MM Cartridge or MC Cartridge

Check with Soundsmith about repairing your cartridge. The MM/MC debate is endless; the last time I looked a current thread on it was past 3500 posts. I like MC but MM is also good. I have an insane amount of money in audio equipment but have never paid more than $400 for a MC cartridge and yes, I have heard $6000 ones. A favorite of mine is the AT 33 EV at $399.99 from J&R. An internet reviewer also uses it along with a $5000 cartridge and hasn't found much difference between them. You have already found out the best reason for not putting large amounts of money in cartridges ; another is there is a very steep curve in price/performance ratio above a few hundred dollars. I have no doubt that the ultra expensive cartridge sound better but HOW MUCH BETTER? The current Ortofon MMs are also good as are the classic ones sometimes offered; the choice is so wide that being specific is impossible without knowing your taste and system. MC or MM , the choice as pointed out by Bsme85 depends largely on your tone arm as well as the rest of your system.

Agree with Audiofeil.

In my system, which is optimized for LOMC's, I've yet to hear one which costs less than ~$2K significantly outplay several sub-$200 MMs. An LOMC that costs ~$600 would be a waste of money IME. For the same money I could buy 3 superior MM's or one MM and $400 worth of other goodness.

Not saying LOMCs aren't worth having. I listen to one every day. But it costs a fair bit of money and effort to get the performance they're capable of. In addition to $2K+ for a worthy cartridge, you need a more capable tonearm, phono stage and in fact everything.

What really good LOMC's provide that MM's and lesser MC's cannot is very low level detail. That kind of information is easily blocked or distorted by even one problematic link in the chain. There's little point feeding more information into a system that can't reproduce it accurately and it can easily make things worse, as the many threads complaining of "sibilance with my new LOMC" demonstrate. The problem is almost never with the cartridge, it's with some other component that can't handle what the cartridge produces. Tonearms and phono stages are the usual culprits, but the problem can be anywhere.

A high end cartridge should be your last upgrade, not your first. Dealers (unlike Audiofeil) who push these high margin products without regard for customer results don't want to admit this, but it's true.

Find a good used Shure V15 and throw A Jico SAS replacement cartridge on it and forget about it........or Pickup a new Shure 97XE and and put on a Jico SAS Stylus ( around $200 total investment ) ...

02-18-11: Thorman
Find a good used Shure V15 and throw A Jico SAS replacement cartridge on it and forget about it........or Pickup a new Shure 97XE and and put on a Jico SAS Stylus ( around $200 total investment ) ...

+1! Other contenders:

- Audio Technica AT150MLX
- Ortofon 2M Bronze or Black
- Wood-bodied Grado
- Goldring 10x2 or G 2x00 series
- Nagaoka MP-300 or MP-500
- Clearaudio Maestro/Virtuoso/Aurum MM carts

With the proliferation of all things vinyl these days, there is a great selection of very high quality MM cartridges in the $300-600 range. And some of them (Audio Technica, Ortofon, Goldring) have user-replaceable stylii. Pay attention to your arm's effective mass vs. the weight and compliance of each cartridge to come up with the best combination for your tonearm.

My #1 is an AT150MLX, but I'm thinking about getting a Jico stylus for my M97xE as a backup.

I agree with a number of Johnnyb53's suggestions. You can figure out the tone arm effective mass and cartridge mass and complaince questions by referring to Vinyl Engine.

Also, I own both the Grado Sonata ($500) and the Clear Audio Virtuoso Wood ($550-$600). IMHO, the V Wood sounds better than the Grado Sonata, but both are very good. If you're "spoiled" by the CA Maestro, you might consider the V Wood.

I also heard and read great things about the Ortofon 2M Black ($559). It's supposed to be a super cartridge.

I'll leave the MC/MM debate to others.

Good luck.