Dear Jgiacalo: IMHO the phono stage design was not the strongest McIntosh stage in designm, maybe yours is,
Saying that and before you spend 1K+ in a new cartridge my advise is that you go for one of these Ortofon's that are below 200.00 with a quality performance that IMHO you need 2-3 K to beat it.
If your phono stage is up to " job " then you already find what you are looking for and if not then you only spend 200.00 not over 1K:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ortofon-M20FL-Super-MM-cartridge-M-20-FL-Super-NOS_W0QQitemZ120492170569QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0de49d49
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ortofon-M20E-Super-MM-cartridge-M-20-E-Super-NOS_W0QQitemZ400085013949QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5d26ecd5bd
Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.
Saying that and before you spend 1K+ in a new cartridge my advise is that you go for one of these Ortofon's that are below 200.00 with a quality performance that IMHO you need 2-3 K to beat it.
If your phono stage is up to " job " then you already find what you are looking for and if not then you only spend 200.00 not over 1K:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ortofon-M20FL-Super-MM-cartridge-M-20-FL-Super-NOS_W0QQitemZ120492170569QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0de49d49
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ortofon-M20E-Super-MM-cartridge-M-20-E-Super-NOS_W0QQitemZ400085013949QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5d26ecd5bd
Regards and enjoy the music,
Raul.