As a child of the 70's-80's, I grew up with vinyl and have lived through the evolution from there to tape, CD, MP3 and to streaming. It occurred to me that somewhere along the way, things started going backwards and I realized don't quite hear that engaging openness or "sweetness" in digital recordings. I've spent some time looking at what you might call "upper-entry" and "lower mid-range" decks and am not particularly impressed. It seems the hipsters have driven up prices on decent used decks, but I found a reasonably clean Technics SL-D2 a fair price given today's market.
I've been heads down looking at cartridge choices and am a bit overwhelmed. The deck has an Acutex Saturn V head-shell with what looks like an M207 cart (grey tip) that the seller describes as in "good condition" but I'm just going to assume it's trash. After much reading, youtube viewing and listening to samples on davyw's site, I found a seller who has unbranded Goldring Elektra / EdRed / MG32/etc carts with elliptical stylus for $35, so I bit the bullet on that as a way to get started. It'll get bolted to a standard Technics headshell. I also realized that NOTHING I own has a phono pre, so an ART preamp is on the way. None of this is anywhere near "audiophile" quality, of course, but neither is my budget or 40+ year old ears.
I'm looking for thoughts about what would be a mid, $100-ish cartridge that would marry well with the D2's tone-arm. So far, the Grado Black/Green/Red line seems intriguing (fan of their headphones), the AT95/100/120 line, though even in online audio they sound....thin, my friend has a pair of Ortofon Concords on his 1200 Mk IIs for DJing that sound good when you want pure power and volume and a Shure M97xE he uses for general listening and ripping that I do think sounds reasonably good, but a bit "claustrophobic" or "contained" in his recordings. There's also the Ortofon 2M Red that people seem to like as a go-to, but the samples I've downloaded seem to have a harshness and weird upper end. I wish I could audition carts, but it's just not going to happen.
So what else should I be paying attention to that has controlled, tight bass, controlled mids, vocal presence, open upper mids and highs that are engaging yet controlled (cymbals that don't fall apart) and has good spacial presentation? Within the budget limits of course. I enjoy a wide range of genres, so I'm looking for a solid all 'rounder.
My listening equipment will vary widely. An average Yamaha receiver pushing Paradigm 5SEMk3 2 way towers (with surround satellites, sub, center), Alessandro/Grado MS-1 or Etymotic ER4 headphones (maybe even my Koss 4/AAs) or my "studio" which centers around a Yamaha MG32 board and Monoprice 8" powered monitors (they punch way above their weight).
Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated. And thanks for slogging through this diatribe.
I've been heads down looking at cartridge choices and am a bit overwhelmed. The deck has an Acutex Saturn V head-shell with what looks like an M207 cart (grey tip) that the seller describes as in "good condition" but I'm just going to assume it's trash. After much reading, youtube viewing and listening to samples on davyw's site, I found a seller who has unbranded Goldring Elektra / EdRed / MG32/etc carts with elliptical stylus for $35, so I bit the bullet on that as a way to get started. It'll get bolted to a standard Technics headshell. I also realized that NOTHING I own has a phono pre, so an ART preamp is on the way. None of this is anywhere near "audiophile" quality, of course, but neither is my budget or 40+ year old ears.
I'm looking for thoughts about what would be a mid, $100-ish cartridge that would marry well with the D2's tone-arm. So far, the Grado Black/Green/Red line seems intriguing (fan of their headphones), the AT95/100/120 line, though even in online audio they sound....thin, my friend has a pair of Ortofon Concords on his 1200 Mk IIs for DJing that sound good when you want pure power and volume and a Shure M97xE he uses for general listening and ripping that I do think sounds reasonably good, but a bit "claustrophobic" or "contained" in his recordings. There's also the Ortofon 2M Red that people seem to like as a go-to, but the samples I've downloaded seem to have a harshness and weird upper end. I wish I could audition carts, but it's just not going to happen.
So what else should I be paying attention to that has controlled, tight bass, controlled mids, vocal presence, open upper mids and highs that are engaging yet controlled (cymbals that don't fall apart) and has good spacial presentation? Within the budget limits of course. I enjoy a wide range of genres, so I'm looking for a solid all 'rounder.
My listening equipment will vary widely. An average Yamaha receiver pushing Paradigm 5SEMk3 2 way towers (with surround satellites, sub, center), Alessandro/Grado MS-1 or Etymotic ER4 headphones (maybe even my Koss 4/AAs) or my "studio" which centers around a Yamaha MG32 board and Monoprice 8" powered monitors (they punch way above their weight).
Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated. And thanks for slogging through this diatribe.
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