Blue Point No. 2 on a RB250

I put a Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 on my NAD 533 (with RB250 arm) and was not impressed with the sound. It was OK. Not great. I put an Audio Technica technicraft cartridge on the same table and the sound was much beter then the Sumiko. Put the Sumiko on a Thorens TD 125 MKII with the TP-16 arm and it sounded great. My experience FWIW.

From what I've read, Roy Gandy, CEO of Rega and prime mover behind the Rega RB tonearm series, is not fond of Sumiko high output moving coil carts. Gandy is a bit eccentric in some of his views and would have a strong opinion about his own cartridges designed for his tonearms (e.g., Elys, Exact).

The Rega 3-pt. mount MM carts screw right onto the RB tonearms and need no fidgety alignment process. I've heard the Exact on a P5 (or P7, forget which) and it was quite synergistic.

Another cart that reminds me of the Exact but can be had for less and of course requires standard mounting and alignment is the Audio Technica AT150MLX. You can currently get it for $325 from LPGear.

The BP2 sounds good (sometimes very good) on lightweight arms. For the medium mass RB250 I don't think it's a good match, it sounds noticeably less open.

Thanks for your responses. One thing (of many) that confuses me is that, according to the formular at this site:

http://www.theanalogdept.com/cartridge___arm_matching.htm

when I plug and chug the numbers, the BP2 should be a better match on the rega than the Ortofon om 20 I'm using.

But my main motivation is improvement of the somewhat forward and dry sound I get with my current setup. I guess the BP2 would be the wrong direction.