Ouch!

[marlin]

Last night I settled in for an evening of fine vinyl. Low and behold my stylus was mysteriously bent.
No sense in grilling the family on who was responsible, I have been down that friuitless road before.
I have a Music Hall 7 with the Goldring Eroica that comes with it.
I haven't asked about the cost of a factory repair yet, I am sure it would be more than I want to spend on this cartridge.
My question is: Does anyone have suggestions about a good replacement cartridge?
I realize this is like the Ford/Chevy debate but I value all of your knowledge and comments.
The criteria are new and around $500. MM or MC does not matter so much. I would favor a user replaceable stylus. In the old days I had a Shure V15 Type IV and it was nice to just pop in a new stylus without having to send it to the factory for replacement.

Thanks for any advice offered.

 

[twich54]

Benz-Micro Ace was in that dollar range, not sure where it is now. One of my favorite cartridges for the $$ spent. It's a moving coil available in three output levels to best match your phono-pre.

 

[VanDaRo]

"Low and behold my stylus was mysteriously bent."


EGADS !! I would have a heart attack, dude.......

~VDR

 

[C.A.P]

I hope I NEVER see my STYLUS bent !

If you have kids shit happens!

The best part about it is that "SOMEBODY" did it. If he didn't do it his brother "KNOWBODY" might have been involved !

 

[aliveatfive]

You might want to look into Grado or Sumiko Blue Point Special. I've had both in my system and found them to be musical. Grados are sensitive to turntable motor hum, so that might be an issue. Not to complicate the matter, but the new Ortofons have received good press also.

BTW, to my knowledge, there are no moving coils with user replaceable stylii.

 

[Pcar928fan]

Last night I settled in for an evening of fine vinyl. Low and behold my stylus was mysteriously bent.
No sense in grilling the family on who was responsible, I have been down that friuitless road before.

BTDT! I did the same thing about 6 years or so ago! Really chapped me! I probably did it myself and didn't even know it but SUCKS having to replace a $500 cartridge because of something STUPID like that!

 

[slowGEEZR]

I can recommend the Clearaudio Aurum Beta S at that price point. If you can spend just a little more, the Clearaudio Maestro is even better! That's the cartridge that someone at stereophile said did rock and jazz as good as any cartridge he'd heard up to $2000 - $2500.

 

[timztunz]

Benz-Micro Ace

Benz-Micro Ace Low Output here on a VPI Scout with a Sutherland Ph3D Phono Preamp and very happy. Very quiet and musical.

 

[TrumpetDoug]

Thumbs way up on this one!

I can recommend the Clearaudio Aurum Beta S at that price point. If you can spend just a little more, the Clearaudio Maestro is even better! That's the cartridge that someone at stereophile said did rock and jazz as good as any cartridge he'd heard up to $2000 - $2500.

Gotta agree with the Slowgeez here. I love this cartridge, it is the best I have ever had the pleasure of owning.

Doug - out

 

[tonepub]

Im really enjoying the Zu Denon 103 on my Sota, they are about 400 bucks and very musical indeed. No user rep. stylus though.

Keep the kids away from my house, just got a Lyra Olympos, and I'm pretty freaked out about it....

 

[Bernard]

Keep the kids away from my house, just got a Lyra Olympos, and I'm pretty freaked out about it....

How many smackers for it, Jeff ?

 

[rhd1953]

Cartridge Retip....

You might consider retipping:

http://www.sound-smith.com/retip/


I've had him work on my Pioneer Spec 4 power amp...which no one else could fix. Seems to be exceptionally sharp, certainly in electronics (power amp theory, design, and fabrication).