Which Mono Cartridge at around $1,300.00?

I've seen some of the Lyra mono cartridges selling for retail and although obviously considered a gold standard, they seemed far out of my price range. Just recently, I've noticed there being a $1,600.00 plus price tag on the Dorion cartridge and I'm having some trouble locating a price and vendor for the Helikon. Another alternative might be to purchase a Grado Statement Sonata for $565.00 and then start saving for the the better Lyra, thus selling the Grado after acquiring the Lyra. My personal view is that cartridge prices are inflated and that there is little in the way of discounts regardless of the maker or the model.

It's interesting to note that some but clearly not all MC cartridges emphasize using a step up transformer. I in ways view using the transformers as something necessary in the past however not so much with today's cartridges. Anyway, this is a consideration when deciding which mono cartridge might be the best; should I spend money on a cartridge and a transformer too?

Miyajima is a cartridge that I had never even considered and don't know much about however I'll look into it. It seems from what others have said on past blogs, that a good MC mono cartridge will be built as a 2 channel mono cartridge versus a stereo cartridge that was shortened into one channel. This factor exponentially increases the cost of a cartridge. As well, I've always understood that a good low output MC cartridge will easily be within the $1400.00 range. The raved about Ortofon Cadenza mono is listed at about this price. And, I like the idea of the Ortofon Cadenza with the exception that it supposedly performs better on narrow grooves than it does on the earlier wide grooves.

OK Lewm, fair enough, I will follow the above advice from Syntax as I'm already certain that he's far more knowledgeable in this area than I am. I also trust his Lyra recommendation but will have to work in the diamond mines to afford one. However you ask, why are mono cartridges that are built from the ground up as mono cartridges more expensive; I'm guessing because they typically sound better than other alternatives but I cannot say for certain.

Thanks Jonathan and everyone else for that matter. The $1,600.00 price tag for the Dorion Mono comes from a search engine entry and could be due to the fact that it's out of production. I wish not to cite the name of the website out of discretion. Also, I'm sorry Lewm for not clarifying better but my cost comparisons were within competing mono cartridges, those which clearly state that they are 'true' mono cartridges (i.e. the Lyra) and those who do not. This I realize, is still very vague since I am not giving the names nor the technical specifications of those cartridges that I am cross referencing. I want to say however that coming from a pragmatic and aesthetic description of qualities that I've read from the various competing mono cartridges, the Lyra mono cartridges are the most appealing. All of my records are from the mid 1940's through to the late 1950's. Many of these platters, for example my ARCHIVE PRODUCTIONS vinyl, weighs in at 180 grams and many have never been played. Those that I own with the seals broken, were most likely played only a few times. The rest of the vinyl that I own which I'm willing to put on the turntable, might have a few surface marks but will not effect the sound. I'm very fortunate to have come across classical mono vinyl obtained in estate sales and then sold to a friend of mine who in turn sells them to me for a song.

My skepticism lies in the idea of purchasing a MC cartridge below a standard price point. I'm not skeptical of the Miyajima Premium Mono however but nevertheless am entertaining the idea of a slight upgrade within a MM mono cartridge until I'm capable of breaking the bank. Podeschi, would you mind giving me that distributers contact info and URL?

I can't find a price on the Audio-Technica's AT33MONO

I found a price for the AT33 at $445.00. I'll admit that at this price it certainly is tempting.

Thanks for the info Podeschi and thank you Jonathan for the recapitulation concerning the Ortofon SPU mono. The only hesitation I have about the Ortofon SPU however, is how well it is or isn't suited for my Thorens tonearm. The Grado cartridges seem attractive for the price as well but either way, I can then relax and begin saving for the Lyra Titan Mono and a new tonearm!

' it will also work with a mono cartridge of that ilk.' I think ilk being the operative word in your statement as not all cartridges are created equal, which is the point of this discussion or so I thought.

To clarify things a bit more and maybe I should have done this earlier but here are the specifications from the ASR Website;

The ASR Mini Basis Phono preamp has the following features :
 The case is made from high-quality, lightly transparent acrylic glass
 Highly efficient, shielded 72 VA PM (Philbert Mantelschnitt) transformer
 High-quality magnetic sheet metal with a low magnetic field gives good dynamic
 Ultra fast Schottky-Rectifier, buffer 200,000 uF with Philips switchmode Elkos
 Very fast

Thanks Lewm, I didn't mean to sound snarky, Below is the best that I could copy and paste from the phono stage manual. By the way, there are no separate inputs for MM & MC, just the way it's put together. As a side note, I've always had a basic understanding that low output cartridges tended to sound better than high output cartridges. Yes, the idea here is to see whether or not my phono stage and tonearm are a good match for a particular cartridge.

