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Cartridge

My son is trying Vinyl and so I bought him a Pro-Ject Expression II with a Pro-Ject speed box. The guy at music direct said the cart on the unit is garbage and I believe him after looking at it. My question is what would be a good cart for this set up. Carts I have looked at are Dynavector 10x5 and Clearaudio Beta. Are these any good or do you experts have any other suggestions. Also, the carts have to be MM or high output MC. I am not ready to buy him a stand alone Phono Stage.

It has been many years since I have been into Vinyl and my knowledge is very little. Thanks for all your suggestions in advance.
diamonds
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
I come from the old school, which believes that putting a cartridge on a budget table, that approaches a significant percentage of the cost of that table, is akin to putting Pirelli racing tires on an Accord. With that in mind, I would cheerfully suggest some excellent cartridges of more moderate price, Denon DL-110 or DL-160 for hight output MCs, Audio Technica AT-440MLa and AT-120, Ortofon Super OM-20 or Shure M97xE for MMs. None are particularly arm sensitive. The price range of these cartridges is anywhere from $60.00 to around $160.00 and they cover most of the diffent flavors out there.
gregm
3,021 posts
 
come from the new school that continues to believe that a resaonably priced TT will play well with a similarly priced cartridge -- anything more is a waste of money.

Viridian's vhoices are fine. I would add another one: the cartridge the TT came with. Have yr son use that up a bit before you buy another one.

{Alternatively, and in true a'phile spirit, I can cheerfully also recommend you purchase one of the carts I use -- and, being my choices, they're excellent (clearaudio)} :)
dopogue
1,767 posts
 
I agree that Viridian's choices are great. Good luck, Dave
diamonds OP
14 posts
 
He has used and I have listened to the cart that is on there and it sounds terrible. Closed off, non musical and dead. This is sort of an experiment but I still want to sound decent. Right now it's not so good.
tapashead
21 posts
 
i agree with vridian's budget choices, but be careful of what flavor you're looking for. the AT's can be bright depending on what your taste / hearing is like. i find them a little grating on most decks. i use a denon 110, not bad for the money. for the level of tracking ability it has, sounds quite good (i like the tone of grado platinum and garrott k1 better, but they don't track nearly as well in my arms (linn akito 2 and rega). shure 97 not bad either, but a bit boring. maybe a benz ace would be the right ticket, just a guess... i never used it in my setups
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