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
In talking to my local dealer I am not going to upgrade the cart. Instead I am going to upgrade the table. You will see it on Audiogon today. Thanks again for all your help!
Rega is coming out with an upgraded P3 shipping any day now. My guess is that this will be the one to beat at or near it's price which should be similar if not the same as it's current $695 list. I'd pair it with the forementioned Grado Sonata or Clearaudio Aurum Beta S depending on your taste. Grado designed his carts for the Rega BTW.
I have an MM7 and VPI Aries 2. The Music Hall is a great value and has excellent isolation. Mine benefited from a cartridge upgrade; I am now running a Shelter 501 II and I am very pleased with the results. Having said that, over the holidays a friend brought over his MM7 with a Lyra Argo i and this was an improvement over the Shelter; more detail and extension were heard. We compared only the tables and carts through my tube based system. Also running this with an EAR 834P phonopre.