 with a MC302 amp into Rogers Studio 1 speakers. My primary table is a Sota Sapphire with a Graham Phantom Supreme and a DV XX2 MkII.
Thanks for your consideration and I look forward to your replies!