Show us your phono cartridge

Definitely as pretty as it gets I reckon @Bluesfan

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Very tempting… I’m listening to Joni Mitchell At Newport with my ML at the moment and it sounds wonderful. Being well into it’s 4th year now and sounding better than ever, I reckon it’s making the good case for an upgrade to one of the Umamis when it finally gives up…

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Here my new TRigB MC ATOC9xSL on Tiger Paw Javelin great sound 3 bolt mount really help the sound.

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Is that the Thales tonearm?

Yes the statement arm

Lovely.

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This is my current cartridge bought a few weeks back a Hana SL mk2. I like it very much and is bedding in nicely. deck is Gyrodec and Audiomods series 6 arm also new this year.

These are a few previous incarnations I have kept for one reason or another. They all work or did the last time I tried them although the Ortofon is a bit odd on one channel but it is 40 or more years old.

A previous Cartridge used on my old arm (Rega RB600) was a Hana EL. I also had a SL but I gave that to a friend. The EL although the base cartridge in the Hana range is great value for money and punches well above its weight.

This ADC MC1.5 is interesting and memorable to me. It is the only MC type cartridge ADC made I think. Produced in the late 70s/early 80s and quite rare as fr as I know. At the time well known and liked for their MM versions but this MC did not catch on much in the UK at least and did not sell well. I did and still liked it the last time I listened it. It is very punchy and highish output for a low output MC @ 0.9mv so attached to a phono stage that has a 60db uplift (e.g. Stageline) one has to go easy on the volume control.

I liked the Denon DL304 it was polite and somewhat the opposite of the ADC and also had a fairly low output of 0.3mv. Very musical and laid back nice with classical.

Last an Ortofon MC20 Super.

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An AT33PTG with an incredibly ugly but also incredibly effective cartridge isolator from Len Gregory (The - late - Cartridgeman).

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How would you compare the Hana vs. the Koetsu?

A Shelter 201. Based on the low-cost Sumiko Pearl. The 201 sounds completely different. Very musical, wonderful mids, a slightly warm tuning, and not hyper-detailed. It makes you want to put on record after record. For that reason alone, it’s one of the best MM cartridges for me. I don’t know if Shelter is still in business.

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A Bang & Olufsen SP8 from the 1960ies. The B&O cartridges were designed and built by AKG in Vienna. The B&O moving iron (MI) cartridges enjoyed an excellent reputation. More information regarding this is available on the SoundSmith (Peter Ledermann) website.

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Great cartridge, I’ll buy it again sometime.

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You might like to have a Google of Garrett Brothers P77 they did a highly regarded modified version of the P77 Excel cart which the Pearl is essential based on.

When it’s time to look for a new Stylus take a look at the Jico SAS 1 Stylus it’s Micro ridge diamond profile on a boron cantilever. You can find some chat on different forums about the combo with the Pearl and P77. It was transformational for the performance of the P77 when I tried it you get to keep all the musicality and wonderful midrange but adds incredible resolution and dynamics.

I wore out my Jico SAS 1 and replaced it with a further option from Expert Stylus Co, in the UK (Esco) Again Boron cantilever and Paratrace diamond tip (their own version of the extended line contact stylus) it’s very good but but I lost a tiny bit of magic the Jico SAS 1 brought to the table.

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Many Hana’s here.
This must now push me to re-install my Phonosophie Deck with Aro and Umami red :slight_smile:
Its way too long overdue…

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Looks like a nice Origin Live tonearm too. Can you share which they are?

Ah, in your profile, sorry! :slight_smile: Enterprise tonearm?

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12”” Enterprise MK 4. The phono is Polish, RCM Theriaa. Superline on its way for the second tonearm.

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TrigB, Audio Technica VM760SLC :+1:

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Hi
How you finding the exquisite ST?
I have the same and would be interested to hear your thoughts, plus what you set tracking and phono stage setting at.
Cheers dunc

Hi Dunc, it really is day and night comparing to Titanic Audio Model S. So much more air, clarity and detail and the bass feel more real, I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be this good!

I haven’t also realised how big and heavy it is! It barely fits on my tonearm!

I’m using 0.3mV gain, 400 load and 2g tracking force. What settings do you use?