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Cartridges up to £499
Jump to cartridges of £500 and above
Edwards Audio Zephyr C50
The C50 is a great budget cartridge, perfect for entry level turntables. If features a carbon cantilever and a spherical diamond stylus (which makes it much less choosy about setup than some other cartridges). Its sound is warm and weighty, and it’s remarkably forgiving of surface noise too. It is very well packed (see picture below) and comes supplied with quality non-
Edwards Audio Zephyr C50 cartridge: £29.95
Rega Carbon
The Rega Carbon is a new budget cartridge from Rega. Like the fractionally cheaper Edwards Audio C50 this design features a carbon cantilever and a spherical stylus. Another cracking budget cartridge!
Rega Carbon MM cartridge: £33.00
Audio Technica VM range
In something of a master stroke, Audio Technica have produced a new range of affordable MM Cartridges with interchangable styli. In doing so they have replaced the incredibly long standing classics -
All models use an aluminium cantilever, what differs is the diamond tips, with different profiles and construction as detailed briefly below:
Audio Technica AT-
Audio Technica AT-
Audio Technica AT-
Audio Technica AT-
Audio Technica AT-
We sell the full range of these cartridges and styli (plus many more) in our ebay shop
Grado Prestige Range
The Prestige range of cartridges features 6 models all based around the same basic design but with different grades of materials and tolerancing marking out each model. They all use the moving Iron principle which essential behaves as a Moving Magnet in that it will plug into any conventional MM phono stage. This unusual design uses fixed coils and magnets, relying on a moving iron armature working inside the field generated by the magnets to induce a signal in the coils. This results in a low moving mass giving excellent high frequency extension. The cartridge pictured is the Prestige black which is the introductory model which offers a sound that is surprisingly refined and smooth at this price point.
Grado Prestige Black +3: £99.00
Grado Prestige Green +3: £129.00
Grado Prestige Blue +3: £149.00
Grado Prestige Red +3: £159.00
Grado Prestige Silver +3: £209.00
Grado Prestige Gold +3: £239.00
Rega MM cartridge range
The Rega range of MM cartridges are all housed in the same moulded plastic body, with different colours differentiating each model. Each is a variation on the same theme, a MM design whose coils, tolerances and diamond profile change throughout the range.
Please note that the Rega cartridges are unusually short in height, so they can be difficult to fit to some non Rega turntables, please contact us for more information.
The blue coloured Elys 2 works very well on Planar 3 turntables and utilise a three point fixing when used on any modern Rega tonearm.
Rega Elys 2 cartridge: £175.00
The yellow coloured Exact is their top of the range MM model (pictured below) and uses a Vital diamond profile.
Rega Exact cartridge: £295.00
Rega cartridges do not have user replaceable styli, but the factory does rebuild then when worn out or damaged. The Bias rebuild costs £48 and the Elys rebuild is £98, and Exact can also be rebuilt for £225.00. We do try to keep exchange models in stock, so you do not have to wait for a rebuild of your old cartridge.
Rega RB78
The Rega RB78 is a mono version of the Bias cartridge designed specifically to play 78rpm records only. It has a standard mono output (two terminals, so most tonearms will need slight modifications to the wiring). Like the rest of the Rega range it is designed to track at a light 1.75gm.
Rega RB78 78 RPM cartridge: £80.00
Goldring E Series
The E series is a range of three Moving Magnet cartridges which have different, and interchangable, stylus assemblies. All models feature a chunky angular body with threaded inserts making fitment a doddle.
The E1 is the entry model and has a carbon fibre reinforced cantilever with Spherical tip, the E2 keeps the same tip and adds an aluminium cantlever and arguably the star of the range, the E3, features the aluminium cantilever combined with a Super Elliptical stylus profile.
Goldring E1 MM cartridge: £59.95
Goldring E2 MM cartridge: £79.96
Goldring E3 MM cartridge: £99.95
Ortofon 2M Series
The Ortofon 2M series is a range of four moving magnet cartridges. The range starts with the Red which has a tipped elliptical diamond and is followed by the Blue which has a nude elliptical diamond but is otherwise identical.
The top two models share an improved generator assembly featuring silver plated wiring which is housed in body made from a Noryl plastic/glass combination material which is especially dense and resonance free. The 2M Bronze uses a fine Line diamond and the 2M Black has a Shibata diamond stylus.
