DENON DL-304. Is it the bargain sound or not?

Hi Del,
That was quick. The MP-500 is said to be better than an MP-50. I haven't heard it but the 50 is a nice cart. The 500 is probably fuller sounding than the 150MLX. The 150 is a very good cart, but you might have to load it down like the 304. This would be resistors somewhere between 100K and 300K. It's hard to predict results. It's very dependant on system and taste. The Ortofon 2M Black is held in high regard. Here it's around $660. If you're thinking of a Grado it might be worth it to consider a Sonata. It's said to be a nice improvement over lesser models. It's $600. You could get a nice Clearaudio for that money too. The AT7V is relatively inexpensive and would be a terrific value. It's sweeter sounding than the 150MLX. It might not be quite as detailed. In Europe I believe it's around $200. At LpGear on the net, it's $129.

If you want to save money you should consider a used MM. Most have a user replaceable stylus. As long as it's working properly, a new stylus will make it sound as new. A caution about buying a vintage cart - sometimes a new stylus is unavailable. You should check this out before buying. There are many nice models of current and older models that come up for sale. You could pose the question on the long "Who needs a MM" thread. I'm sure you'll get some good recommendations.
Regards,

I get great results on my SL1210M5G with an Audio Technica AT150MLX. I use KAB's fluid damper and LP Gear's ZuPreme headshell. It's very extended and linear, and extracts more detail from the groove than I ever thought possible at this price. Pretty easy load on a MM preamp if you can keep the capacitance between 100 and 200 pF, preferably (IME) 150.

Fleib & Johnnyb53, thanks both of you for your interesting and for your answers.
I must test some of these cartridges in my system, to have a conclusion. Most of all I am considering to test the Grado, Clearaudio & AT.

About the solution of vintage carts that Fleib mentioned, I think that is a better solution to buy one of these. The older tech of those MM carts may be better than the newest ones. I suppose that a Shure V15 or a Technics EPC-100C Mk3 are very nice solutions.
The point is, as you mention, the condition of the needle. May be the better way to have a new needle is Jico with SAS technology.

I have a Shure M91ED cartridge with an original NOS needle, that I bought it a week ago. The sound compared to Denon DL-160, has some "points".
This cart plays better in low & middle frequencies, but is disappointing at highs. Do you think is a good start, to buy a SAS replacement needle from Jico for M91ED? Is this a better solution, or I must buy a new one from those you mentioned, to have better results from the combination of Shure M91ED – Jico SAS?

The biggest mistake for those loading a cartridge down is to rely on using resistors to load the cart but does not account for the gain. The transformed impedance of the SUT's affects the gain needed for the cartridge to match well. That is the reason why said 1:36 SUT!!! if you have a 1:10(14 db) SUT and you keep on lowering the load down by means of resistors, you are in for a very big disappointment, guaranteed. You can look at it electrically thru analyzing a voltage divider circuit behaving on AC signal. Realize that as soon as the load of the cart equals to that of it's internal impedance, the output it can generate is halved!

But of course, you do not have to worry about that now.