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Cartridges - what have you owned and your opinion

Saw this on audiocircle and thought it may be fun to list some cartridges that you have owned and lived with and your opinion of them.
These are not reviews, just your observations of how they sound in your system.

Dynavector XV-1 - owned this since the turn of the century and my favorite cartridge of all time. Mainly due to its ability to sound natural and un hifi sounding. Slightly loose in the bass, and naturally detailed in the higher frequencies with nice dynamics.
- I load at between 100 and 250ohms and track at 2.05 grams. Currently getting rebuilt for the 3rd time.

Lyra Helikon - very detailed cartridge which tended to float from note to note, but ultimately a little too leading edge for my tastes so sold it a few years back.

Audio Technica OC9-II - closer sounding to the Helikon than the cheaper price should allow. The OC9 has terrific transparency and detail, but also smooth. Somewhat lean bass and incredible bargin for the price. Ultimately connects with my head more than my heart.
I load at 25 or 50ohms and track at 1.75 gms.

Denon 103R - another great cartridge, which in direct comparison to the OC9 sounds a little grey and grainy especially in the higher frequencies. But and a big but, it connects with the heart and has a very nice ripe bass with lovely mid range. lower treble can be a little etched. Overall a great little cartridge that is very musical and to the heart

Benz Ruby 2 - don't really have anything positive to say about this cartridge - grey, grainy, undynamic and unmusical.

Koetsu Rosewood - lovely musical sounding cartridge. Not as transparent as some cartridges, but has a nice robust sound which is quite pleasing to some mediocre recordings. Tracks adequate, but not as well as my other cartridges. Another cartridge which plays to the heart.
- Hates being loaded into a high primary transformer load of say my EAR 834 - 40 ohms. Impedance loading sounds nice around 100ohms.
downunder
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
cool idea for a thread. Nice setup btw !

Last 8 years has been all Lyra for me. Lydian beta for 2 years, then a helicon, now a Skala.

The Skala retains all the best traits of the Helicon, but seeminly lowers distortion (greater clarity) and adds warmth/weight through the entire frequency range. Very nice step up for me.
grimace
624 posts
 
Being relatively new to this I've only had two, but I liked both of them.

I started with a Shure M97xe which was super starter cartridge. Great timbres, warm sounding, and IMHO a terrific overall sound for a cartridge that only cost $50. Not a lot of resolution, but never offensive either.

I've since moved up to the Audio Technica OC-9, and I'd have to agree with Downunder. A very smooth player with a nice natural overall sound. It is, however, a little lean in the bass and a little cool sounding. While I enjoy the OC-9, in some ways I preferred the fatter sound of the M97.

I wouldn't switch back, but the next time I upgrade I'm going to look for a cartridge that adds some of the M97's warmth and fatness back into the sound.
gadfly's avatar
gadfly
194 posts
 
Grado Green: Muffled. The midrange voice, though, sounds very human but as if coming through a screen door.

Denon DL-110/160: Dynamic, exciting, like the Mummers. Lacking internal insight.

Ortofon MC5: Smooth and detailed but no soul.

Pickering TLS-2S: Warm, personable, warm, rock and roll. Soft around the middle but with fair extension on the top. I bet it would be greatly improved with a fine line stylus on a ruby cantilever. It has heart.

Ortofon 2M Red/Black: Sweet detail, lotta bass, real heart that swings. Nice midrange that is not as thick as the Pickering but has more presence, more 'reality'. Black takes it to the smoothest extreme detail-wise while the Red comes on with powerful impact and presence.

Denon DL-103: Stock - muffled and thick. Modded with wood body, potting, fine line stylus etc it has incredible impact and detail. Very open, seems "natural", whatever that may mean to anyone. The 2M Black is a bit compressed in comparison.
elinor's avatar
elinor
275 posts
 
I have owned two Benz Ruby 2s - Low Output - over the last 10 years. I have had those mounted in a Well Tempered TT and now a Raven AC w/Tri-Planar VII U2. First let me say that I never really knew what the cartridge could do until my Raven/Tri set-up. Obviously set-up is paramount in getting everything out of a cartride. We offer opinions on many cartridges, but we don't know if the reviewer has aligned the cartridge correctly. Bottom line, I think the Benz Ruby is far better than most people realize. It may lack some clarity and the bass might be a bit soft, but it does a lot musically very well. That said, I'm nearing the end of the life of my current model and I will probably look to another maker next time around.
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