Best cheap cartridge for college student

Dual worked directly with Ortofon on a line of cartridges called the "Concorde". These were specifically designed to integrate well with their arms. The name came from the shape of the cartridge, which somewhat resembled the jet of the same name. The OM series was the commercial equivalent of the Concorde line as designed to work with other makes & models of turntanbles.

By purchasing the lower cost Super OM-10, one can upgrade to a Super OM- 30 by simply swapping in a new stylus. This allows one to start cheap and then upgrade as one desires should they decide to stick with playing vinyl. The use of such a cartridge takes any guesswork out of the cartridge / arm matching equation, allows pretty solid performance with a minimal investment and even keeps the door open for future upgrades at reduced cost. Sean
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PS... You might want to check around on price. I linked to the Needle Doctor as their website typically provides a good amount of info about the product.

I have a couple of NOS Grados(older brown/tan plastic bodies).One is new, the other has a few hours.They sound great and I will donate them to a good home.I ask only that shipping is paid.I will not be able to ship until 1/4/04.

Larry

the shure or at440ML for about $90, good tracker, bass, mids, top. the grado COULD hum with a dual.

aka hifitommy

I had a Shure M97xE on my first "good/cheap" TT, an early AR ES-1 with Linn Basik arm (I paid $35for it!). The Shure did fine. I still have it around as my spare cart. I'd recommend it--it should work fine in that setup, and the little brush can be good for someone who might not care for their records properly. Mine picked up plenty of dust bunnies before I got a VPI RCM. FWIW, I was in college when I got the Shure ;)

Like tommy says, watch out for humming Grados.

Thanks for all the great input. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!