MM, MC, or MI cartridge

One factor often cited for MC pickups is wider band width due to low inductance. But this is due to fewer coil turns which gives low inductance AND low output. MMs almost always have many more coil turns AND higher output. But there have been MMs with fewer turns AND lower output. The Technics EPC 100 MK4 is an example with FLAT response to at least 80kHz if i Recall correctly(meaning the high end resonance is even higher) and yet it still has 1 mv output which means you can use a good MM phono stage; you don't need a high gain MC type phono stage.

rvpiano, that's good. Now ask us about upgrading your table and arm and phono stage. You will get recommendations of almost all available brands, guaranteed. 

@mglik 

What about moving iron cartridges??

I have always been interested in the legendary London Decca Reference cart.

I currently use a Lyra Atlas SL. Hard to imagine a $5250 London beats the $13K Lyra.

But the. London reviews all say it produces “scary real”.

Anyone have experience with one?

The only real attraction to the Decca cart is that it is a “tip sensing” cart. Not much to do with it being an MI cart. I wrote about MI carts earlier in this thread^^^^^^.
 

The Decca cart reads the stylus movement from close to the stylus. It has a short vertical cantilever tied with a string; the string is the damper to kill resonance in the short vertical cantilever. Not a user-replaceable stylus. 
 

The 1960 GE VR1000 is another phenomenal MI cartridge that is also tip-sensing. Fact is, it’s the only tip-sensing stereo cartridge with a user-replaceable stylus. It reads the stylus movement at the actual stylus, more than the Decca does. Tip-sensing cartridges have a very unique sound! Not bright, but very dynamic and emphatic. Because it doesn’t read from the opposite end of the cantilever, it loses no energy to the long cantilever or into the suspension; all other cartridges do. Until you hear a true tip-sensing stylus you’ll never hear how much energy, dynamics, and FR energy is lost to the cantilever! It’s amazing to hear the stylus in the groove, AT THE GROOVE, and how much more information there is in the grooves. It’s like having a “dynamics amplifier” in your system. Once you hear a record “from the stylus”, NOT from the other end of a long cantilever (MC, MM, MI all have this problem!) you’ll never want to go back to them.

rvpiano

My personal preference is MI - I have had various MC cartridges with good phono stages and have struggled to get the rich tonality and PRAT that I prefer. The most recent MC cartridge was a Kiseki Purple Heart which everyone said was a  great cartridge with rich tonality - I found it shrill in the high frequencies - an aspect I have found with other MC cartridges and has been commented on in hifi press. Currently have a Grado MI cartridge and am delighted to have found the sound I like with great silent tracking - for me MI is a hybrid between the richness of MM and the detail of MC.

+1 rauliruegas

...on the same wavelength as you...