best MM cartridge...

I can't believe nobody mentioned the Cartridge Man MusicMaker III or the Classic.

I certainly second the motion on the Reson Reca; I'd also add the Ortofon Super OM40 (and if the newer Ortofon 2M Black is better than the OM40, long their top MM cartridge, it will be excellent indeed).

I myself use the Reson Reca with a Rega RB-250 with full Origin Live mods and the Ortofon Super OM40 with a Signet (= Audio Technica) XK50 rewired with Cardas. Both are on a Technics SP-10MKII-P with DIY 20 kg Corian-MDF-birch plywood base.

I, too, have long heard about the superiority of MC cartridges, but once I put this rig together, I liked it so much, it defused any urge to upgrade. Of course, YMMV.

Regards,

Joel.

the AT closes in on the music maker and betters the linn

03-09-08: Jlamb
...cheapo phono pre I picked at a TV repair shop for $25 new. I have an AR ES-1 on the way w/Linn Basik LVX arm and K9 cartridge.

I encourage you to sit still with the K9 and get to know it before you start a quest for the perfect cartridge. Live with it and get a frame of reference. It'll help you understand what you want.

In my opinion, the only thing you need right now is a better phono preamp. Whatever your $25 unit is, it can't be doing justice to any cartridge. Phono stages are often overlooked by folks just getting into vinyl. There's a tendency to think "that little black box can't be doing much, so I'm not gonna spend much on it." Some of us need to learn things the hard way. I know I did. Phono preamps make or break a cartridge. Avoid the stuff under $150 (NAD, Parasound, Musical Fidelity, Music Hall). Of course, you have to decide what you can afford, but if you can strecth to $500 for a used piece, I think you'll be surprised how good that K9 sounds. I'm a big fan of tubes. In my opinion, a few units that stand out in this price range are: Bottlehead Seduction, Pro-Ject Tube Box SE, AES (Cary) PH-1, Wright WPP100c and WPP200c.

Dear Raul, Having read your post above on the "best" MM cartridges, I did a search for the Nagaoka line and found one company selling the MP-100 thru MP-500 models. (Each higher model number on the way between MP-100 and -500 costs more than the previous lower model number, of course.) Have you tried any of those? None of the above available Nagaoka's are labeled "Super". Does that matter? Thanks as always.