$350 Cartridge

Joseph R.

Joseph R.

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Joined
Apr 24, 2017
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181
In the land of ridiculousness, phono cartridge prices have gone through the roof. I personally think a teeny tiny phono cartridge should cost no more than $350. There must certainly be a giant killer out there in that price range. After all in the old days phono cartridges were the most discounted hifi device out there. And now the whole industry is telling us we “must” buy low output devices. This raises the price bar even higher.

I would love to hear from audiophiles that have found just that. Preferably a high output one. Anybody ?
 
Joseph R. said:
In the land of ridiculousness, phono cartridge prices have gone through the roof. I personally think a teeny tiny phono cartridge should cost no more than $350. There must certainly be a giant killer out there in that price range. After all in the old days phono cartridges were the most discounted hifi device out there. And now the whole industry is telling us we “must” buy low output devices. This raises the price bar even higher.

I would love to hear from audiophiles that have found just that. Preferably a high output one. Anybody ?
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Go to https://www.needledoctor.com/ They have lots of cartridges in the price range you are looking for. There are plenty of cartridges available for less than $350 so have a blast picking one out.
 
No Mep, looking for a “Giant Killer” not low fi. Already visited that world.
 
Nagaoka MP-200 is a giant killer. But it leans on the slightly warmer and romantic side. The cheaper MP-150 has a similar sound and is cheaper. Both are medium compliance cartridges but people do run them with high compliance tone arms with good results. They need 30 hours of break-in. They have a lush deep mid range without sacrificing transparency. They perform above their price point but I can't say that they will sound better than an 800 cartridge. Look at some of the Hana cartridges, great reviews.
 
Joseph R. said:
No Mep, looking for a “Giant Killer” not low fi. Already visited that world.
Click to expand...

Good luck with the false narrative you created. “The whole industry” is not telling anyone they “must” buy LO cartridges. I didn’t know that any cartridge sold by Needle Doctor in your price range was “low fi.”
 
Joseph R. said:
No Mep, looking for a “Giant Killer” not low fi. Already visited that world.
Click to expand...

Good luck with the false narrative you created. “The whole industry” is not telling anyone they “must” buy LO cartridges. I didn’t know that any cartridge sold by Needle Doctor in your price range was “low fi.”
 
Mechnutt said:
Nagaoka MP-200 is a giant killer. But it leans on the slightly warmer and romantic side. The cheaper MP-150 has a similar sound and is cheaper. Both are medium compliance cartridges but people do run them with high compliance tone arms with good results. They need 30 hours of break-in. They have a lush deep mid range without sacrificing transparency. They perform above their price point but I can't say that they will sound better than an 800 cartridge. Look at some of the Hana cartridges, great reviews.
Click to expand...

How expensive are the giants it kills?
 
mep said:
Good luck with the false narrative you created. “The whole industry” is not telling anyone they “must” buy LO cartridges. I didn’t know that any cartridge sold by Needle Doctor in your price range was “low fi.”
Click to expand...

agreed, while I think 5 figure cartridges are absurd one can only expect so much from a sub $500 cartridge. With that being said in the sub $500 range I like the Denon DL-103
 
Mechnutt said:
Nagaoka MP-200 is a giant killer. But it leans on the slightly warmer and romantic side. The cheaper MP-150 has a similar sound and is cheaper. Both are medium compliance cartridges but people do run them with high compliance tone arms with good results. They need 30 hours of break-in. They have a lush deep mid range without sacrificing transparency. They perform above their price point but I can't say that they will sound better than an 800 cartridge. Look at some of the Hana cartridges, great reviews.
Click to expand...
The Nagaoka MP-200 is a great “Bang for the Buck “ cartridge ......have one in a vintage SME 3009, and have to say I am more than pleasantly surprised.....
It’s not embarressed by a Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (2200.00 MSRP) that is also being used in the same arm. Both cartridges are being used in a PBN AUDIO custom Denon DP 80 Table.
Cheers....
 
Y
Mikado463 said:
agreed, while I think 5 figure cartridges are absurd one can only expect so much from a sub $500 cartridge. With that being said in the sub $500 range I like the Denon DL-103
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Right, but it’s also low output. This exercise is pointless anyway. He’s not listing his table, arm, or phono stage so it’s impossible to recommend a cartridge without that info-never mind the price constraints and the aspiration to kill giants.
 
mep said:
Good luck with the false narrative you created. “The whole industry” is not telling anyone they “must” buy LO cartridges. I didn’t know that any cartridge sold by Needle Doctor in your price range was “low fi.”
Click to expand...

Oh mep, you clearly missed the memo. It’s a from the Audio-Borg “low output cartridges will only be sold from here on out.”

