if you had to choose from these cartridges,

honda cber

which one would you pick? (limited to these two since i already have the cartridge bodies). if your recommendation is neither, please tell me why--- especially if you want to make other recommendations. the budget is pretty low here, as this is completely a luxury purchase.

shure V15 RS (radio shack--- there is conflicting info on which shure cart this corresponds to). i remember this cart having big lush bass and pretty nice on the top, but it has been awhile. i bought it new back in the 80's, for about $130 (in 80's dollars). the cantilever got broken during an unfortunate moving accident.

stanton 880S. i liked this cart, but i wore it out years ago. honestly, i cant really remember specifics of its sound. seems like it had good output and was smooth on top, and had less bass than the V15. this one came on a deck i bought some time ago (and have since sold), so i never got to hear it as new. again, its been literally years since i have heard either.

LP gear has replacement styli for both @ around $60 each. apparently, the N97xE is the closest available for the shure, as the original is NLA. it *looks* the same, but i wonder how the different stylus will perform?

http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=SHSV15RS
http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=STAD0080S

cleaning all of those moldy records makes me want to replace the ho-hum AT cart in my 'shed system. the turntable is an older yammy YP-B2(B) that is anything but fancy or special. the AT cart just doesnt quite get it done for me anymore.

what says ye?
a

honda cber

looks just like this one, BTW:


a

doctor r

The Stanton was a nice cartridge and could be a nice change from the AT sound. The Shure also was a very nice cartridge but I am unsure about the performance of a slightly different stylus sonce no original replacements are avaliable anymore. I understand that these are luxury purchases, but you may want to look at a Denon 110 high output moving coil. They are about twice the price but an excellent value for the money and do not require a moving coil input.

honda cber

wow, great recommendation. i did not realize a m/c cart was available at that kind of price point. the descriptions on lp gear certainly sound like what i would want from a cartridge. also, that it rejects surface noise is a point that seems to come up in most of the reviews (and indeed, the product description)--- i have a medium sized collection of less than 2000, but lots of those were used. aside from that, until 10 years ago or so, my alignment methods were perhaps... um... imprecise--- i have lots of titles that were probably played (maybe many times) in less than ideal conditions. live and learn; blah blah blah. surface noise is something i combat with frequency.
thanks for spending my money lol. its only visa.

i guess these can go back in the drawer for another 5 years
a

honda cber

poor poor lonely



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doctor r

My LP collection suffered some I am sure from well intentioned and poorly executed alignment and handling over the years before being stored for about 8 years. The Denon is very forgiving of surface noise and tracks very well. The 110 likes to track at about 2 grams for optimum information retrieval but I was amazed at how great my vinyl sounded for a cartridge at that price break. The compliance would match well with your arm also.