Baby Koetsus? ie, Poor Mans Koetsu

Agreed with many above - the Denon 103R is a terrific cartridge. I currently own a Dynavector xx2 (6x pricing), and the Denon is quite close to this one - it is that good!.

I have not heard any Koetsu cartridge in my system, but many agree that it belongs to that group in terms of sonic signature, something all cartridges have.

Fernando

Want a really good cheap cartridge? Try the $199. Benz. Give it the 40 hours of break-in that it requires, then sit back and enjoy the music. I picked mine up on the web for $173 including shipping. Gene Ruben offers them here on Audiogon for $199. Definately an over achiever. Also, I'm using the ARC PH-7 and the ARC Ref-3.

Do you guys think the cartridge is overkill? ~lol~

I own both a denon 103R and Koetsu Rosewood and the denon 103R is superb. The denon 103R plays rock n roll better than the Koetsu as it seems to have a little more weight in the upper bass/lower mids, the Rosewood has the slightly more magical midrange.
If your TT and phono stage is up to the .25mv output, go for the 103R.

I agree with Oregonpapa. have compared the 199.99 low output version of the Benz micro to some kilo buck MC carts. They sound different, but one can not conclude they blow away the $199 Benz.

Bear in mind that of course the differences show up much more on a highly resolving system.