Price/Performance and LOMCs

Tangram

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2022
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I’ve been running an Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue on my Stabi R for the past year (professionally installed using AnalogMagik) and regularly revel in its detail retrieval abilities. “Well worth the money” is a common internal refrain. However, this week I purchased a modestly-priced, used, “practice” cartridge (Hana SL Mk 1) to improve my setup skills to reduce the chances of ripping the cantilever off my next cartridge install - an Aidas Mammoth. The Hana has an easy-going sound - Cadillac vs. Lotus for the Etsuro - and isn’t as good at detail, but on meh-sounding recordings (think 80’s rock music) smoothing out the bumps definitely has sonic benefits, at least to my ears. I am pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the Hana is, even with my mediocre setup skills.

So this got me wondering what other modestly-priced LOMCs people use or have used that they’ve fallen in love with? On WBF we hear about a lot of +$10K cartridges, but what about sub-$1,500 cartridges? Which of those offer superior bang for the buck?
 
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I've heard quite a few $10k+ cartridges at demonstrations, but have great pleasure listening to far cheaper units:

1. Expert Stylus Denon DL103R upgrade with paratrace tip and sapphire cantilever. You can read a lot about these online, as Wyndham has been doing them for many years. The tip is exclusive to him. Mine was £850 years ago, probably closer to £1,000 now, includes the standard new DL103R.

2. Dynavector XX2Mk2. Actually listening to this now. Has a paratrace retip. Had it about 15 years.

3. Ikeda 9TS. They are £1,900 in the UK, but I got mine in Tokyo for £900.

4. Ortofon SPU 1S. For £560, this is a complete bargain. I paid about £350 for an open box one.

I have an Urushi Gold, it's old and been through the wars, had it rebuilt last year with a FG for £1,500, just about worth it.

The XX2 and 9TS give you most of the performance of much more expensive models for a fraction of the price.

I almost bought a Hana SL. A lot of these have been around for years and have proven extremely popular for good reason.

The other one on my list at this price point is the Phasemation PP-200. Costs £1,000. May get one next time I'm in Japan, or the PP-300.
 
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Great idea for a thread! I will be watching for sure.

The Hana ML would fit into this category as it is around $1200 US. Like all Hana cartridges it is an excellent value. I had one for a few years before stepping up to the Hana Red Umami. The ML on a VPI Memorial and BrinkMann 10 arm was a very nice cartridge and compared well with the Red which I replaced it with.

While I still have the Hana Red a total change in direction found me exploring the beauty of SET amplification with high efficiency speakers. This led to me to purchasing an Artisan Fidelity Garrard 301/ Groovemaster 3 combo which sounds amazing with the rest of my system. It along with an Ortofon SPU just seemed to complete the natural and realistic sound I was looking to recreate. As I wanted to explore the classic SPU sound I chose the Classic GE Mk ii which I am really enjoying. I believe it would fit into the under $1500 US low output Moving Coil category.

For context I will add that before the Hana ML I had used many different cartridges on many different arms/tables. Like many of my era I stated with MM cartridges like the Shure V15. The Shure in particular stood out for its excellent tracking ability although as I explored I found that cartridges like the ADC XLM and the wood body Grados sounded better. The Decca London despite its average tracking ability still stands out as one of the best cartridges I have heard, certainly the most exciting. It has been years but I wonder how it would fair against today's better cartridges. The Decca was lost in a flood along with a rather good sounding Supex 900 S my first foray into MC, I wish I still had these as I think they would be worth restoring. In more recent years and after many system tweaks and changes I ventured more seriously into value MCs but really the Hana ML was the first that separated its self from the pack.
 
I have a Hana Ml. Good.
A Denon 103R Midas. With a Bobs device. Good.
Rega Exact. I liked it till the cleaning lady broke it. The replacement sucked. Very poor quality control.
Aidas Durawood copper. Better than good. Different from the others. It works well.

Not sure what to expect from a
cartridge. If I can make my vinyl sound better than my digital then great. It does at times. Other times, not.
I am using a Channel D preamp. I have heard a few people say Hana does not work well with it. So there is that.
 
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I've heard quite a few $10k+ cartridges at demonstrations, but have great pleasure listening to far cheaper units:

1. Expert Stylus Denon DL103R upgrade with paratrace tip and sapphire cantilever. You can read a lot about these online, as Wyndham has been doing them for many years. The tip is exclusive to him. Mine was £850 years ago, probably closer to £1,000 now, includes the standard new DL103R.

2. Dynavector XX2Mk2. Actually listening to this now. Has a paratrace retip. Had it about 15 years.

3. Ikeda 9TS. They are £1,900 in the UK, but I got mine in Tokyo for £900.

4. Ortofon SPU 1S. For £560, this is a complete bargain. I paid about £350 for an open box one.

I have an Urushi Gold, it's old and been through the wars, had it rebuilt last year with a FG for £1,500, just about worth it.

The XX2 and 9TS give you most of the performance of much more expensive models for a fraction of the price.

