Excellent sounding cartridges for Rega P3/24?

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.

>>That arm will pretty much accept anything<<

That can be said of almost every tonearm.

Will it accept a Zyx Universe?
Sure

Will it accept a vdH Colibri?
Absolutely

Will it optimize each of them?
Far from it. Won't even come close to revealing the full potential of either cartridge.

Beware of bad advice such as this. A tonearm and cartridge need to be matched closely so each of them performs optimally.

When one is tuning up an Indy 500 race engine, the parameters are absolutely critical. When tuning a Honda Civic, if the screw is in or out by a bit, it doesn't matter. We are talking on this thread of a good middle of the road cartridge that will surely run fine in almost anything. One doesn't expect to see an Indy engine in a Honda Civic (a very good car by the way...)