A turntable amateur - what affordable cartridge_
I am planing to take a technics 1200 from a friend of mine /he does not use it/ and buy-listen to some deep house tunes. What cartridge would you suggest to buy. Given the fact i am an amateur and i will be listenning it to my home 2.1, i was thinking about numark groove tool?
What’s your price? Can’t go wrong with Ortofon Concorde Pro S.
If you’re just listening to vinyl, and not djing with it, then the Audio Technica AT95E is a good choice. Fairly cheap (I picked one up a few months ago for under £30), sounds great, and can be upgraded with different styluses later on if you want a better listening experience.
True. There’s really no point of buying a DJ stylus for listening records. If you insist to buy a DJ cartridge, take a look at Ortofon range, since the styluses are interchangable between the models. You can get any body and upgrade the stylus. They’re a bit pricey though.
A good allrounder is also Shure M35X. It’s cheap, sounds very good and tracks well enough. It’s basically the cartridge that Whitelabel is based on.
But my advice is Audio Technica AT95E. It’s a great cartridge and it sounds very good.
Ortofon Omega is a cheap choice and can be upgraded as thugsucker said.
Shure M97xe is a favorite as well.
Borrowing 1 turntable to listen to vinyl will inevitably result in you getting a second turntable and a mixer, so be ready for that!
Cartridges are a pretty personal choice, if you can try before you buy then do. These are a good start:
Super cheap - Stanton 500
Mid range - Shure M447
Expensive - Ortofon
These are all reputable cartridges for dance music and you’ll find them in many clubs (in the past when clubs had turntables!). If your plan is just to listen and not mix then check out some elliptical cartridges too, the stylus fits deeper into the groove and reproduces the sound more accurately.
If you’re keen for Ortofon, go for one of the newer models. Dance music mixdowns and masters have changed a lot since the older Ortofons were designed. The Elektro (white) and Nightclub 2 (Orange) are the newer models.
AT for sure
If you are just going to listen to music I also recommend an Elliptical Dual Magnet AT. I have used various models for 30 years. The AT95E (E stands for elliptical stylus is sure to be a good choice ) and since the case looks like their Vector Aligned whatever it was called tech, it may well indeed be one of those priced cheaply with an Ellipical stylus instead of their micro lines. I recommend staying with Hi-Fi cartridges so you can use low tracking force for higher resolution and lowered record wear. NOW if you are going to back que or scratch now or at a later date you need to get yourself something with a conical or spherical stylus so that you do not get record burn. An elliptical stylus will literally Cut your vinyl records when doing either. Be sure to set your tone arm height and tracking force correctly. Your chosen cartridge/stylus will determine your tracking force. Their are nice sounding AT on the cheap with conical stylus and dual moving magnets in the hi-fi range as well as DJ. ~erick~
No no and Double no. I believe they came up with the name after someone realized there was new grooves created every time a record was played 
Seriously though - no
Ortofon Omega’s are only $30 (surprised me too) - and yes it includes a stylus in case you are wondering 
Yup, I have the Omega. Fantastic cart.
I like the Shure Whitelabel - pure sound, low record wear, excellent DVS levels and good price.
You’re gonna wanna DJ after you get those…don’t lie to yourself
So with that in mind, a good entry level that will actually last you a while is the ones Thugsukcer mentioned. The Shure m35. I keep an extra set that I’ve had for years. I strictly use the Shure m44-7’s after trying many different ones. HTH
