Help me choose a MC Cartridge


It's been years since I have looked at buying a new cartridge.  I want to make sure that the new cartridge works well with my SME M-2 9 arm.  Again I am looking for a LOMC cartridge.  Budget range $1,500 - $3000.   Thanks in advance for any recommendations.

bobheinatz

I’ve owned a bunch from my first Pickering a million years ago, to Audio-Technica, Van den Hul, and an amazing Lyra Etna on the upper end, but I’ve found Ortofon to never let me down in terms of sound, quality, and value.    The Cadenza Bronze (0.4 mV) has always been my go-to fallback cart.    When I worked at a US turntable manufacturer I even discovered that their low-end 2M line of MM carts punched above their weight, for folks buying entry-level tables.    Happy hunting.   

I like Ortofon cartridges too.  The Cadenza Bronze is an excellent suggestion for someone looking for a warmer sounding cartridge.  It is hard to find good sounding warm cartridges now that Koetsu has passed.  This is an excellent recommendation as the OP seems to like the brand.

I have that exact arm on an Avid Volvere turntable with the Hana ML and have been very pleased. I run it through a Hegel V10 phono stage. This cart and arm are a really good compliance match.