Hi,

I need a new cartridge for my Dual CS 530. It has a ULM tonearm if that helps. I have no idea what sort of cartridge would be best...

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I've had several Duals over the years, and with the ULM arms I'd suggest something really low mass like the Ortofon OM-5E. They were the "stock" cartridge for the 506/606 series that came just after the CS 530. Excellent tracking compared to heavier cartridges like the Denons, Shures, or worst of all the Grados. Nothing against those carts, really-- I currently use a Grado myself. As a matter of fact, that's why I moved away from the otherwise excellent Dual tables. They just don't mate well with Grado cartridges.

Thanks for the suggestion. The ortofon OM-5E, OM-10 and OM-20 both seem like good choices from what I've read, but I was wondering if the Shure m97xE would be low mass enough ... it is 6.6 grams as opposed to the 5g ortofons...

I'm sure it would work, but my preference (soundwise) would be the ortofon-- I haven't heard the latest generation of them, but the old ULMs that these are based upon were really a wonderful cartridge.

Yes it would work. You can try it with the stabilizer brush up or down. If the arm mistracks then you will have to use the stabilizer brush in the down position. Just remember to add .5 g extra tracking force if you are using the brush.

The Shure is a "warm" cartridge with less treble energy than the Ortofon. The OM 20 is better but more expensive. The OM 10 is in the same price range. A lot depends on the sound signature you want and your matching electronics.

My own CS 530 came with an Ortofon OM10, which sounded great and looked good on the ULM arm. If you want to get really radical on the weight, pry out the metal plug from the top of the cartridge.

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Ortofon OM series was the '80s classic match alright, before that Shure M-75 I think was the standard in the USA.

I've always found the OM series a little bland on the Dual as it's pretty smooth cart and the deck itself has a tendency towards sounding sweet and laid back.

This is especially the case with the cheaper OM profiles like the 5 or 10 which arn't so detailed and give the whole preformance a slightly airbrushed quality.

I've always preferred Audio Technica for this reason or else Nagaoka. The latter are a little aesthetically challenged with big square bodies a la Denon, in '70s two tone colours but LPgear have the MP11 for 70USD which has to be one of the great bargains out there in high compliance carts at the moment. Especially since Ortofon's are also a little expensive in the USA.