[Marco2]

Hi,

I am looking to upgrade the cartridge on my Rega P3-24, budget up to £600. I currently have a Rega Exact MM cart and am looking for something with a more refined top end, increased transparency and resolution.

From reading about, it seems Rega carts are not the most loved carts and I feel I could do better.

My preference is a full bodied sound and more forward sounding. I do not like lean and analytical. I mainly listen to rock and metal but do listen to lots of different genres.

I use a Pure Sound P10 MM valve phono stage.

My first consideration is MM or MC. If I go for a low output MC cart then I am going to need a Step up transformer which will considerably dent my budget for the cart. What would generally be better, a more expensive MM cart or a lower end MC cart ?

I am considering the following :

Ortofon 2M Black
Audio Note IQ3
Dynavector DV-20X

If anyone has any advice or experience with these carts I would welcome your opinions. It is hard for me to demo any of these carts and it is a lot of money for me to make a big mistake.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jp11801]

I've not used the other two so I cant really say but I owned and loved the Dyna 20xH. It was on a rega arm lounted on a LInn LP12 so the arm cart match is good. No need for a step up if you go 20XH as it's plug and play with a standard MM phono.

Now the Dyna may be leaner than you like though but it is a great cart none the less. I'd also throw in the ZYX Bloom cart as a great one as well. although both the high and low outputs are low output (.24 and .48) . You'll need about 60-70db of gain for the .24 output cart to get to decent playback levels.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marco2 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My preference is a full bodied sound and more forward sounding. I do not like lean and analytical. I mainly listen to rock and metal but do listen to lots of different genres. I use a Pure Sound P10 MM valve phono stage. My first consideration is MM or MC. If I go for a low output MC cart then I am going to need a Step up transformer which will considerably dent my budget for the cart. What would generally be better, a more expensive MM cart or a lower end MC cart ? I am considering the following : Ortofon 2M Black Audio Note IQ3 Dynavector DV-20X

The Dynavector DV20XH (for high output version) works very nicely on Rega arms. It's analytical but definitely not lean and has good bass and a lovely midrange, certainly a big step-up over a Rega MM for sure, but it is still a lower output, so will need you to turn up the volume which might make more noise through a valve stage. The Ortofon 2m Black may probably be a better choice for this reason.

Both these carts cost £400, nearly as much as your deck though and I certainly wouldn't spend any more than this.

For £600 you might be better off trading in the Rega altogether for a better deck like a Michell Tecnodec, which you'll find good deals on at the moment..

 

[Marco2]

Thanks for your responses. It sounds like the DV-20X is not going to be to my taste.

I am pretty much decided on the 2M Black, it seems to be highly regarded and from what I gather synergizes well with my phono stage.

If anyone has experience of, or owns a 2M Black I would be very interested in your feedback on this cart.