Keep up!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
mep said:
Good luck with the false narrative you created. “The whole industry” is not telling anyone they “must” buy LO cartridges. I didn’t know that any cartridge sold by Needle Doctor in your price range was “low fi.”
Click to expand...

I agree. In my opinion, he is looking for the non-existent at any price. I personally believe there are no such things as “giant killers” in phono cart land.
That said, while I believe the demarcation line for diminishing returns is very low on phono carts in my opinion, there are many reasonably priced phono carts that will do the job extremely well and then some. There are a few carts even in the $200 to $400 range that punch above their price. That is all we can ask.


The important thing is tonearm matching and set up as well as what kind of phono preamp situation is at hand. Any of those factors can make or break a $100 cart or a $25,000 cart. (One of the nice things about analog is that the smallest tweak can change the sound. For example, just changing the turntable mat).
Yes, not providing the table he is using at least, is a non-starter for recommendations.

NeedleDr has a huge choice of carts (biggest I have seen) and most are not “lo-fi”, but they have a couple of those too. Heck, even the lowly AT VM95E is a great beginner cart. The other nice thing about phono carts is that you really don’t have to spend too much more for very notable results. Just going from a $50 AT95E to a $110 AT120E/B was a vast improvement for me on one of my turntables. (Those are now the AT VM95E and VM530 respectively). Jump to a Ortofon 2M Blue or Bronze and it will be obvious again. Personally, I think once you hit above $800, the differences in performance of phono carts starts getting extremely small to the point of being undetectable, but that's just my opinion.
 
Thanks MEP. You are uncanny in attacking anything I say. I was merely expressing my frustration in this reawakening format. I do see a definite trend in manufacturers that never ventured into low output cartridges, suddenly making them. Grado and Soundsmith as examples. I also have been around the hifi block a few times. High output cartridges are becoming extinct. I’ve watched small two way transducers go from a maximum price of $1,500 to $38,500 like the Borrensons (case in point). Go ahead and defend the industry to the fullest. I am simply an audiophile trying to make sense of it all. You can use this forum to attack my statements, that is your prerogative. But I would rather hear from audiophiles that share my frustration and have found avenues to attain hifi in spite of industry pricing trends. The fact is, cartridges have become a major ripoff. I will sooner give up on this format than be sucked into these overly inflated prices.
 
Joe, there are plenty of great cartridges that do not cost an arm and a leg. I'm not sure why you seem to have your blinders on unless you're just trying to start an argument. I think jack is right, haven't we gone down this road before ............
 
Mikado463 said:
Joe, there are plenty of great cartridges that do not cost an arm and a leg. I'm not sure why you seem to have your blinders on unless you're just trying to start an argument. I think jack is right, haven't we gone down this road before ............
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Yes, this is what I tried to say. I get the frustration. I'm not an audiophile and prices of audio are extra frustrating, but they don't have to be always. Cart prices have gone up on some, but others have been the same price for years. There are plenty of "high-end" or "Hi-Fi" products out there that are reasonable and more on the way! As for phono carts, hell, there are plenty of folks pleased as punch with an Ortofon 2M Blue or a Denon DL-103. MC carts are always more expensive and there are plenty of MM carts that are just as good as MC carts for a bit less. Choices abound.
I sense that this may be more about argument than shopping or something.
 
Joseph R. said:
The fact is, cartridges have become a major ripoff. I will sooner give up on this format than be sucked into these overly inflated prices.
Click to expand...

Seems to me like you have a couple of choices. Find an NOS example (ebay) of what you remember as having great value/ performance or follow what you've outlined above and just get out of vinyl altogether if you're not willing to spend more than $350. I will buy all of your records for one dollar each... but reserve the right to cherry pick and not take all the duds too [emoji3]

Look for a Stanton 981 LZS or 881 series new old stock cart. They were great carts.
 
Joseph R. said:
Thanks MEP. You are uncanny in attacking anything I say. I was merely expressing my frustration in this reawakening format. I do see a definite trend in manufacturers that never ventured into low output cartridges, suddenly making them. Grado and Soundsmith as examples. I also have been around the hifi block a few times. High output cartridges are becoming extinct. I’ve watched small two way transducers go from a maximum price of $1,500 to $38,500 like the Borrensons (case in point). Go ahead and defend the industry to the fullest. I am simply an audiophile trying to make sense of it all. You can use this forum to attack my statements, that is your prerogative. But I would rather hear from audiophiles that share my frustration and have found avenues to attain hifi in spite of industry pricing trends. The fact is, cartridges have become a major ripoff. I will sooner give up on this format than be sucked into these overly inflated prices.
Click to expand...

Please tell me one cartridge that Grado or Soundsmith makes that is moving coil. i think you are confusing moving coil with low output as they both make low output cartridges. So this is really about voicing your frustration than a search for a new cartridge?
 
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