Cartridges - what have you owned and your opinion


Saw this on audiocircle and thought it may be fun to list some cartridges that you have owned and lived with and your opinion of them.
These are not reviews, just your observations of how they sound in your system.

Dynavector XV-1 - owned this since the turn of the century and my favorite cartridge of all time. Mainly due to its ability to sound natural and un hifi sounding. Slightly loose in the bass, and naturally detailed in the higher frequencies with nice dynamics.
- I load at between 100 and 250ohms and track at 2.05 grams. Currently getting rebuilt for the 3rd time.

Lyra Helikon - very detailed cartridge which tended to float from note to note, but ultimately a little too leading edge for my tastes so sold it a few years back.

Audio Technica OC9-II - closer sounding to the Helikon than the cheaper price should allow. The OC9 has terrific transparency and detail, but also smooth. Somewhat lean bass and incredible bargin for the price. Ultimately connects with my head more than my heart.
I load at 25 or 50ohms and track at 1.75 gms.

Denon 103R - another great cartridge, which in direct comparison to the OC9 sounds a little grey and grainy especially in the higher frequencies. But and a big but, it connects with the heart and has a very nice ripe bass with lovely mid range. lower treble can be a little etched. Overall a great little cartridge that is very musical and to the heart

Benz Ruby 2 - don't really have anything positive to say about this cartridge - grey, grainy, undynamic and unmusical.

Koetsu Rosewood - lovely musical sounding cartridge. Not as transparent as some cartridges, but has a nice robust sound which is quite pleasing to some mediocre recordings. Tracks adequate, but not as well as my other cartridges. Another cartridge which plays to the heart.
- Hates being loaded into a high primary transformer load of say my EAR 834 - 40 ohms. Impedance loading sounds nice around 100ohms.
downunder
cool idea for a thread. Nice setup btw !

Last 8 years has been all Lyra for me. Lydian beta for 2 years, then a helicon, now a Skala.

The Skala retains all the best traits of the Helicon, but seeminly lowers distortion (greater clarity) and adds warmth/weight through the entire frequency range. Very nice step up for me.
Being relatively new to this I've only had two, but I liked both of them.

I started with a Shure M97xe which was super starter cartridge. Great timbres, warm sounding, and IMHO a terrific overall sound for a cartridge that only cost $50. Not a lot of resolution, but never offensive either.

I've since moved up to the Audio Technica OC-9, and I'd have to agree with Downunder. A very smooth player with a nice natural overall sound. It is, however, a little lean in the bass and a little cool sounding. While I enjoy the OC-9, in some ways I preferred the fatter sound of the M97.

I wouldn't switch back, but the next time I upgrade I'm going to look for a cartridge that adds some of the M97's warmth and fatness back into the sound.
Grado Green: Muffled. The midrange voice, though, sounds very human but as if coming through a screen door.

Denon DL-110/160: Dynamic, exciting, like the Mummers. Lacking internal insight.

Ortofon MC5: Smooth and detailed but no soul.

Pickering TLS-2S: Warm, personable, warm, rock and roll. Soft around the middle but with fair extension on the top. I bet it would be greatly improved with a fine line stylus on a ruby cantilever. It has heart.

Ortofon 2M Red/Black: Sweet detail, lotta bass, real heart that swings. Nice midrange that is not as thick as the Pickering but has more presence, more 'reality'. Black takes it to the smoothest extreme detail-wise while the Red comes on with powerful impact and presence.

Denon DL-103: Stock - muffled and thick. Modded with wood body, potting, fine line stylus etc it has incredible impact and detail. Very open, seems "natural", whatever that may mean to anyone. The 2M Black is a bit compressed in comparison.
I have owned two Benz Ruby 2s - Low Output - over the last 10 years. I have had those mounted in a Well Tempered TT and now a Raven AC w/Tri-Planar VII U2. First let me say that I never really knew what the cartridge could do until my Raven/Tri set-up. Obviously set-up is paramount in getting everything out of a cartride. We offer opinions on many cartridges, but we don't know if the reviewer has aligned the cartridge correctly. Bottom line, I think the Benz Ruby is far better than most people realize. It may lack some clarity and the bass might be a bit soft, but it does a lot musically very well. That said, I'm nearing the end of the life of my current model and I will probably look to another maker next time around.
Well, I will give the quick synopsis of the few I have tried, since I got back into analog about 5 years ago.
Note: As a point of reference, my analog system first consisted of a Basis 1400, with RB 300 tonearm, then went to a Basis 2001, with a RB 900 tonearm, which was replaced with a Basis Vector M3, with the tonearm wires being terminated with XLRs. (The phono preamp for the Basis 1400 was an ARC PH-3, and was quickly replaced with the phono boards in my Ayre K-1xe preamp, which is designed to run balanced.)

