[Maritan]

Background:
I have a fully stock Kenwood KD770 (all these years later, still owe a debt of gratitude to Neobop for recommending that beautiful TT) that has a stock relatively heavy tonearm (17-20gms probably). It prefers carts with low to medium compliance. I believe it was quite a high end TT back in the day, and still is pursued by enthusiasts <-- this is not to boast, but to convey, IMO, that the TT won't be out of place handling a slightly higher end cartridge.

I currently have had the Clearaudio Virtuoso Ebony on my tonearm for about three years now and am still enjoying it. What a fantastic little cartridge. It seems to do almost everything right to my ears. Seems quite neutral, but I could use a little more top end extension and a little more separation between instruments/ voices. I love the bass on this thing. If it's in the record, it delivers it in spades. Led Zep's No Quarter in Celebration Day shakes my innards when I turn the volume up. Love it.

Question:
So, after three years, I think I'm ready to start looking for a moving coil cart to scratch that itch. Just to see what's on the other side of this fence. I can spend up to $1500, but would prefer to keep it around $1000 and use the left over cash to buy more records. Lightly used carts are fine.

So, folks, any cartridge recommendations to share? It has to be a step or two at least ahead of the Virtuoso, otherwise, I know I'll be content to stick with it. Honest. Please ask questions of me, if you need more input.

Rest of the system: Magnepan 1.7s + Rel T2, VTL ST-150, DeHavilland UV3, Decware ZP3, Hagerman Piccolo

Edited to add:
Music: Mainly rock (Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, some Led Zep, some Hendrix) and some jazz

[neobop]

Hi Maritan,
Glad you're enjoying the Kenny - nice table.  Are you using the stock stylus on the Virtuoso?  If so, you can get better HF extension and detail with a replacement stylus.  The AT95/Clearaudio thread started out with that replacement, or you could send it to Soundsmith for an upgrade. 

The latest giant killer is the AT ART9.  There were 3 separate threads on Audiogon forum extolling its virtues.  Impressive list of carts it replaced.
Compliance is a little high for a perfect match, but according to users you should have no problem in that respect.  It's at the top of my list.
http://www.lpgear.com/product/ATART9.html

If you want more info on the Virtuoso replacement styli, just say so.
neo

[Maritan]

Neo!

How are you doing, sir? Thanks, once again, for jumping in to provide your valuable opinion.

The Virtuoso I bought was actually already retipped by Axel Scheurholz with an aluminium cantilever and the nude (fine) line diamond stylus.

That AT ART9 does look good. I was not aware of this cartridge at all. I found two threads on Audiogon talking this cartridge up like crazy. I'm definitely curious about this cart, but as you said, it seems to be a little too high in compliance to be a perfect match. 18e-6 cm/dyne at 100Hz translates to roughly what, 27-36e-6 cm/ dyne at 10Hz? Using a tonearm mass of 17gms, with 8.5gms for the cartridge, and a compliance of say 27, I get a resonant frequency of 5.7Hz. Seems a little low, doesn't it? If you don't think it's a cause for concern, then this is the cartridge I was searching for.

I have been eyeing the Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC and the Charisma MC cartridges in my budget range. They seem to be the new players in the market. There's  VAS Nova that is supposed to be good, but I can't find too many people talking about it.

PS: I'm getting my ears checked in a couple months (first available appointment!) but that should probably give me a good idea of what I might be missing too.

[neobop]

In this case there is no translating 100Hz cu to 10Hz.  100Hz cu is not a measure of compliance.  The notion of measuring springiness at 100Hz is absurd.  It's a measure of tracking ability at 100Hz.   We have a conversion within a limited range because the carts were measured with a test record and normalized to 10Hz cu.  The conversion does not hold up outside of that range.  If you look at VTF (2g max), I think you'll have a better idea of compliance.

This is all well and good, but I can't give you a definite idea of actual cu.  I suspect your resonant frequency will be around 7Hz - not a problem, but I can't guarantee it.  I asked about that on one of the Agon threads, but everyone was using med mass arms.

The usual suspects for heavier arms are Dynavector and Ortofon, but I would still go for the AT.  I can pretty much guarantee the 10Hz cu is not 27, not   tracking at 2g.  Performance could depend on the physical set up of your table. 
Maybe others will have specific suggestions.  A gently used or demo model might be good.
neo

[neobop]

Maritan,
Saw this listing on Agon.....
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/cartridges-dynavector-xx2-mk-ii-musical-sound-good-price-2016-05-30-analog-06473-north-haven-ct

To my ears the Dynavector carts tend to be bass oriented, not that high frequencies are lacking.  As always, can't vouch for a used component, but this looks like a winner.  Specs look ideal.

Also saw a couple of used Lyra carts including a new-in-box Delos for $1490.  Not sure if the cu is more appropriate than the ART9.  Tell you the truth, if the Kenny was my only arm I'd still get the AT.  I seriously doubt if the resonance will be in the record warp region. 

Good to see you back here at vinyl circle.
neo

[Maritan]

Thanks for the info regarding 100Hz vs 10Hz. I agree with you that 7Hz resonance frequency shouldn't be too low.

I was also looking through the 770D's user manual from Vinyl Engine and saw this little nugget in there: the head shell weighs 10gms. Kenwood recommended a total weight of cartridge + head shell + fasteners to be between 12-22gms.

The ART9 should fall in that range closer to the high side - say 19gms with the screws?

I will say this - If I'm going to spend close to a grand on a cartridge, you've already convinced me that it's going to be on the ART9. 

PS: I'm planning on getting a MintLP set up kit to help set up the cartridge. Next ship date is June 30. 

PPS: Still not decided on the Hagerman Piccolo. Now that I've decided on the cartridge, I know I can get a SUT (Park Audio/ Bob's/ K&K) to match it perfectly. (Not convinced with SUTs yet.) There's also the Lounge Audio Copla that's a direct competitor to the Piccolo and looks extremely interesting.