Best MM?

Inna - New from Audio Compositions.  Retail is $1025 now.  You can email them for a price.

+1 on the Shure V15 type Vmr cartridge. I took a chance and paid $152.00 for the cartridge put a jico sas shure stylus in the cartridge, upgraded the head shell and tonearm wires and haven’t looked back...
My phono preamp, parks audio budgie tube phono preamp with upgraded vacuum tubes.

The problem is that MM is out of fashion in the modern High-End world. You have to go back to the late 70s or mid 80s for the best MM which you can buy even NOS (unused) if you’re afraid of the used samples. Some vintage MM cartridges, especially NOS (New Old Stock), are better than any new MM/MI, and still cheaper.

The advantages of the vintage MM from the 80s is unique cantilevers like hollow pipe Boron, Beryllium. Those cantilevers are not available anymore for any cartridge manufacturer today.

Also some killer styli such as Stereohedron invented by Stanton is not available today.

Some vintage MMs are high compliance cartridges, like the Grace F14 LC-OFC for example. Great tracker, but must be mated with light tonearms.

You can’t go wrong with Grace LEVEL II (Boron/MicroRidge), Stanton 881/981 or CS100 top of the line vintage MM high compliance cartridges, they are superb!

More universal mid compliance vintage MM are Victor and Audio-Technica for example. You can’t go wrong with Victor X-1II (Beryllium/Shibata) or AT-ML170 and 180 (Gold-plated Hollow Pipe Boron / MicroLine).

All these cartridges made when MM was a KING!
In the golden age of analog.

Most of the modern MM are not even close, but normally twice the price compared to vintage MM carts. Up to you.

What is your tonearm btw ?

Dear @dhcod : Please read carefully this thread:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/adc-26-best-pritchard-cartridge-ever-or-best-cartridge-ever


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.