Some help please with Cartridge choices

Fair enough on the Lyra.  The most memorable demo I heard of one of their Atlas cartridges was about a decade ago now on an SME table and arm, ARC phono pre, D’Agastino separates driving Wilson Alexandria speakers. The system was set up by a Wilson rep and Dan D’Agostino, and Micheal Fremer was choosing the content.  Not a warmish system, but hello(!), it had the dynamics and presence of live performance. 

One of the cuts Fremer played was from a just released very high quality pressing of one of the Fleetwood Mac studio albums from the Buckingham-Nicks era, and that system captured how I remembered hearing it in concert, and I was again surprised at how hard that band could rock live. I shared that observation with Fremer after the demo and he said with a slight twinkle “1977, you can remember any of that, really?” And then he cracked up.  But I digress.

kn

I woke up thinking about the Lyra Atlas cartridge.

I only listened to two tracks, of interesting but totally unfamiliar music, so it is quite possible it was the content, not the cartridge that I found uninvolving.

Had I been paying more attention, I bet there was some familiar content I could have put on.

As I said, I knew instantly that it was a cut above, asked what it was, they told me it was Lyra Atlas, then I put my brain into listen to the cartridge mode.

I said feeble memory, I can remember the position of the TT against the window wall, and the location of the stacks of LPs on the left side in the room, but I don’t recall what room, what TT, who was playing it. Sorry, I should have realized at the time how rare a chance it was.

I hadn’t been to a show in a Long time. I was anticipating a crowded, hot, mess, crowded rooms and hallways like the old days.

@elliottbnewcombjr I bought one of the ART 750 ANV cartridges after Mikey Fremer ran his comparison and it beat everything else.  It had a diamond cantilever.  It was a good cartridge, but in truth I preferred my 2M Black, which I recently up graded to a 2M Black LVB when it needed a new stylus.  The ART 750 ANV is kicking around in a drawer somewhere, I've been kind of searching for it recently.  I think the stylus is shot though.  Anyway, if that world beater (yawn) is any indicator, a diamond cantilever is not so great.  It takes the sum of all the parts to make a great sounding cartridge.  It is not any one thing.  And every taste is unique too.

Wow Hana Unami Black is quite the recommendation. Starting you quite high...lol

I was going to suggest the Benz Micro who have a good range. I am currently using a Benz Wood LPS paired with a Reed 2G Ebony tonearm on my TT Zet-3 and a Benz Wood SL on my Marantz connected on an MC high setting on my Phono preamp. Not sure what the actual quantitative measurement is though. LPS is good choice and could save a few bucks compared to the Hana that was suggested. I love the sound of Benz product as it appeals to me. I have used Ortofon but found that up and down the line, the sound to be on the clinical even a tad harsh sound compared to the much more musical and rounded characteristics of the Benz line.

Bill, Don't know about your ART750ANV, but I have a Dynavector 17D3, which also has a diamond cantilever, however tiny it may be.  I don't brag about the 17D3 here, but it is really great. I have had it on my Viv Float in my Beveridge system and now in a Reed 2A in my Atma-sphere/Sound Lab system. In each very different environment, it excels.  I guess the current version is 17DX.  I don't know the cost of the 17DX, but the D2 and the subsequent D3 were very good values at under $2K. I am not going to claim that the excellence of the 17D3 is due to its diamond cantilever, just offering it up as an example.