best cartridge for £1500

[gwernaffield]

just want advice on the best cartridge for £1500 -2k , i have a soundsmith zepher star at this moment but fancy a change not sure what to go for , any thoughts would help

 

[koi]

Lyra Kleos or Zyx Ultimate 100 would be my own personal choice,but have heard great things about Audio Technica art 9.

 

[Guest432]

New or secondhand?

If secondhand can't think of anything that would come close to an Audio Note Io2 for £2k.

 

[Rosewind]

My Benz Micro Gullwing SLR cost me that much with less than 50 hours on the needle.

 

[Mike Reed]

Sorry, o.p., but it's simply not sensible to suggest cart's in your generous budget without knowing your arm, deck, stage, amplification and speakers (in that order). Some cart's will sound good on most arms (Lyra) and some simply won't (Koetsu, Miyajima) and A-N needs an SUT or an incredibly sensitive stage, I believe. Complex matching business that's worth researching for that kind of money.

Assuming a good lower medium mass arm )SME V, which is very accommodating)), Benz is slightly warmer than neutral yet dynamic; Transfig. is transparent without sonic signature and neither warm nor cool. Lyras are exciting but maybe a wee bit in your face and not warm. Only recommended as I've had/still have these either with Five on Orbe or 12" arms on Dais. Imagine a Zyx would also suit as suggested.

If you've got a heavier med. mass arm (12"?) then the very low compliance cart's will bring rewards. Then there's VdH, Dv and others that I've only read about. Even the Ortofon (Black?) within your budget gets very good coverage though I never got on with Ortofons of old (think they're a different beast now, though).

 

[manicatel]

Any cart at that price should be bloomin great. Personal taste & as said in the previous post, system matching will be the deciding factor.
I use a Kleos & it is fab. Certainly not as bright & in yer face as some of the earlier Lyras, but still revealing lots of the tiny details. The Ortofon Cadenza Black is another cart I’ve heard sounding superb & could happily live with it.
Alternatively spend a bit less on eg a Lyra Delos & use the saving towards a better phono stage or some other treat for yourself. I think the rrp of the Kleos is closer to £2.5k now.

 

[sq225917]

What's your kit and how would you like it to sound different?

 

[gwernaffield]

the arm is a 309 , the deck is a modified Michell Odyssey ,

 

[Paul Gravett]

My cartridge is an Ortofon Cadenza Black and it sounds bloody amazing! Had good ones in the past - Linn Akiva and Rega Apheta spring to mind - but the Black blows away anything I've heard. New it's about £1800 but you might find one at your price point. Took a gamble buying without an audition but I couldn't resist a generous discount. No idea how it would sound with your deck and arm, mine's on a Roksan 20+/Artemiz.

 

[Weirdness]

The Lyra Delos will do an amazing job and leaves you some vinyl spending money to spare...

 

[madscientist]

Another vote for the Delos

 

[gwernaffield]

ok i will go and listen to a delos, thanks for all you help
pete

 

[Tigerjones]

I would be terrified using a £1500 cart.

 

[Mike Reed]

I would be terrified using a £1500 cart.

Wonder what the next step up in fear is with using £3K plus cart's ! It's not the using of but the setting up which is hairy (I'm 78 and have two of them !)

O.P. Good choice in Delos; don't think there's one criticism of this cart. since it came out (at its price point), though my Helikon and Titan i owning friend reckons his Helikon is the better cart. However, I think this was replaced by the Kleos, so maybe understandable. the Delos will shunt out 0.55 (?) mV, which is very healthy and generally likes around 400 to 550 ohms resistance through a s/s ph/stage, I believe (assuming you have a choice of loadings).

 

[Darth Vader]

I would be terrified using a £1500 cart.

I'm doubly terrified using my £4K cartridge even more so now that I have arthritis in my hands and effectively only one weak eye so no 3D vision. Oh and its on a unipivot arm too that shivers when I touch it. However needs must..........

Cheers,

DV

 

[DimitryZ]

I would try a vintage Technics from the 80s - 205 or 100 in the MM range and 300-310 in the MC. Technology in those vintage cartridges far surpasses what is available to modern cart makers at ANY price.

 

[AudioAl]

I cant say its the best as I only have 3 MC carts , However the best of the 3 is a Sheter 5000.
Re being terrified I don't have a proble as I don't lift the arm by hand , I use the lift and lower leaver/
When in the armrest I leave the lift arm up , Then just swing the arm across slowly to the required position then using the lower leaver let the arm down , When at the end of the record just lift the arm using the lever and slowly swing it back onto the arm rest . Im not going to say " I have not had any problems " NO definatly NOT

 

[gwernaffield]

hi i know the terrified bit ,i snapped a new cart will not put down which one but it was expensive, , i have had the a 205mk3 great cartridge but a MM and long since bit the dust ,and sold on , the phono stage is the delphini dual mono 4 box ,

 

[Rockmeister]

The Lyra is lovely and possibly the best 'all rounder' I have heard in that price range.ZYX, Clearaudio and Shelter are all in that ballpark and if you have time and can find them, then worth a listen in your system. Apart from the Lyra. and just a tad more 'refined' IME is Ortofon's Cadenza black. Really superb cartridge, but needs VERY careful set up and tracks only 1 or 2mm from the vinyl surface so warped records are out! The Lyra is livlier in presentation. Check your phono stage's stats carefully to see which matches best? The 309 would track either.

 

[GT]

The ZYX Ultimate 100 (£1300 - low output version) is one of only a few cartridges to feature a carbon fibre cantilever...