I almost bought a Hana SL. A lot of these have been around for years and have proven extremely popular for good reason.

The other one on my list at this price point is the Phasemation PP-200. Costs £1,000. May get one next time I'm in Japan, or the PP-300.
Glad to read you have good success with lower-priced cartridges. I think at some point I will explore Dynavector cartridges. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever read anything bad about them. The Ikeda is an interesting idea.
 
Great idea for a thread! I will be watching for sure.

The Hana ML would fit into this category as it is around $1200 US. Like all Hana cartridges it is an excellent value. I had one for a few years before stepping up to the Hana Red Umami. The ML on a VPI Memorial and BrinkMann 10 arm was a very nice cartridge and compared well with the Red which I replaced it with.

While I still have the Hana Red a total change in direction found me exploring the beauty of SET amplification with high efficiency speakers. This led to me to purchasing an Artisan Fidelity Garrard 301/ Groovemaster 3 combo which sounds amazing with the rest of my system. It along with an Ortofon SPU just seemed to complete the natural and realistic sound I was looking to recreate. As I wanted to explore the classic SPU sound I chose the Classic GE Mk ii which I am really enjoying. I believe it would fit into the under $1500 US low output Moving Coil category.

For context I will add that before the Hana ML I had used many different cartridges on many different arms/tables. Like many of my era I stated with MM cartridges like the Shure V15. The Shure in particular stood out for its excellent tracking ability although as I explored I found that cartridges like the ADC XLM and the wood body Grados sounded better. The Decca London despite its average tracking ability still stands out as one of the best cartridges I have heard, certainly the most exciting. It has been years but I wonder how it would fair against today's better cartridges. The Decca was lost in a flood along with a rather good sounding Supex 900 S my first foray into MC, I wish I still had these as I think they would be worth restoring. In more recent years and after many system tweaks and changes I ventured more seriously into value MCs but really the Hana ML was the first that separated its self from the pack.
I wonder if the ML has a Mk ii version in the works given the Mk ii just came out for the (admittedly older) SL? There’s something about the Excel/Hana/Etsuro brands that “resonate” with me.
 
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The various Denon 103 mods are great fun. Dynavector 10X5 mK II LOW is a fine cartridge regardless of cost - listening to one right now.
Love then idea of wading into Denon waters. There seems to be a lot of choice when it comes to mods.
 
Love then idea of wading into Denon waters. There seems to be a lot of choice when it comes to mods.
Upgraded Denon options can be found down this page.

DL - 103R/SP £798.80 - Modified with sapphire cantilever and ultra low mass Paratrace diamond - an absolute steal.

 
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The Hana SL is an excellent cartridge that I used for a while and still keep around. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it performed on a high-end turntable paired with my favorite tonearm, the AS Axiom. After carefully setting it up, it exceeded my expectations. That said, I believe there’s no cartridge under $1,000 that can outperform the Audio Technica OC9—especially the model with a microlinear or microridge stylus. I wore out three OC9s in the past, back when different stylus profiles weren’t yet offered.
 
I wonder if the ML has a Mk ii version in the works given the Mk ii just came out for the (admittedly older) SL? There’s something about the Excel/Hana/Etsuro brands that “resonate” with me.
So far I haven't seen a Mk ii version of the Hana ML. They have introduced the Umami Blue which fits in between the ML and Red so it probably depends on how well that cartridge is accepted in the marketplace.

I agree that family of cartridges works for me too!
 
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What about all the Ortofon?
 
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What about all the Ortofon?
For sure. In the current lineup the Quintet Black uses a sapphire cantilever and shibata stylus for $1,500.
 
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For sure. In the current lineup the Quintet Black uses a boron cantilever and shibata stylus for $1,500.
Was the Quintet the MM. A friend always likes the Bronze. I want to try one some day.
 
What about the Cardenza line. Better or diggerent.
 
I bought a Cadenza Bronze, as the direct descendant of the Kontrapunkt C. I ended up getting the Kontrapunkt refurbished as I preferred it.
But the biggest cheap surprise I ever had was not an LOMC, but the Nagaoka MP-500, which isn't an embarrassment when played alongside my more expensive cartridges.
 
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specs are kind of unimpressive, and their MM have high distortion...
Maybe a better way of assessing them would be to listen to them with the appropriate gear! This would apply to all cartridges not just the Ortofon.
 
What about all the Ortofon?
Three or four years ago I sat through an Ortofon demo, examples from through the range up to and including Cadenza Black in the same system.

Very interesting, clear progression. Cadenza were a step up from Quintet though they were nice. Cadenza Bronze & Black clearly showed their reputation. Black was more resolving and airey, Bronze richer, a fuller flavour but without the sense of space the Black delivered.

At the time I was in the market for a cart at this level and ended up with Hana’s ML. For me it delivered the best of the Bronze & Black, tonal richness, weight and resolution. All that at a lower price. Ortofon’s were excellent in their own right, no reason someone else might feel in their system a Cadenza were just the ticket.
 
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