[sturgus]

CWC, good choice on having the arm rewired. If you are ever up the St. Louis way let the GAS group here know maybe you can hangout for a few hours. Check it out.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=70.0
You should also give this guy a call when looking for a new cartridge. He (Jim) is down your way and is a very nice to deal with.
http://www.osageaudio.com/
Sturgus

[cwc68]

I am getting ahead of myself, don't even have my arm back yet, but does anyone have an opinion on the zyx R100.  Same price range.  Should I put it on my list of cartridges to consider?

Thanks,

Bad habit but better than drugs, and I get a wonderful warm happy feeling when I get to listen to music reproduced on a great system.
I have never seen a raid on a house of an Audio Junky 

[cwc68]

Thanks Sturgus,

I will be in St. Louis this summer. I am a Wash U grad and a die-hard Cardinals fan. 
I am always in town to see the Redbirds play
Thanks, excited to meet new enthusiasts !!

[sturgus]

Thanks Sturgus,

I will be in St. Louis this summer. I am a Wash U grad and a die-hard Cardinals fan. 
I am always in town to see the Redbirds play
Thanks, excited to meet new enthusiasts !!

Look forward to meeting you. The ZYX is a nice cartridge. I also have read some nice things about the Hana line of cartridges. The Rega is a nice versatile arm. I have a RB-300 setting around here that I have to do something with. Let me know how you like the rewire.
Sturgus

[cwc68]

The arm is back.   Thanks so much for the referral.  It is a very nice upgrade.  My Omega speakers are on order, looking forward to that in the not so distant future.

[sunnydaze]

Thanks for all the advice guys.
So I have only spent $300 of my $2000 budget. 
I checked out arms bacobits1 suggested and I think that I want to get this arm back and set up and maybe in 6 months a year upgrade to a new arm.
I think I wil get more from a cartridge upgrade at this point.
Suggestions for cartridges in the $500-$1000 range.

Right now I am listening to a Dynavector 20X-L on a Rega 300B arm.  Fantastic pairing on my Townshend Rock 3 table.  Sounds great into both my phono stages (JuicyMusic Tercel,  Blue Circle BC27-pi) loaded at 100 ohms.  Highly recommended!   

This is with crappy Rega stock phono cable.  Next step:  Incognito re-wire.

[electricbear]

cwc68 stay away from the Gateway Audio Guys, they are bad juju. I had to move to Florida to get away from them.
Only joking, they are a great bunch of guys who will be only too willing to fire the audiophile flames.
If you don't have a high end MC phono preamp I would suggest the Dynavector 20x2h. It will give you the benefits of mc but with a healthy 2.8mV output. The US importer is Toffco LLC, they are based in the St Louis area. Mike Pranka is the main man there. He's a great guy to talk with and really knows his stuff.

[ThePriest]

Love threads like this.

Cwc, I once had an Rb300 with the Incognito upgrade, very nice value.
I would suggest you look at the Groovetracer counterweight, that improved my RB300 a lot.

As for cartridges, I can recommend the Nagaoka MP500. No idea of the US price. Not an MC, but a great cartridge. Fast response, details, nice detailed bass, and replaceable stylus

[sunnydaze]

If you don't have a high end MC phono preamp I would suggest the Dynavector 20x2h.

In Reply 16 cwc said:   I have always chosen MC.  I have never owned a MM.

So I suppose he has ability to handle MC.  But great rec on the 20x HO.   I have both output versions and they are both excellent.  Dynamic, smooth, nice mids, big solid bass, sweet top, good tracker.   Just well-balanced, nothing sticks out inappropriately.

[cwc68]

Thanks for all the great advice.  Enjoying my new setup.  Ordered 6 180g blue note rereleases tonight.  I will add that to my cartridge short list.
 

[Bob Stark]

Look for a used Shelter 501 Mk II.  All round very good cartridge--no weaknesses.  I have one with the Soundsmith level 2 rebuild that has only 150 hours on it.  Would sell for $550.

[pi.bond]

I like the Koetsu, Lyra, and Shelter cartridges - and if you keep an eye out for low hour used cartridges they should all fit in your budget.

[sunnydaze]

For "highish" output, I'd add Soundsmith Carmen to your list.

My buddy has one on his VPI and it's a wonderfully musical cartridge!