Phono Cartridges - Your favorites and least favorites?

dansomeone said:
I like it, got a terrific deal from Juno in the UK. My impressions are similar to yours. It replaced a Gold3, which was very musical/pleasant. The two carts are similar, although the E3 is a little bolder and more detailed, with tighter bass than the Gold3, which was a little more laid-back and forgiving. And the E3 does seem to track better, maybe because it was very easy to set up correctly? Oddly, although the E3 specs indicate a lower output than the Gold3, the E3 is louder at the same volume setting on my amp. Overall I agree, the E3 packs a punch that I really enjoy, especially for the price. And I chose it over the 95ML precisely because I found such a good deal.
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I gotta say, the more I listen, the more I enjoy the immediacy it presents. It’s very energetic while not being fatiguing in the slightest.
 
I’m currently having a hate/hate relationship with this damn Hana SL. It was an utter bastard to connect to the headshell and now the pins are so thin the headshell wires keep falling off. I’ll get there but when I do this thing better sound really fucking good because I’m pretty annoyed right now 😂
 
Make that hate hate hate! Why the fuck to they need to make the terminals so damn narrow that the connectors won’t grip! I’m ready to murder something here!
 
budley007 said:
Crap! Audio Nirvana is on hold.

Seriously, looking forward to your impressions. I'm considering the Hana SL for a Christmas gift from my wife. She doesn't know it yet.
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Yeah it’s meant to be a gorgeous cartridge, can’t wait to hear it. That said I’m thinking the ML is worth €500 more just for the captive nuts…

Just struggling to find somewhere outside of the uk to sell me the counterweight right now.

It’s a good job I’m busy this week/weekend after tonight so wouldn’t have been spinning anyway 😂
 
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Joe Mac said:
Yeah it’s meant to be a gorgeous cartridge, can’t wait to hear it. That said I’m thinking the ML is worth €500 more just for the captive nuts…

Just struggling to find somewhere outside of the uk to sell me the counterweight right now.

It’s a good job I’m busy this week/weekend after tonight so wouldn’t have been spinning anyway 😂
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Pro move is just to stick some putty to the cartridge to weigh it down a bit and allow you to use your heavier counterweight in the meanwhile.
 
kvetcha said:
Pro move is just to stick some putty to the cartridge to weigh it down a bit and allow you to use your heavier counterweight in the meanwhile.
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That’s actually a good call, I was just stressed and grumpy with the finicky thing lol! The damn thing wouldn’t even work with my weighted ez mount screws which would have fixed it all, they’re too short!

I have a packet of blu tack lying around somewhere.
 
Joe Mac said:
Make that hate hate hate! Why the fuck to they need to make the terminals so damn narrow that the connectors won’t grip! I’m ready to murder something here!
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I didn't have this much of an issue with this cart, are you doing it with one hand behind your back? ;)

Seriously though, this was pretty straight forward both times I mounted it. My most annoying thing is keeping the nut from turning, but I got around that by putting a small piece of electrical tape over each "slot" touching the nut, then I could hold both sides of the cart with my finger and thumb and get them snug.

Now I'm afraid to hear what you think of the cart, lol

PS: All phono cartridges should have threaded bodies.
 
AnthonyI said:
I didn't have this much of an issue with this cart, are you doing it with one hand behind your back? ;)

Seriously though, this was pretty straight forward both times I mounted it. My most annoying thing is keeping the nut from turning, but I got around that by putting a small piece of electrical tape over each "slot" touching the nut, then I could hold both sides of the cart with my finger and thumb and get them snug.

Now I'm afraid to hear what you think of the cart, lol

PS: All phono cartridges should have threaded bodies.
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It’s the groove that the nut goes in and first time I was trying to use the ez mount screws which are shorter. It is the biggest pain in the arse to fit that I’ve used though, even the Grado prestige was less fiddly! I’m sure I’ll like how the thing sounds, we do generally seem to like gear with similar qualities!
 
Joe Mac said:
It’s the groove that the nut goes in and first time I was trying to use the ez mount screws which are shorter. It is the biggest pain in the arse to fit that I’ve used though, even the Grado prestige was less fiddly! I’m sure I’ll like how the thing sounds, we do generally seem to like gear with similar qualities!
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I found if you flip it upside down, remove the guard, drop the nuts in and replace the guard to hold them in place before trying to mount it makes it easier...............although, it shouldn't be that big of a chore in the first place. I'm sorry it's not starting off well :(
 
AnthonyI said:
I found if you flip it upside down, remove the guard, drop the nuts in and replace the guard to hold them in place before trying to mount it makes it easier...............although, it shouldn't be that big of a chore in the first place. I'm sorry it's not starting off well :(
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Yeah look it was a mixture of that and supposedly Grado use a much thicker pin so it stretches the contacts out. Involved pliers and trial and error to do that bit first. Oh well. It’s on now and I’ve put some blu tack on so here we go!
 
Just listening to In Rainbows now, the discbox is a test record for me!

Oh ok, there is even more detail there, I liked this pressing a lot already!

Also the bass is much sharper and taut without losing any depth. I think electronic music could be a lot of fun with it!

@Mather I think you’d dig this cartridge if you ever fancy playing with LOMC.
 
Joe Mac said:
Just listening to In Rainbows now, the discbox is a test record for me!

Oh ok, there is even more detail there, I liked this pressing a lot already!

Also the bass is much sharper and taut without losing any depth. I think electronic music could be a lot of fun with it!

@Mather I think you’d dig this cartridge if you ever fancy playing with LOMC.
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It's on my short list along with the Art9. But I just replaced my Black stylus so it'll be a bit...
 
I threw this over in the equipment thread, but I’m in the market for a new Stylus/Cartridge. I’m next in line for the Darlington Tour ‘21, so if I like that it’ll slide into my pre-amp spot.

Next is stylus. I’ve got an Ortofon 2m Blue with an estimate of about 200-250 hours on it. I’m not sure if I want to buy another stylus for it, or if I want to try something new. Looking to spend less than $500. I love the mid-range sounds with it. Guitar sounds great, and the bass is nice, but not too much, which I like. But the highs (like cymbal hits and things) are a little flat to me. This could be other weaknesses in my setup, I’m sure, but wondering what Cartidges I should look into to get the most bang for my Buck right now.

I have a Fluance RT-85, but recently switched over to a Denon DP-A100 that was gifted to me.

I thought about buying another Denon cartridge for the Denon (this one has a broken stylus), but the Darlington might not work with a MC cartridge and I’m not sure I have the right setup to slide in the Bellari MT502 step up transformer that was given to me with the turntable.

What should I look into that would play nice with my setup?

I’ve read this thread and the Grado Gold3, Opus 3, and the cartridge with the Green Bay Packers logo on it interest me. Anything else I should look at? Thanks.
 
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