First up was the Benz Micro Glider 2 (MO):
A nice cartridge, with a decent enough black background. It had a fairly extended frequency response, but to be honest it was somewhat analytical in my opinion, such that when I listened to it, I imagined I was listening to a very nice CD player. The soundstaging and imaging was good though. (If I was to give it a Stereophile grade, I'd give it a C). However, it also had an exposed cantilever, which for a visiting kid, made sounds through the speakers somewhat like a guitar when you strummed it. (Needless to say, after it broke, I moved on to ....

My second cartridge, which was a Koetsu Black. Now this is when I truly fell in love with my analog system. The first thing I noticed is the deep, dark black background that the Koetsu has. The soundstaging and imaging was very good. The Black, while it has a slightly rolled off top end, and a fairly loose bass response, still had that Koetsu mid-range magic that you hear so much about. Is it too lush? Maybe, but I could not have cared less, as this is what analog is all about, IMHO. It just makes you want to listen for hours on end. (If I was to give it a Stereophile grade, I'd give it a B-).

My third cartridge was, naturally enough, a Koetsu Rosewood Signature, which I got an incredible deal on from a seller on Ebay. This was a clear step up from the Black, as the soundstaging and imaging was even better. It had more extended treble, and a somewhat tighter bass response, (but still not really deep, or tight, to be honest). However, it provided me with near reference sound from the upper mid-range up through the treble. (I think there might have been a slight bit of roll off to the very top end, but not so much that you'd care, after you started listening.) The mid-range magic was still there from the Black, and it integrated even better with the more extended frequency response. The background was still deep and dark black. At this point, I knew I was hooked on having deep dark black backgrounds. (If I was to give it a Stereophile grade, I'd give it a B+). However, I found a great deal on another cartridge that I wanted to try, because of the reports of its incredible bass response, so on I moved, to ....

My fourth cartridge was the Shelter 90X. This cartridge while an improvement over the Koetsu Rosewood Signature in most aspects, was not better in all aspects. The Shelter's background was not nearly as deep and dark black as the Koetsu line. It was, I think slightly better than the Glider's background though. In addition, while it had a warm touch to the mid-range, it did not have the lushness that the Koetsu line had. (But enough of the nit-picking, on to the good qualities!) It was a more neutral sounding cartridge, with great extension on both ends of the frequency range, which gave it a nice balanced sound. From its great bass response, (the best I have ever heard, I think), to its upper treble response, (although, to be honest I think its treble response has just the slightest touch of graininess to it, as I was to find out when compared with my next cartridge). The soundstaging and imaging was as good as the Koetsu Rosewood Signature. This was what I consider to be a reference cartridge, (especially for the money), as it had great frequency extension at both ends, and the sound was very well balanced. (If I was to give it a Stereophile grade, I'd give it an A-). And I would have stopped here in my quest for the perfect cartridge (for me anyway), except for the merely good deep, dark backgrounds. (I found that I still longed for the deeper dark black backgrounds that I had experienced with the Koetsu cartridges, despite their drawbacks.) So, when my friend was selling his cartridge, and having heard it and liking it a lot, I figured I'd give it a shot, so .....

My fifth, and currently my last cartridge (and one which I truly think IS my last cartridge!), is the Dynavector XV-1S. This is truly my reference cartridge. It has very, very good bass response (nearly as good as the Shelter - within spitting distance as they say). It has a wonderfully detailed and extended treble response, (slightly more detailed and refined than the Shelter 90X). The mid-range to quote Downunder has a "sound natural and un-hifi sounding". It is not Koetsu lush, but it has that certain something that just makes me want to tap my toes, if you know what I mean. The soundstaging and imaging is incredible as well, better than any of the other cartridges I have ever owned. (If I was to give it a Stereophile grade, I'd give it a solid A).

Well, those are my two cents worth anyway.