Found a cartridge, the Ortofon 2M Red, started a new thread for impressions

The needle broke off my ADC 90QE cartridge on my JVC F300 turntable, and I am in search of a replacement. I loved the sound of the old setup, and don't reallyneed much more. I just ordered the Inception coundtrack on vinyl!

What should I look out for under $60? Also, I like to buy used and pre owned, so what are some good old or not so old cartridges and or styluses to look out for? Any help is appreciated, and feel free to PM me offers about cartidges you may have laying around. Thanks in advance.

Edit: francisdemarte was kind enough to point out a FS ad in which Caphead was selling and Ortofon 2M Red for a good price. I made him an offer, and he accepted! I will have the cartridge soon and will post my impressions here or somewhere else. 

I will need some advice to help set up the new cartridge properly. I will look around and see what I can find, but any help is more than welcome.

Edit 2/28/11:

I set up the cartridge successfully two days ago, and have listened to it for some time. Everything I say is compared to the old cartridge I had, some cheap ADC that came with the table. My initial impressions are that this is a definite upgrade. I really hear the big bass people are talking about. I wouldn't call it artificial, but if there is a lot of bass on the record, this cartridge will definitely bring it out. Also, the treble is extended and the slightest bit sharp. It doesn't bother me, as I am not very sensitive to sharpness in the upper registers and my headphones and speakers are not very bright. I could see it being a slight issue for people with bright systems, but this characteristic of the treble is not super pronounced. I just thought I would be honest and let everyone know it is there. I don't have anything to say about the mids, they are there and they are nice. I would say they are natural.

As for soundstaging and imaging, I can't say anything about those qualities so for. I will listen better and come to my conclusions.

Music seems really alive with this cartridge. I just got the Inception soundtrack on clear 180 gram vinyl, and it sounds fantastic, with a huge dynamic range and the amazing bass that this cartridge potently brings out. It sounds close to a theater in my basement, and in many respects better. In my dance and electronic records, there is great bass as well. Listening to Tangerine Dream's Tangram is truly the trip the artists intended, with the swirling synthesizers. Everything is really clear. I love the overall tonality of the cartridge. I feel it is a stretch to call it neutral, but it is certainly exciting and has a measure of musicality and naturalness that makes the music come to life as much as is possible on my limited yet great sounding system. 

I am running Polk RTI100 floorstanding speakers with powered 6.5" subs in the bases from an old Realistic STA-95 receiver that has a phono stage and 45 watts per channel. I guess the Polks are sensitive, because it get extremely loud at 1/3 up the volume knob. I mainly use my damped Fostex T50RPs through it headphone jack and play around with the bass and treble knobs until I get a good sound. 

I found a few cartridges on Amazon that might be good.

Shure:

http://www.amazon.com/Shure-M97xE-High-Performance-Magnetic-Cartridge/dp/B00006I5SB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298404629&sr=8-1

Gemini:

http://www.amazon.com/Gemini-Headshell-pre-mounted-Audio-Technica-cartidge/dp/B003PRW2Y2/ref=sr_1_13?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1298405435&sr=1-13

I am leaning towards the Gemini, as it is only $29. 

I fixed the link. It was indeed the Shure M97XE. I will look into the Grado black as well. 

This looks really good from Audio Technica and has good reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/AUDIO-TECHNICA-Universal-Turntable-Cartridge/dp/B0002ZUN1O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1298465825&sr=8-3

Quote:

Originally Posted by francisdemarte 

Pick up this Orthofon 2m Red on the FS forum! I love mine.

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/536094/ortofon-2m-red-phono-cartridge

I made him an offer, and he accepted! Thanks a lot for pointing that out to me. I will let everyone know what I think when I get the cartridge. 

I will post my impressions of the cartridge somewhere after I get it and listen to it a little. The link will be in this thread for sure.

I do plan to post impressions at a later date. I don't really have much experience with vinyl, and the old cartridge that came with the FX-300 is the only cartridge I have heard so for. Having said this, I will try to post my honest and objective findings. I do have experience with some fairly high resolution digital music with my DAC, transports, and my damped Fostex T50RP headphones which have good resolution. Before my needle broke, I liked to compare Sade's "Promise" record with the digital copy I burned in WAV and ran through my Iriver H120 and M-Audio SuperDAC 2496, a resolving piece of prosumer gear. Th vinyl definitely had advantages in naturalness and musicality. Horns seemed much more natural on the vinyl and a thickness I heard with the digital was simply not there. However, the weak link in that chain is the cheap Monoprice fiber optic cable that probably messes up the signal. I will have to upgrade to something a little better to call it a fair fight. 

So I have already had some experience, and will definitely share my findings. I expect to be blown away by the sound, as I am coming from an old, basic, ADC 90QE- what came with the table. I loved vinyl on that, so I expect to have some fun times when the Ortofon comes.

Do you think I should start a new thread altogether or just change this title and update the original post? 

P.S. I will need a little advice on how to set up the cartridge. I am a complete noob to vinyl, and while I love how it sounds and am firmly in team vinyl, I would like to maximize the sound quality and prolong the life of my records and cartridge by setting it up properly. If anyone can point me in the right direction for good advice or provide some themselves, I would appreciate it immensely. 

Thanks. I will do all that. I have the manuel to the turntable, so that should be useful.