Ortofon 2MBronze; Quintet Red; Vivo Red???

Matt and Mofi. I had a Dynavector 10X5 for 5 years with moderate use. I sold it because I was fearful of ot getting it trashed in transit from Hawaii to the mainland. I also mistakeningly thought that an MC wear faster and so it was time to put it on selling block

It provided very good sound over the course of my ownership. BTW, I also ran it for a while with a Musical Surroundings Phonmenon II phone pre-amp which provided greater overall smoothness. Nevertheless, I sold MSPII along with separates to make way for the Rogue Sphinx integrated amp wkich has only a MM stage. This MM stage's output was low and with the Dynavector, I had to jack up the volume to above 2 o'clock to get loud.

Mofi, I am considering an AT 150MLX MM which is slightly used and on sale. However, this design cartridge engine is vintage 1997....and probably makes a difference when compared to the newer Ortofon 2M Bronze engine. The Bronze received only OK reviews compared to the less expensive models below, but also noted that it sounded better than the 2M Blue.

Again, the issue is compatibility with the Rega arm; I was warned by several members that it would be a BAD MATCH with Denon 103R.

Will take a look also at the new Clearaudio V2 MM which is about $300.00 (n0t the V2 Ebony which is about $1200 at retail.....way way above my pay scale Thanks to all who have respomded so far.

Johnny53, Thanks for the recommendationof the Exact 2. I have the P3-24 which came with a Elys 2 which got destroyed in transit to Hawaii. I then decided to take the plunge and buy a Dynavector 10X5. As I mentioned above, the Dyna was sold for both financial reasons and the misguided believe an MC wears faster than MM. I will check out the price on Exact 2

To Adam 18, You make a convincing argument for the Nagaoka MP150; however, it is an expensive cartridge. The lowest price I found was offered on Amazon at $325.00. However, the dealer seems unsure of its quality or its specs which makes me a bit gunshy to buy from him

On the other side of the coin, either the Ortofon Quintet and (new) Audio Techinica AT-7 are very low outputs. I was highly reommended the Schitt Mani II phono pre-amp which is about $129 with a 30 day trial period. However way you look at it. The Ortfon plus the Schitt would be 379.00. assuming I can buy the Ortofon Quintet for 250.00; The ATF7 is about $225 discounted, so with the Schitt box the total would be $354.00 . So all three setup are between the $325 to $379 range which is more than I want to spend for my analog rig which I might sell, and the 20 LPs which I like very much. Thank you for the comments..