@Stone1- I wasn't making any specific recommendation. My points were that I:
-owned some of the cartridges that Chakster mentioned when they were new, many years ago, and am now exploring some of them again as vintage, given the crazy high prices of new top tier cartridges;
- also agreed that just starting to use an old rebuilt Monster cartridge last week, I had a similar reaction to yours- the cartridge is very lean sounding, particularly given what I am used to;
and, lastly,
-that I also had at one time a Well-Tempered.
Beyond that, and the pricing issues, it is hard to evaluate cartridges without hearing them in your system. Also, they all have a character in my experience, so there's some degree of matching the sound to complement your system's strengths and weaknesses, as well as to suit your personal preference:
Some people like very clinical 'accurate' sound, I prefer something that has more tone and richness, but not to the degree that it is over-ripe or imposing that sound on everything- that is why I've been using the Airtights for the last decade or so, after several Lyras- which are also very good cartridges, but tend to have more leading edge and less fullness in sound.
I do think the Grados are a good value and sound good, but it i haven't used one since the mid-'80s or so, so cannot tell you about their current products or their sound.
-owned some of the cartridges that Chakster mentioned when they were new, many years ago, and am now exploring some of them again as vintage, given the crazy high prices of new top tier cartridges;
- also agreed that just starting to use an old rebuilt Monster cartridge last week, I had a similar reaction to yours- the cartridge is very lean sounding, particularly given what I am used to;
and, lastly,
-that I also had at one time a Well-Tempered.
Beyond that, and the pricing issues, it is hard to evaluate cartridges without hearing them in your system. Also, they all have a character in my experience, so there's some degree of matching the sound to complement your system's strengths and weaknesses, as well as to suit your personal preference:
Some people like very clinical 'accurate' sound, I prefer something that has more tone and richness, but not to the degree that it is over-ripe or imposing that sound on everything- that is why I've been using the Airtights for the last decade or so, after several Lyras- which are also very good cartridges, but tend to have more leading edge and less fullness in sound.
I do think the Grados are a good value and sound good, but it i haven't used one since the mid-'80s or so, so cannot tell you about their current products or their sound.