My Stanton 890SA with it's 4 gram tracking weight had, not surprisingly, worn out its stylus after around 12 months.
Perusing Mantra Audio I thought I had better get a proper hi-fi cartridge with a bit lower tracking force.
I came across an intriguing little deal on a Sontra 500 EXN moving magnet cartridge for £30. This is a clone of the classic Excel S70EX matrix SQ/QS quadrophonic cartridge, rebadged for the swiss market.
Well I couldn't argue with the price so I qrdered one yesterday and it arrived this morning by return of post.
Sporting an extended 0.2 x 0.8 elliptical stylus, very light cantilever, giving a response to 35KHz, it sounds excellent for the price, with great extension at the top end and superb tracking at 1.5gm.
If you want kick-ass dynamics and Shure M3D welly, then don't buy it, but if you like subtlety, detail, widescreen soundstaging and track-anything security then this is a great cartridge. Musonic also do a Shibata stylus for it for £40 that'll take the HF tracking out to 50KHz, so making for even better end of side performance than the EXN version.
Worth a punt if you need a spare after you break the cantilever off your Kontrapunt.
Steve
Nice Japanese Classic MM Cartridge for Only a Few Quid
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#1 Nice Japanese Classic MM Cartridge for Only a Few Quid
Sgt. Baker started talkin’ with a Bullhorn in his hand.
#2
I am not familiar with that cartridge brand but it certainly sounds like its worth having a bash.
The lower priced cart in North america that everyone is yapping about (and buying) is the Shure m97xe which Amazon is selling for about $60, so say about 40 quid. Wonder how the two would compare?
The lower priced cart in North america that everyone is yapping about (and buying) is the Shure m97xe which Amazon is selling for about $60, so say about 40 quid. Wonder how the two would compare?