[I.Greyhound Fan]

I am setting up a vinyl rig for my son and I am considering some AT cartridges as well as the Ortophon 2M line and Goldring 2200.  I have heard the 2M Red and Blue but not the other cartridges.

My son's TT is a vintage Pioneer PL-55x and the phono pre is an Emotiva XPS-1.  The rest of his system is a Parasound A21, Pass B1 preamp and Wharfedale 10.2 speakers.  His system is rather warm sounding as is the Pioneer TT so we want a cartridge that is neutral with no exaggeration of sibilants.  It needs to pair well with a medium mass Tone Arm (unfortunately, there is no listing of the exact mass of the Pioneer's tone arm).

I have been looking at the AT150SA, ATVM540, AT-7V, LP Gear AT95SH, Denon DL103 and DL110.  Any insight as to the sound and tone of the AT and Denon Cartridges above would be greatly appreciated.  I am leery of the AT's given much has been said about them being bright sounding but the ones I listed are supposed to be a little warmer from what I have read but there are some mixed reviews out there.

Thanks!

[rotarius]

I have had all of the carts you mentioned at one time or another except for VM540.  I think a lot depends on the type of music he listens to.  A lot of AT carts as well as the DL110 need the input impedance less than the standard 47K to sound great.  In case of DL110 it was around 10K if I recall.  My pick would be Ortofon Quintet red or blue.  I like the Quintet better than the 103 for high frequency reproduction.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I have had all of the carts you mentioned at one time or another except for VM540.  I think a lot depends on the type of music he listens to.  A lot of AT carts as well as the DL110 need the input impedance less than the standard 47K to sound great.  In case of DL110 it was around 10K if I recall.  My pick would be Ortofon Quintet red or blue.  I like the Quintet better than the 103 for high frequency reproduction.

He listens to RR, Jazz, Blues, Vocal and Acoustic music.  Would you characterize the sound  of the AT150 and AT7V as bright or neutral.  And how do they compare to the Ortophon 2M Red and Blue?  The Quintet Red is a little out of my budget which is under $300.

[Funnehaha]

I bought a Pioneer PLX-1000 and put an Ortophon 2M Red on it, just to try it out. I listened to one of my reference Emitt Rhodes albums, and could not make out the shriek of the guitar string as he was going up the neck on one of the songs. I could hear it fine on my modified AR/Rega/Denon DL-103 setup, so I ditched the Ortophon to an acquaintance of mine, and bought one of the AT Micro-line styli that were recently discontinued. The shriek was back using it on the Pioneer, so I would recommend the AT VM540-whatever with the ML stylus or the Denon DL-103.

[rotarius]

He listens to RR, Jazz, Blues, Vocal and Acoustic music.  Would you characterize the sound  of the AT150 and AT7V as bright or neutral.  And how do they compare to the Ortophon 2M Red and Blue?  The Quintet Red is a little out of my budget which is under $300.

Actually, you can get the Quintet red from Thakker for much less than 300.  A fuller sounding and more balanced cart than the 2m series.  I did not care for the AT7V, too lean in my set-up but not as bright as the 440MLA.  The AT150SA is a fine cart and is more forgiving of set-up errors than the microline version.  I still think you would need to bring down the input impedance to get the right tonal balance though.  Based on his music taste, the 103 or Quintet red if you want an MC cart.  For MM, probably the 2m blue if you want neutral sound without fussing over cart loading.  It just does not have the oomph of vintage MM carts like AT11/12/ or Shure M91.  The aftermarket shibata tips are a hit or miss so I can't recommend the AT95SA. I had the diamond fall out of mine and it did not look very good under magnification.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Rotarius, how does the Red Quintet compare in sound to the 2M Blue?  Is it warmer, brighter, same?  How about surface noise?

[rotarius]

Rotarius, how does the Red Quintet compare in sound to the 2M Blue?  Is it warmer, brighter, same?  How about surface noise?

My comparison is on a Jelco 750D and connected to a Project box S.  The Quintet red has more bass and about the same top end extension.  I would not call the Blue bright, it has leaner bass and a bit more surface noise for sure.  Both are refined/smooth sounding to my ears when set-up properly.  The big advantage of the red is how easy it is to align because of it's shape.  Hard to find used Quintets for sale even though they have been out for a while, people must like them.  I would sell you mine but I love what it's doing in my system.