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Cartridge for Rega Planar 3?

MM or high output MC.  Up to $1000. 

What recommendations can anyone make from personal experience?  Needs to be an all around good performer, as it will be used for most all musical genres.  Thanks!
mtrot
orpheus10
5,988 posts
 
$1000 bucks gives you many good options.  My suggestion is to read reviews, searching for a reviewer who likes the same type music as you, and buy the cartridge he likes best.

No component is more music dependent than a "cartridge"; the best one is the one that sounds best when your music is played.

When you substitute yourself for the reviewer who like the same music you like, and purchase the cartridge he likes, then you have done a double substitution that will work. 

Do not under any circumstances try to buy the best cartridge for $1000 bucks, because you will be buying the best cartridge for someone else.


Enjoy the music.
smatsui
56 posts
 

I recommend the Rega Exact because it's a good all around performer that is made to match up well with Rega tables and arms.  I have a Rega RP10 and Rega Apheta 2 MC cartridge and the match is excellent.  IMO, when you go with a non-Rega cartridge it's a hit or miss proposition.  If you buy a non-Rega arm, you may have to shim it to get it to the proper height.

I have 2 turntables, the Rega RP10 that comes with the RB2000 arm and a fully upgraded Linn LP12 with the Ekos SE arm.  I went with the Apheta 2 for the Rega and a Linn Akiva for the LP12 and I'm very happy with both of them.  The engineers at Rega and Linn design their cartridges for their tables and arms so you know you're getting a good match.  I'm not saying that the Exact is the best because that is a very subjective term but you could spend more and get a lot less.

palasr
453 posts
 
Having owned all the Rega MMs over the years (Bias, Elys, Exact), they are all distinctly underwhelming performers.  While Rega makes a hell of a tonearm and turntable, their cartridges are lacking IMO.
williewonka
1,826 posts
 
I’ve tried several MM carts over the years on my Rega, including one of the Rega offerings and compared to even my stock Denon DL103 MC cartridge, they paled in comparison.

I switched around 5 years ago to a Denon DL103 MC cart and the improvement in performance amazed me. Cost$230

I now have a re tipped DL103 from Soundsmith and the improvements were staggering. Cost $650 for the Optimized Contour Contact Line version.

The Denon is a pretty good match to the Rega Arm, but it does benefit from a little more mass at the head shell, so the model from ZU, with the alloy head shell, is also a top performer.

Soundsmith also has wood head shells that they install the "nuded" Denon into. They also have their own line of "Fixed Coil" cartridges which are very good high output carts and start at a reasonable $480

So as you can see, you can start with some very good and affordable MC carts that are well suited to the rega arm for much less than $1000 and then move up to some top performers.

Granted, you may need to change your phono stage if it is not MC compatible, but they are getting better as time goes by also - e.g. the Schiit Mani starts at $130 and is pretty good from what I have read

Don’t get me wrong, there are some exceptional MM carts out there in your sack bracket - I just thought knowing some of the other options/costs might also prove to be of use.

Regards...


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