Cartridge reccomdations?


Hi

ill be in the market for a cartridge upgrade by the end of summer so I'm looking for input. My tastes lean toward indie music such as Daughter, Belle and Sebastian, Cinerama, et cetera. I have a shelter 501 III and it's fantastic but if I can get better, I want to.  I've read that the Lyra Delos is a good cartridge for me. Any suggestions?
 Thanks!!!

128x128masterplan
@masterplan it’s very personal and system dependant when you are asking for a cartridge recommendations, i don’t think the genre of music play any imporant role for the cartridge to reproduce what’s on the record. The most important is you and your personal preferences in sound. No one will tell you what is the best cartridge. No one can read what is the best cartridge based on reviews, only trying different types (MM, MI, MF or MC) in our own system is the answer. It’s a great experience and going this way you can discover that "your best cartridge" is not the most expensive cartridge, it will surprise you. It can be a cartridge made 30-40 years ago. 
SHURE Ultra 500 sounds good everywhere, quote from David (dlaloum).
I couldn´t agree more, after nearly thirty years´ experience. Still reigns.
Masterplan - If you are happy with the sound of the Shelter 501 III - why not have Soundsmith retip it !

You could have it upgraded to the more advanced stylus profiles like the Shibata, Contact Line or O.C. Contact Line.

You’ll get more details than the elliptical profile provides while maintaining the current;"tone" of the Shelter.

You will need a very accurate protractor to setup the cartridge, like the Mint Tractor, but the investment is well worth it

Drawback - It can take about 6 weeks, but well worth the wait

I have a Denon DL103 and purchased the same cartridge from Soundsmith with the O.C. Contour Line stylus and the ruby cantilever for around $650 - the improvement was nothing short of amazing.

I’m now thinking of sending the old DL 103 cartridge for some of the same treatment to have as a spare (in case of accidents) Maybe I’ll try the Shibata profile with a boron cantilever, which I think might be a little more forgiving in setting up

Regards - Steve


Masterplan, I suspect that you would get far more bang for the buck by improving record cleaning first. Going from VPI 16.5 record cleaning to ultrasound was a bigger difference, for me, than going from high end MM to higher end Koetsu.

The added advantage of record cleaning is that you are likely to increase stylus life, because the grunge in the record groove tends to contain diamond dust. Or so I have read. YMMV
Hi,
You can't go wrong with a Lyra cartridge.  I have owned a Delos for several years and really enjoy its performance.  The diamond/cantilever assembly is manufactured by a company in Japan that makes scanning electron microscope tungsten tips so they know how to work in the micro world.  The Delos replaced a Benz Glider.  Both have a Boron cantilever, but different diamond stylus.  The Delos being a line contact, meaning the tip rides in the record groove at one small specific point.  The only hic up is 'fuzzing' of the paper belly cover.  Not a big deal.  
What type of phone stage do you have and can you select various gain/loading points?  What type of arm do you use?  Loading and Gain and arm mass are very important when selecting high end MC cartridges.   Give the people a call at 'the needle doctor', they can help you out.