Ortofon Super OM10 or Sumiko Pearl cartridge?

A-goner Ferrari had really nice things to say about the Pearl over in the Reviews section.

Another possibility: Why not go with the new Ortofon 2M series? The 2M Red is at your budget max and represents the next generation in Ortofon's development.

And then there's the Audio Technica AT440MLa, commonly available below $100 in the last half of 2007, but is hard to find at that price now. If you could, though, it'd be worth it for features you never see at this price--nude square shank Microline stylus and single-crystal OCC internal wiring. In fact, that would easily make it worth the $150 available through Amazon.

I will say this: I limited myself to sub $100 cartridges for the first 6 months after getting back into vinyl (Shure M97xE and Ortofon OM10). Then I got the $180 Denon DL-160. My feeling now is that life is too short to not have at least a Denon DL-110 or DL-160. Every once in awhile (including yesterday) I'll remount one of the other cartridges for a sanity check (it's not a big deal--I have detachable universal headshells for each cart), and it's just no contest. The DL-160 is better in every possible way--tracking, frequency extension, linearity, dynamic resolution, smoothness, and transparency. You don't even really know what's going on in the bass with anything less.

Well, maybe the Pearl; I have no experience, but read Ferrari's review. There are also reviews over there of the Denon DL-110 and DL-160, Grado Black, Goldring Electra, and Shure M97xE.

03-15-08: Patrick_odonnell
...although given how glowing that Sumiko Pearl review is, I might have to give it another shot - especially since now that I think about it, I might be thinking of the Oyster.

If you read the whole Pearl thread, you'll see a comment that places the Oyster and Pearl in entirely different categories.

But if you read the DL-110 and DL-160 reviews, you'll see that these Denon HOMCs absolutely run away from the $100 pack. To me they're easily worth the higher cost, even to the point of going without records for another 2-4 wks to save up the additional money.

03-15-08: Patrick_odonnell
What about the DL-160 vs. the AT440MLa?

I personally have no direct comparison experience, but Ed Kobesky, who wrote the A'gone review of the Denon DL-160, had this to say:

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve liked other cartridges, too. The Audio-Technica 440ML is the greatest $99 cartridge in analog today, with a natural sound, sophisticated dual-moving magnet design and a competition-crushing MicroLine stylus. The Benz Micro MC20E2 is another bargain at $175, with effortless musicality but without the Denon’s fine stylus. And the Grado Green, at just $60, has probably opened more minds to quality analog than any other cartridge. But of all the cartridges I’ve tried, the Denon is the one that packs the most musical punch for the buck.

03-16-08: Marntz4me
...As for the Denon or the Benz Micro cartridges, I am limited to moving magnet types because of my Bellari preamp. I play rock on my turntable; so it would be nice to find a cartridge that empasizes more bass....

The new Ortofon 2M series carts (including the $99 Red) are known for strong, tight bass.

Also, before dismissing the Denon DL-110/160, remember that these are high output moving coil carts; they typically put out about 2.2mV. I plug mine directly into the MM input of my preamp with good results. Different preamps demand different outputs, however. I recommend you call a Bellari or Denon vendor to see if 30dB gain is sufficient for the DL-110/160 output, because otherwise, it's the perfect cartridge for what you're looking for. The bass clarity, extension, and linearity is well beyond what I expected for $180, and I enjoy listening to rock more than I did before. It's also superb on electro-acoustic folk/rock/country and jazz, whether acoustic or electric fusion.

So... if you get the Bellari fixed and it means your cartridge is all right, when it's time to upgrade you'll get the biggest performance improvement for the least hassle & cost by replacing the stylus with an OM20 stylus.