No cartridge is good enough.

Interestingly enough, some people here try to avoid the subject, including Atmasphere.
Infection, there is a number of great set-ups, that's not the point. By the way, for that kind of money I wouldn't even bother with vinyl - I would get Studer reel deck and buy master dubs. Not an easy thing to do but good money would buy cooperation, believe you me.

Inna, in order to appreciate the full potential of your desired cartridge you need a highly resolving set-up, so don't even consider cartridges until that is addressed.

Inna:

But we are.

Remember what the purpose of the LP was in the first place. The distribution of music to the masses. That job, whether audiophiles like it or not, has passed to the digital domain. No one is talking about going back to LPs for mass distribution of music, just a blu-ray is not giving way to laser disc. If music was widely available at a real 24 bit/96K digital we would not be talking about LPs any longer.

And if ultimate sound quality is the real goal, then why not 1/2" tape at 30 ips?

As far as archive issues go, you don't need a laser system. A decent phono cartridge is just fine. How often does the Smithsonian play these archived records anyway?

Your premise (the thread's title) is faulty as is your logic about using a laser. A rock at the end of a stick is extremely effective at tracing the grooves on a semi-solid slab of processed decomposed organic matter.

Onhwy61, you could further show your enlightenment by starting a necrophilic thread. Best wishes.