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RE: Another parameter,...

Posted by Lew on December 29, 2016 at 16:50:36:
My inclination would be to find a Grace F9E or Ruby in good physical condition, if for a reasonable price, and then have it re-tipped by Sound Smith with their top of the line OCL stylus/ruby cantilever. SS sort of specializes in the Grace Ruby re-tip, as well as in B&O cartridge restoration. (Which makes B&O top of the line models, MMC1, MMC2, MM20CL, also appealing.)

About 5 years ago, I got a Grace Ruby off eBay with no cantilever at all; it was totally missing, but the body was "like new". I sent that off to SS. At that point in time, I also owned a functional Grace Ruby with its original stylus, which I liked very much. I had hopes that the re-tip would sound as good, but in fact the re-tip is significantly better. It took about 20-30 hours to get there, but at that point it really bloomed. I keep thinking I should send my old Ruby to SS for the same treatment, while we are still lucky enough to have Peter Ledermann around. There's a bunch of other vintage MM and MI cartridges to love, but I realize that finding them in good condition is a crap shoot that not everyone wants to engage in.

All of my MM cartridges are vintage, so I don't know much about the current crop, except that Nagaoka, AT, Ortofon, and a few others get good reviews. I used to like my Grado TLZ quite a bit, but not all Grado's have the same "house sound" in my experience. I don't know which of their modern products would sound like a TLZ.