Which Mono Cartridge at around $1,300.00?

I've seen some of the Lyra mono cartridges selling for retail and although obviously considered a gold standard, they seemed far out of my price range. Just recently, I've noticed there being a $1,600.00 plus price tag on the Dorion cartridge and I'm having some trouble locating a price and vendor for the Helikon. Another alternative might be to purchase a Grado Statement Sonata for $565.00 and then start saving for the the better Lyra, thus selling the Grado after acquiring the Lyra. My personal view is that cartridge prices are inflated and that there is little in the way of discounts regardless of the maker or the model.

I've been very happy with the Miyajima Premium BE but don't have much other experience with other dedicated mono cartridges to offer comparison.

I'm very interested in others experiences.

Based only on my reading, which means to say "based on the opinions of others whom I do not even know" (i.e., flimsy logic) and the technical aspects of its design, I would choose the Miyajima Premium Be. The question in my mind is whether one even needs the "Be" version, since as far as I can tell the only difference between it and the Premium is (i) cost, and (ii) the color of the wood used. The non-Be version costs around $250 less. I also have had a notion to have one of my favorite but broken MM cartridges rebuilt as a mono, which would cost far less than $1300.

Miyajima is a cartridge that I had never even considered and don't know much about however I'll look into it. It seems from what others have said on past blogs, that a good MC mono cartridge will be built as a 2 channel mono cartridge versus a stereo cartridge that was shortened into one channel. This factor exponentially increases the cost of a cartridge. As well, I've always understood that a good low output MC cartridge will easily be within the $1400.00 range. The raved about Ortofon Cadenza mono is listed at about this price. And, I like the idea of the Ortofon Cadenza with the exception that it supposedly performs better on narrow grooves than it does on the earlier wide grooves.

Goofyfoot, Your rationale is as pointless as mine, so, go for it. I will say that I trust Syntax, since he is not one to say anything at all, unless it is from his personal experience and is strongly felt.

By the way, I do not know why building a cartridge as 2-channel mono would be more expensive than building it as 2-channel stereo, especially not "exponentially" more expensive. For one thing, a spherical stylus tip is usually preferred for mono, and such a tip is less expensive than any other shape. Be that as it may, the Miyajima Premium is built from the ground up as a mono, for what that's worth.