I’m searching memory back 20 years as to cartridges I used. It included — Accuphase AC2, VDH MC10, Linn Asak, Coral (aka GAS Sleeping Beauty), Blue Oasis, Audio Technica OC-9, Madrigal Carnegie One, Dynavector 23 Ruby, Ortofon MC20 Super and MC30 Super, Audioquest 909, Fidelity Research MC 201 and FR1Mk3F — that’s all I can recall now.
All sounded lovely, within their own limits. A couple were irritatingly strident in the highs, and I blamed either the cartridge or the CST-80 — but they may have been innocent, I didn’t know much about loading then. It is the mythical “straight wire with gain”, though of course it’s wound wire. (Or possibly wound foil; such a shame so little info is available.)
I mentioned a Thorens/EMT head-amp last time. I like it a lot, it’s dead-silent and has better dynamics when I’m using a passive preamp. But I invariably move back to the CST when using active preamplification, either tube or SS — its transparency and purity is utterly beguiling.
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