cartridge advice budget £50 to £150

lothburn

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Hi,

I'm in need of a little advice,
I have rediscovered the joys of vinyl, running a Rega planer 3, Rega Elys cartridge (moving magnet), Mission Cyrus one, and a pair of Tannoy Mercury F1 custom (borrowed from my surround set).

Turntable and amp are both from the early 90s so is the cartridge.
At the moment hooked on Jean Michel Jarre the Concerts in China, the Cocteau Twins and all of the Doors albums.

I would like some recommendations on a cartridge and is it really worth spending more on a moving coil? Budget £50 to £150.

One last question any suggestions on speakers (bookshelf) budget £150 to £300.

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I would like to thank you all for the advice, Just ordered a Denon DL110 :)
 
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try one of the Denon DL110's they are a high output moving coil, so they work through MM phono stages, you just may have to wind the volume up a tad more. If you look around you should find one for £70 (ish). They are one of the best sub £200 carts I have had the pleasure of listeniing to. They also work very well in the Rega arms.

The only other option I can think of would be one of the new Ortofon 2m's. Red or blue should fall in budget.
 
I would second cwilsons comments.

The only other suggestion I would make would be a Goldring G1042:- https://shop.mantra-audio.co.uk/acatalog/Goldring_Cartridges.html

Towards the upper end of your budget, but I had one some years ago and it was fantastic. Only reservation is that it can sound bright on some recordings due to its line contact stylus. I would have a chat with Mantra! The Goldring G range have idential bodies but the price goes up with the better stylus. They suggested the 1022 would be better in some systems as it doesnt generally have that bright edge which is sometimes apparent!
 
Totally agree with the choice of the Denon cartridges. I had a DL110 a few years back in a Helios arm feeding a Musical Fidelity A1. I used that set up for a few years until it needed replacement. At the time I preferred the 110 to it's brother the 160.
I also have had experience of the Goldring cartridges in my other turntable and much preferred the 1012/22 to the 1042.

To sum up my 1st choice would be the Denon but if user replaceable stylus is important then the Goldring 1012/22 is worth putting on your shortlist.
 
Price and value-wise,there is virtually nothing to compare with the Denons at this level.

The sound quality is as good as anything up to the £200 mark,and that's praise indeed.
 
Just got myself a DL-160 and it's a belter! Fantastic upgrade!! :thumbsup:
 

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