Ortofon Quintet Blue Moving Coil Cartridge $569
I heard you’re looking for an upgrade in a phono cartridge. Your phono preamp has MC as an option, so your choices are wide and far.
Low output moving coil carts, when done correctly, can indeed provide dynamics/detail superior to Mms. Done correctly isn’t a given- but with Ortofon, it is.
If you can swing a grand for the Ortofon Quintet Black S, by all means buy it. It has a Sapphire cantilever and Shibata stylus. It’s competitive with any cartridge and is fairly priced.
It’s this cheap because Ortofon is a substantial Danish company that does significant business. Consequently you get real economies of scale working for you. Yet you also get the TLC of Ortofon!
Suppose $1100 isn’t in your budget? Please consider the Quintet Blue, $569.
Quintet Blue is a low output (.5 mV) MC that does need the gain of an MC phono preamp. However at .5 mV, you don’t need a mega thousand dollar phono preamp to sound great! Q Blue has a Nude elliptical stylus fit on an aluminum cantilever. Internal wiring is pure silver (vs copper) which provides faster response. Weighing 9g and having a compliance rating of 15, Q Blue will work in practically any tonearm and is a top notch tracker.
Q Blue has been voiced to provide fine detail/dynamics and to stay smooth (vs bright) in its flavor.
Most MCs in this price range are pumped out by huge houses in Asia. There’s only a slight chance that YOU, at your house, will get one that performs precisely as it should. With Ortofon,
there are no such worries. Orto’s TLC and QC are literally the best in the business!