So I've hit the point in my audiophile "addiction" that I've decided to make a big step up in my cartridge. Currently I'm running a sumiko oyster on a pro-ject 1 Expression III through a grado PH-1 preamp and a Linn Classik receiver. Having recently scored a job with an amazing grado hookup I'm naturally attracted to their parts (hence the PH-1 and soon a set of RS-1's). That being said, I'm not averse to trying other brands if they perform better for what I'm looking for.
At this point I can get a Grado Reference Sonata cartridge for about the price of a Reference Platinum, but I'm not sure it does quite what I want. I listen to mostly heavy rock and punk (read: A whole lot of early Black Sabbath, 70's punk, and power pop) but I love being able to throw on some Jascha Heifetz, Spector reissues, or Coltrane every once and a while.
The other options I'm looking at currently are the Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III, the Dynavector 10x5, the Denon DL-103R, the Ortofon 2M bronze and X5-MC, and the Micro Benz ACE (a little out of my price range but still an idea.)
Any suggestions?
So I've hit the point in my audiophile "addiction" that I've decided to make a big step up in my cartridge. Currently I'm running a sumiko oyster on a pro-ject 1 Expression III through a grado PH-1 preamp and a Linn Classik receiver. Having recently scored a job with an amazing grado hookup I'm naturally attracted to their parts (hence the PH-1 and soon a set of RS-1's). That being said, I'm not averse to trying other brands if they perform better for what I'm looking for.
At this point I can get a Grado Reference Sonata cartridge for about the price of a Reference Platinum, but I'm not sure it does quite what I want. I listen to mostly heavy rock and punk (read: A whole lot of early Black Sabbath, 70's punk, and power pop) but I love being able to throw on some Jascha Heifetz, Spector reissues, or Coltrane every once and a while.
The other options I'm looking at currently are the Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III, the Dynavector 10x5, the Denon DL-103R, the Ortofon 2M bronze and X5-MC, and the Micro Benz ACE (a little out of my price range but still an idea.)
Any suggestions?