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Best MM?

I want to try a MM with my Herron VTPH-2a. What's the best one? Maestro 2, Zephyr III, AT VM760SLC? Something else?
dhcod
inna
5,245 posts
 
Some kind who studies people not cartridges.
harold-not-the-barrel
799 posts
 
Ha-ha ! That explains your attitude. But doesn´t help OP at all.

Back to square one: an original GLANZ MFG-610LX outperforms certain Audio-Technica´s top dog in my system.
Its little brother MFG-310LX is very good too and worth to try, both inexpensive.
dgarretson
2,394 posts
 

There’s a nice NOS Stanton 981 HZ MkII on ebay at the moment. At $1K it’s a bit high-- but perhaps reasonable inflation above the $650 that I paid for an ebayed NOS 981 LZS about five years ago. The 981 LZS is quite close to my Lyra Etna, as compared side to side on two SME 3012Rs. That comparison is not entirely fair, as the Lyra has the advantage of an Arche headshell with upgraded silver wires...

I also have a 4PT, but have not gotten around to mounting the Stanton on it.  As mentioned above, for on-the-fly cartridge comparisons(and is there any other kind of comparison that is definitive?) it helps to have multiple arms and removable headshells. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Stanton-981-HZ-Mk-IIs-Moving-Magnet-Phono-Cartridge-with-Stanton-D98-IIs-Stylus/142983365338?hash=item214a7902da:g:bNUAAOSwYcBbzLWG:rk:4:pf:0

chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@vortrex

If I was going to acquire one vintage MM to compare with the Audio Note IQ3, which would it be? It must be compatible with a Kuzma 4Point (13g) and be somewhat easy to find, preferably NOS.

It can be a Victor X-1II, simply because it’s a mid compliance cartridge which is fine for Kuzma.
Stanton, for example, is High Compliance and works best on lightmass tonearms in theory.
jollytinker
147 posts
 
I'd love to try a MM cart myself but I always get stuck between my distrust for used cartridges, on the one hand, and the fact that NOS carts that have been sitting on a shelf for decades sound like a bad idea to me (dried up suspension rubber).  

Any thoughts out there about how to cut the Gordian Knot on this?  I'm open to the idea that MC cartridges made some advances but also brought some trade-offs with them, as most new technologies do.   
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