Best MM?

Fourwnds, sometime you have to go against the wind; such is the case with Grado and this forum.


"More and more though I’m less interested in scratching that curiosity itch, maybe I’n gettin closer to finding my sound, or tired of blowing money, I don’t know."


Fourwnds, I would say all of the above. Although I would try a lot of things if it began raining money in my listening room, I don't expect that to happen.

On the serious side, I'm just enjoying my record collection immensely without thinking about anything other than how good the music sounds, and that's what I say to you;


Enjoy the music.

My question was exploratory, I have no intention to replace the Goldring for as long as I hear improvements in sound whenever I make changes somewhere else in the chain. Until the time comes to replace the stylus. Then I might try different cartridge and I might not.
The entire system must be in balance and tuned to one's liking. Besides, higher resolution cartridge will require better phono stage which in turn must blend in well with the rest.
Before choosing the Goldring I was thinking about Grado reference but decided to go with the former mostly because Nottingham cartridges, no longer made I understand, were customized Goldring, but also because Goldring 1042 seemed popular in the UK. I also read that Grado can be foggy. I like Grado headphone sound, but yes it is somewhat foggy. My turntable is on a warmer side, so are the speakers. I think, the Goldring fits right in, it is too on the warm side of neutral but not much and is quite dynamic and engaging, like Nottingham Spacedeck turntable.

Clearaudio maestro better than 2m black. Clearaudio also has new mm called Charisma at arouns$2000. Suppose to be very good, offers best attributes of mm and mc. I think this is now the top mm on the market. 

Modern MM cartridges for $2000 indicates how much modern manufacturers (ClearAudio) would like to earn on the sales by using cartridge generator made by Audio-Technica.

In fact, for a brand new MM, $2k is ridiculous price as the MM cartridges always were much cheaper than MC. And it should be cheaper, it’s different technology. Only in this crazy world where LOMC cost up to $15k the $2k MM looks cheaper, lol . 

It would be nice to explain in details which vintage MM/MI were beaten by that modern MM $2k cartridges ? I want to know the reference in MM category for the users of modern MM stuff.

My reference is Audio-Technica AT-ML180, Stanton SC-100 WOS, Glanz MFG-61, Victor X-1II, Grace LEVEL II BR/MR and Pioneer PC-1000 mkII. In my opinion these cartridges are unbeatable by any modern MM and much more reasonable priced on the used market. All these are highly competitive with $5k modern LOMC. in my opinion.

Again, in my opinion the real gems are on the vintage market.

Chakster, I recall seeing Stanton and Pickering on Jukeboxes in the days of old. Yes they were very good, but I don't recall seeing anybody sitting in front of a Jukebox trying to dial in a sound stage.

I get a 3D holographic sound stage with my Grado Master 2 cartridge. I don't recall anyone even mentioning "sound stage" in the "Golden Age" as you refer to it.

I have discovered cartridges to be highly competitive in regard to price; meaning that if the Clearaudio doesn't offer $2000 worth of sound, it won't last.

While different brands have different "house sounds", people who buy them feel they have something worth the price they paid for them.

The "Chrisma" costs more than this highly regarded MC, and whoever buys it figures it's worth the price; what I'm saying, is that the market place determines the price, and how much a cartridge is worth.

lyra Argo stereo MC phono cartridge. Medium output (0.5 mV), aluminum alloy body with boron cantilever.

$1,500.00