Best MM?

Orpheus,  The best of the Stantons/Pickerings (which are really analogous to each other) are from the 70s and perhaps 80s.  We had nothing like them in the 50s, for sure.  Stereo came in only in the late 50s and didn't take over until the mid-60s.  You are making these cartridges older than they really are.  I agree with Chakster: Stanton 881S, 980/981LZS, 980/981HZS, and 100WS, and probably the analogous Pickering series, from XVS3000 through XVS7500, are the best of that bunch and very competitive still today, with anything.  

Chakster, and Lewm, that catalog confirms some things I stated awhile back about jukeboxes. It said the Stanton cartridges were made especially for broadcast and recording professionals. Jukeboxes that went into the lounges in the early 60's were installed by professionals.

Some people distinguish "high end" by the names of the components, I distinguish high end by the sound that I hear. During the early 60's, the record you punched on the jukebox could be seen playing through the front glass; it was a 45, and I saw a Stanton Cartridge with a brush on the front end playing the record. Every thing in those jukeboxes was about as high end as you could get at that time, including the tube electronics, and speakers. That was because the sound of the music emanating from them kept the quarters rolling in big time; they made a lot of money; enough for gangsters to fight over.

I have an excellent audio memory, and I demand that my cartridge reproduce some of the "nuances" I heard from records I played at that time. One of those records was "Blue Funk" by Ray Charles and Milt Jackson; this tune has nuances that only the very best rigs can reproduce, and the jukeboxes I fed quarters certainly reproduced those nuances.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHold6ylvEM


All of the artists on that record are the very best jazz masters of that time, including Ray Charles, who is known for everything except jazz.

Check "Skeeter Best" on guitar, beginning at 6:01; between 6:50 all the way to the end is where it really gets "funky"; those nuances are what I demand of a cartridge; but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Music is what it's all about.
           

Time marches on, and so does progress; a lounge where a jukebox sits was not a listening room; things like "sound stage" and holographic image were not considered.

My Grado Master 2 can create a holographic sound stage, could the Stantons and the Pickerings do that?

@orpheus10 sorry, but i have to say that you don’t know what you’re talking about and you don’t even read what i have posted many times for you, professional Stanton is like professional Grado cheap models, nothing special indeed. Not sure if you ever heard about Grado DJ100i and Grado DJ200i designed for deejays today. Every respected company including Grace, Audio-Technica, Technics, Empire, Ortofon, Shure, Denon made professional series for deejays/radiostations etc. These carts are well known for durability, but not for the best sound quality, definitely not for audiophiles, they are cheap and affordable for anyone, normally under $150 , They are all comes with bonded spherical or elliptical styli (easy to replace for low cost). 

But the Stanton Pickering models i have mentioned here as the reference are very expensive cartridges, designed for audiophiles, for critical listening sessions. Have you ever heard about Stereohedron stylus profile? This is very expensive stylus profile invented by Stanton (nude diamond). 

I don’t understand why you always mixing together professional cartridges and hi-end cartridges. Two different world!

I have Joseph Grado Signature XTZ model considered the best Grado ever made, but Stanton top models are better cartridges.

Since there is no way we can compare the Stantons and Pickerings to the Grado; is there any way we can compare the Grado to the Grado; I want some verification beside your word.