favorite phono cartridge

I do not own one. But If I were to chose then a Van Den Hul the Crimson would be a contender. Or a Clearaudio Gold finger. Both well out of my budget.

+1 Sdcampbell on the Statement 1. I never would have imagined how beautiful this cartridge sounds. I got mine 2 years ago as a throw-in on a Scoutmaster I bought here on Agon. It was attached to the arm and the seller did not want to take it off to tell me what model it was, so he guessed it must be one of the cheaper woodies. It is just so much nicer than all the big Benzes and other MCs I have been playing for 30 years.

Mr Campbell, I noticed in your system that you have yours feeding a JC3+. Are you using the MM or the MC side for it? I had no choice as My Thor only supports MC @47k. It has never made me want more controls to change, but I am curious how other Grado Statement 1 lovers set thiers up.

Hi Mcbuddah. The JC3+ has three settings: MC, MM, and a "hybrid" setting specifically for lower output moving iron (MI) cart's such as Grado's and Soundsmith. What this setting provides is the 47K ohm loading common to MM cart's with the gain needed by MC cart's, and it's the setting I use with my Grado S1.

1960s Decca (London) FFSS Mk IV C4E, rebuilt by John Wright, current London cartridge designer. Just a stunningly live cartridge with great dynamics.

I'm putting together my last (considering my age) record player right now, and I'm back where I started years ago, with a Decca (er, London). Not for everyone!