2. analog
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Good low-price cartridge for listening to rock.

Currently, I have an Ortofon Super OM10 mounted to a Music Hall MMF5, Ballari pre-amp, Cerwin Vega LS-10s, and a Cayin 50T amp. Origionally, I was thinking about a OM20 needle upgrade but I have read some negative reports on it. Was also considering a Grado Gold, but I tend to shy away from it because I have heard some problems with those cartridges as well. One cartridge that looks interesting according to the reviews is the AT440MLa by Audio Technica - everybody seems to rave about it and says it can be compete with cartridges that are far more money.

Does anybody have any suggestions or comments on the cartridge.
marntz4me
photon46
1,008 posts
 
I found the Goldring 1042 (1012 with less sophisticated stylus shape is less $) to be a great cartridge for rock. Others have dissed it, so yer mileage may vary.
elevick
2,439 posts
 
I like the goldring but might be too expensive for you.
How about a shure m97
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
No balance issues with my 440MLa.
etbaby
137 posts
 
Hey Virian,

Where can I get the Shure for $65?
marntz4me OP
16 posts
 
I think I am going to go with the AT 440 MLa. One last thing I would like to say. With my above mentioned setup(The MMF5 with the Ortofon Super OM-10)CDs in my opinion seem to sound more detailed. Keep in mind that I am using a sony cd player that is nothing special - Best Buy deal. Needless to say, most of my vinyl is in excellent condition. After doing some research, I couldn't find any reviews that raved about the OM20 stylus being much better.

So, this is why I have been kicking around changing my cartridge. I like the way the Ortofon tracked though and was easy to place on a particular track of the record. One thing that I did notice after reading the review that the cartridge is not "very forgiving" either, and my experience seems to confirm this.
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