Budget Cartridges

It's not news but it's not everyday that Ortofon announce a new range of budget cartridges, this happenned in 2007 but only yesterday at a friends house i'd listen to Ortofon 2M red in a Rega TT and i was quite plesead with what i'd heard.
I'm looking for a new budget cartridge and i think this one is on the top of the list, just above the Nagaoka MP11.
What's your advice on budget cartridges?

http://www.needledoctor.com/Ortofon-2M-Red-Phono-Cartridge

This post has been edited by clint e. on November 09, 2008 01:42 pm

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What's the pricerange on these?

For me, I have enjoyed various Grado carts from the blue to gold, and the Audio
technica AT440MLA.

although I haven't heard it, the Sure MX97 seems to be a very popular choice.

Thought I'd add that.

I too have had the Grado Blue and Silver both nice cartridges. I still prefer my Pickering XSV-3000, hard to come by but the JICO replacement stylus does work well.

Jim

Tanx for the input.
The Ortofon is around $90 and the Nagaoka's around $30. Twenty years ago we pay a lot more for one of these incredible cartridges...

Whenever I see a post about the Pickering XSV-3000, I feel obligated to chime in. The 3000 was introduced in the fall of 1976, just when I started working for Pickering as the Assistant National Sales Manager. It was a huge success for Pickering, and Saul Marantz's favorite moving magnet cartridge too. Still, many an audiophile snubbed his nose at it due to the fact that Pickering sold to any and everyone, including those who actually discounted their products. Being associated with such "undesirables" was reason enough for many a high end retailer to disparage the cartridge, though many secretly bought one for their own personal use and just never said anything about it.

The Stanton 881-S was the exact same thing as the 3000, though over the years, the 881 improved, and the 3000 (as well as the Pickering name) faded away. The ultimate product from Stanton was the W.O.S. Collector's Series 100, which is the cartridge I use to this day, and it owes its origins to the XSV-3000.

Not too long ago, I sent my son in law a never used Pickering XSV-3000 in its original leather box. He took it to his local service shop and asked the somewhat cantankerous old fart working there to remove the Grado cartridge he had in his turntable, and to install the 3000. The man actually refused to do so, claiming, "what you've got now is better."

Fortunately, installing a cartridge isn't the worst job in the world, and so my son in law did it himself and was flat out stunned at how much better the 3000 sounded. "Pickering prejudice" may still exist, but in the end, sound wins out.

My only real expirience with Ortofon was a Concorde 30 many many moons ago. I liked the cartridge but after the second stylus I never replaced it the third time.

Jim

The Shure Hi-Trac on my Pioneer PL1000A (linear tracker, similiar to the Phase Linear TT's from the '80s) is in need of a stylus but it sounds sooo good on the TT I'll be calling the Needle Doctor for a replacement unless anyone can think of a better one