Excellent sounding cartridges for Rega P3/24?

I wouldn't take a little Internet "buzz" or speculation based on the tonearm mass/compliance formula to rule out the Ortofon 2M Black. At the very least, talk to somebody at Needle Doctor or Acoustic Sounds. I believe there are several online vendors that sell both Ortofon and Rega products.

10 Hz may be the ideal resonant frequency, but the tonearm database matching grid seems to indicate that anything from 8 to 11 Hz or so is ideal. The 2M Black on an RB300 comes in at about 8 Hz.

And another thing: The formula may be able to give you the resonant frequency, but it can't tell you how strong the resonant frequency is, because that depends on other factors such as tonearm design and damping. I'm not sure how vulnerable the RB300 is to mass/compliance resonances.

There are certainly some designs that can dampen most of the resonance back down. For example, a cartridge's damper brush (such as is on the Shure M97xE and was on the V15 series) reduces the resonant hump by around 5 dB. Ditto for tonearms with fluid dampers. I'd rather have a 0 to 1dB resonant hump at 8 Hz than a 5dB hump at 10 Hz.

I have the Dyna 10x5/P3 combo w/ the Bellari VP129 tube pre and it is a GREAT budget setup.

Thanks Synthfreek...I forgot to say I am using the Rega MM Fono preamp. I had a Bellari VP 129. I like the Rega better. It has more gain and my amp doesn't clip and cut off when I crank it up a little...lol Although the Bellari is a nice sounding little preamp too. Does the 10x5 sound smooth up top, no harshness or mechanical clankiness? Good bass too?

Thanks Johnnyb53..I will continue to investigate the Ortofon 2M black then.

Fido:
I had also been looking at the Ortofon 2M black but then I read a post that said this cartridge is not a good match with the Rega tomearm.

If you check the tonearm chart for the Rega RB300, you'll see that it shows 8-11 Hz as the "good" range. The Ortofon 2M Black weighs 7.2g and you can figure about .5g for mounting screws. Its compliance is 22.

So if you look at the Resonant Frequency Evaluator, you'll see that an RB300 with 8g worth of cartridge and hardware, with a compliance of 22 (10-6 cm/Dyne) comes in just at 8Hz, which is theoretically in the "safe" zone.

Audiofeil, an experienced dealer and A-gon poster, places the ideal resonant frequency at 10 Hz, but that doesn't necessarily mean that 8 Hz is "bad." He did state that 7.23 Hz (which it would be on a Technics arm) would be too low. It looks like the 11.5g effective mass of the RB 300 is at the upper limit, and lighter arms such as the Hadcock and VPI JWM9 would line up with a 9-10Hz resonant frequency.

It's my understanding that the VPI JMW9 arm is compatible with the Rega armboard.

I know it is not what you asked but wouldn't a better phono pre amp be a better upgrade. I heard some rega decks with benz Ace, it is a good sounding combo. I prefer Lyra over Benz but that is just my personal view. I could very well live with a rega/benz combo. If you stretch you budget somewhat benz has a veru good phono pre amp, and when you buy a benz cart you might get a good deal on the phono pre.

Some time ago I did a shoot out between some phone pre's. The benz pre and the Array PH-1 (there now is a PH-2 available) were the best I heard.