Help.....A good budget MC cartridge.?

[jammy395]

Hi folks,
Think Ive just wore the tip of my Goldring 1042 stylus......LOVED THAT MM TO BITS...!!!
But according to all and sundry i should be listening to a MC.
Any good uns out there, under or near the £500 mark.
Cheers jammy395.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Denon 103.

[Daniel Quinn]

save an extra £95 quid and get a benz micor ace s l , mine makes me very :D

whatever you buy , buy it of the internet and take advantage of the distance selling regulations .

a word of caution , the cantilever is very difficult to see ,its microscopic and boron [ ie dark] and does not protrude the body .smashed my 1st one within 6 hours

p.s - I hope this friday its your turn to cook mince and tatties :D

[jammy395]

Thanks for the sugestions lads,,,
Denon 103
Benz micro ace
Then my mates recomend,,,
sumiko evo 3
Denon 304
Ortofon rondo blue
Boy, it would be great if we could hear thm all to compare, but alas not to be.
So will just have to google all the reviews and plumb for 1 as per usual.
will let you know my choice once made.
jammy395

[zebbo]

I didn't particularly like the 103, (but maybe hadn't applied enough extra mass), or the Sumiko Evo, or the 1042.
What I did REALLY like at that money was the Ortofon 2M Black it's MM of course but it is superb for the money.

[jammy395]

Hi Folks,
Well there is certainly no shortage of M.C. cartridges out there at about my budget of £500.
But kind of have my mind set on the (recomended) Benz micro ace.

Unfortunate but this beastie happens to come in 3 flavours (LOW, MEDIUM or HIGH OUTPUT)
So can anyone out there recomend which would be best.
Whats the difference.?

Technics 1210mk5 fed through Soneteer Sedley phono stage.

Cheers jammy395

[zebbo]

The lowest output you can get away with I would have thought. It doesn't seem to work like you'd think, I changed from a 0.4mv Koetsu to a 0.24mv ZYX and the output level seems virtually the same.

[Daniel Quinn]

I agree , mines low [red]

i've read several articles that high output m.c's are flawed in design because in order to increase the output they increase the copper windings and this degrades sound quality . As far as I am aware the difference in the benz -other than the colour of the body - is the number of copper windings round the coil at the end of the cantilever. more copper = higher output .

[jammy395]

Thank's for your input on the subjects folks.
Look's like it's the......
BENZ MICRO ACE (Red - low output).
Will let you know how it performs asap.
jammy395

[Lindsayt]

Another option that has the likely drawback of having a 4 month lead time before you can start listening to it is to buy the cartridge of your dreams that may well have cost a lot more than £500 when new. Preferably this will be one of the lesser known / hyped / sought after cartridges to keep it under £250. Buy it 2nd hand. Use up any remaining tip life - which may well be 0 hours. Send it to ESC for a retip.