The new 2m Black LVB250 (Ludwig van Beethoven anniversary special edition) features a Boron cantilever.
Ortofon 2M Red: £95.00
Ortofon 2M Blue: £189.00
Ortofon 2M Bronze: £325.00
Ortofon 2M Black: £525.00
Ortofon 2M Black LVB: £829.00
Goldring 1006, 1012, 1022, 1042 series
The Goldring 1000 series is a modern day classic MM design and one of our best selling ranges as it has been a firm favourite of ours for many years. The range all share the same body, with differing grades of stylus assemblies as you go up the range (and all of which are retrofittable, so you can upgrade from the lower models to the higher grade versions just by changing the stylus, 1006 has an elliptical stylus, the 1012 has a Gyger-
The whole range are extremely well balanced, with good bass power and extension combined with mid range tonality that few cartridges can match. As you go up the range the treble quality is the greatest gain, and whilst it’s certainly not lacking with the excellent 1006, by the time you get to the 1042 the extra resolution, high frequency extension and openness, transient attack and improved tracking all take big leaps forwards.
Goldring 1006: £220.00
Goldring 1012: £315.00
Goldring 1022: £335.00
Goldring 1042: £365.00
Audio Technica OC9X series
The new OC9X range is a series of moving coil cartridges that replace a variety of pre existing classics like the F2, F7 and naturally the OC9. They are essentially all based around the same generator assembly, with the different models featuring different grades of cantilevers and diamond profiles.
Audio Technica OC9XEB with Aluminium Cantilever and bonded Elliptical tip: £239.99
Audio Technica OC9XEN with Aluminium Cantilever and Nude (one piece) Elliptical tip: £309.99
Audio Technica OC9XML with Boron Cantilever and Nude (one piece) Micro Linear tip: £509.99
Audio Technica OC9XSH with Boron Cantilever and Nude (one piece) Shibata tip: £599.99
Audio Technica OC9XSL with Boron Cantilever and Nude (one piece) Special Line Contact stylus: £679.99
Ortofon Quintet Range
The Quintet Range of cartridges spans several models including one mono and four stereo models. They are all housed in the same (apart from colour) rigid ABS injection moulded housing and use Neodymium magnets.
The Quintet Red uses an Elliptical stylus profile, the Blue a Nude Elliptical (i.e. one piece diamond), the Bronze a Nude Fine Line and the Black S a Nude Shibata on a Boron cantilever with gold plated copper windings. The latter (pictured below) is something of a favourite, as it offers the resolution and presentation of many more expensive cartridges at a very competitive price.
Please note that these cartridges are unusually wide at the rear which can make them difficult to fit into some headshells -
Ortofon Quintet Red MC cartridge: £319.00
Ortofon Quintet Blue MC cartridge: £459.00
Ortofon Quintet Bronze MC cartridge: £625.00
Ortofon Quintet Black S MC cartridge: £875.00
Ortofon Quintet Mono MC cartridge: £459.00
Hana MC Cartridges Elliptical Range
Hana cartridges are made by Excel Sound Corportation, a Japanese company who have been making cartridges for other manufacturers for 50 years, but this is the first ever series to bear their name.
Two version of this Elliptical tipped cartridge are available, a conventional ‘Low’ output MC (0.5mV) and a high output MC (2mV) for connection into an MM phono stage. Invariably there will be losses when making a high output MC cartridge, but with the Hana a good compromise appears to have been struck. There must be greater moving mass from the extra turns of wire necessary to produce the greater output level, but there is only trace elements of the usual sonic downsides evident, a little loss of transparency and just the lightest touch of additional grain. What this means in reality is that you do not have to have a costly step up transformer or MC equipped phono stage to enjoy these cartridges do, so whilst the low output version does have the edge, in real terms you do not feel like there is anything missing with settling with the easier to run high output version.
The Elliptical series might not have quite the treble quality of their more expensive Shibata versions (detailed elsewhere on these pages), but then these models are an awful lot more reasonably priced. What you get here is a great no nonsense entry level Moving Coil that’s colourful and musical to listen to, and just a really nice all rounder. For the price they represent excellent value for money.
Hana EL Elliptical stylus, MC cartridge: £419.00
Hana EH Elliptical stylus, High Output MC cartridge: £419.00
Jump to cartridges of £500 and above
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