3.0 Adjusting the ASR Mini-Basis
Before you do any adjustments inside the ASR Mini-Basis please disconnect the power cord from the AC outlet.
a)  to adjust the ASR Mini-Basis, please remove the cover of the main unit. Please use a 3 mm allen wrench to loose the four screws
b)  inside the main unit you find four DIP switches to adjust the ASR Mini-Basis
c)  in input resistance can be adjusted at the 10 pole DIP switches
d)  the gain can be adjusted at the 6 pole DIP switches
d) the DIP switches have two different settings: „ON“ or „OFF“; be sure, that the switches are correctly set (when set correctly, you will hear a slight „klick“)
c) please set the DIP switches exactly the same for the right and the left channel

3.1 Adjusting the input resistance
The ASR Mini-Basis can be perfectly adjusted to bring out the best sound out of every cartridge you may ever use. Adjustment of the input resistance can be made from 47 kOhms for MM cartridges to 12 Ohms for low output MC cartridges.
We know from experience that if you are using an adjustment with a lower input resistance the ambiance is improved with limited dynamics, with a higher input resistance the overall performance is brighter and more dynamic, but definition and precision are limited.
You can easily find out the perfect setting for you: make an adjustment and listen to the system.
The adjustment you like best is the one you should choose!


3.2 U Adjusting the input capacity
The input capacity can be adjusted on DIP switch No. 10: position „Off“ = 50pF, „On“ = 150pF.
You can easily determine the value for your cartridge by using the cartridge manufacturer’s recommended value and subtract the capacity of the phono cable you are going to use –
the result is the value you have to adjust in your ASR Mini Basis.

3.3 Adjusting the gain
The gain can easily be adjusted on the 6 fold DIP switches „Gain Adjust“. The switches can be combined to get higher gain. The minimal gain of +30 dB is obtained with all Dip switches in OFF, the Maximum gain of +72 dB is obtained by putting all DIP switches to „ON“.
To know the adjusted gain please add the following values to 30 dB :
switchNo.„ON“ none 6 5 4 3 2 1 All1-6 Gain 0dB +6dB +12dB +18dB +24dB +30dB +36dB +42dB
Please set the DIP switches exactly the same for the right and the left channel (only exception from this rule: your cartridge has different output from the right and left channel).

Thanks Pryso and point well taken. Of course subjectivity is limiting in the sense that I am unable to purchase 30 cartridges (excuse the hyperbole) audition them all out by comparison and then choose the one that I like best. I cannot even begin to tell you how many hours I had spent reading reviews and specifications before deciding on which amplifier and speakers to purchase. Maybe I'm guilty of trying to dodge grunt work by posting on this site but there is a wealth of information from various perspectives to be had here. In the long term, my intuition tells me to aim for one of the Lyra mono cartridges but I cannot live with this ME+ for that long. Some of the Grado wood bodied MI mono cartridges have gotten rave reviews for their price range and in this case, I would choose one of the low output cartridges (Output at 1KHz 5CM/sec. 0.5mV). But then there are other options, such as the Ortofon SPU MC mono for example. Now it seems as if my approach is to compare the advantages and disadvantages of MM, MI, MC etc... within a somewhat narrow window of affordability knowing that my plan is yet to upgrade once again at some later point in time.

I concur, I like my Mini Basis and what's it has done so far. ASR makes a nice amplifier also. I'll look at the Audio Technica 33 but it doesn't seem as though 2nd hand mono cartridges present themselves whenever I'm looking. I just take it for granted that they're somewhat of a rare breed to begin with. Being candid, I don't want to spend money on a SUT. I'd first take that money and put a tube circuit board in my MD 90 tuner.

Decouple the cartridge you say, yikes! I do have a friend who worked with a McIntosh dealer back in the day who has all kinds of weird stories concerning things like splitting head shells, attaching cartridges with soldered pot metal, running tonearm wire along the top of the tonearm, ... Anyway, things I have no knowledge or familiarity with.

Right dead on Lewm. It's even recommended by ASR engineer Herr Schaefer that one uses the least amount of gain possible in order to reduce noise which to me just seems like practical sense. For my ears, I want clarity, balance, neutrality but I don't want sound waves blaring and bouncing around in my flat. Currently with the Grado ME+, I have the gain set at +12 db which I thought would be too high but it was at that setting when the music came out from under its rock. There is nothing to gain (no pun intended) by increasing it. I'm that way with my QUAD 2905's as well, once I step up to that place then its fine.

There is a book called 'Audio Reality' by Bruce Rozenbilt which was recommended. I just wanted to put that out there. Personally, I find that one of the biggest obstacles, at least now, is that a number of vinyl pressings, especially the older RCA Red Seal Records and those on London didn't transfer very well. I'm guessing that this is more of a challenge for some cartridges than it is for others?