Cartridges up to £499
Jump to cartridges of £500 and above
Rega Carbon
The Rega Carbon is a new budget cartridge from Rega. These are now in stock, a write up about the sound will follow shortly, but for the price this already seem something of a bargain!
Rega Carbon MM cartridge: £25.99
Audio Technica AT-
The AT-
Audio Technica AT-
Audio Technica ATN-
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 phono stage. This unusual design which uses fixed coils and magnets, relying on an 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: £58.00
Grado Prestige Green: £70.00
Grado Prestige Blue: £82.00
Grado Prestige Red: £94.00
Grado Prestige Silver: £117.00
Grado Prestige Gold: £153.00
Goldring Elektra
The Elektra is an excellent affordable cartridge, it is lively sounding but still nicely refined with impressive resolution at its price level.
Goldring Elektra MM cartridge: £59.50
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 range starts with the red coloured Bias 2 which offers superb performance in something like the Planar 2 or RP1 turntable.
Rega Bias 2 cartridge: £65.00
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: £119.00
Thh yellow coloured Exact is their top of the range MM model (pictured below) and uses a Vital diamond profile.
Rega Exact cartridge: £255.00
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: £68.00
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.
Ortofon 2M Red: £85.00
Ortofon 2M Blue: £170.00
Ortofon 2M Bronze: £295.00
Ortofon 2M Black: £495.00
Goldring 2100, 2200, 2300, 2400 & 2500 
The 2000 series is an evolution of the every popular 1000 series detailed above. The first thing that will strike a positive note is that these have threaded bodies, making fitting much less fiddly. They feature Samarium Cobalt magnets, Permalloy cantilevers and Super Permalloy shielding for low noise pickup
As you progress up the range it’s the detail changes that affect the sound and tracking performance, the 2100 is the entry level model, above that the 2200 features an improved elliptical diamond. The 2300 uses a Gyger II fine line diamond and the 2400 has a complete metal body, vital diamond and tapered cantilever. The top of the range 2500 has a ‘2 SD’ diamond.
Goldring 2100: £112.50
Goldring 2200: £132.50
Goldring 2300: £215.00
Goldring 2400: £295.00
Goldring 2500: £325.00
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: £145.00
Goldring 1012: £225.00
Goldring 1022: £250.00
Goldring 1042: £265.00
The MC1 Turbo is classic high output cartridge from Ortofon, recently reintroduced into the range for those people that want a very affordable high output moving coil design. It uses an elliptical stylus profile and outputs a healthy 3.3mV output so can be plugged into any MM (Moving magnet) phono stages.
Ortofon MC1 Turbo high output MC cartridge: £160.00
Denon DL-
The Denon DL-
Whilst it suits heavier and vintage arms exceptionally well (think SME 3009‘s etc), it can also work wonders when used in modern arms such as Rega’s, particularly with a little tweaking during setup.
This is the perfect cartridge for both the enthusiast on a budget or as a spare cartridge
for the more wealthy audiophile to use when their hi-
Denon DL-
Denon DL-
The DL-
Denon DL-
Ortofon Vivo
The Vivo is the entry level MC cartridge range from Ortofon and uses a body made from a special resin (called Lexan DMX), chosen for its rigidity and damping. The coils are wound from very high purity copper wire and output 0.5mV output (i.e. a healthy but fairly standard low output MC level). The difference between the two models is the stylus profile, the Red uses an elliptical diamond and the Blue a nude elliptical tip (nude means the whole stylus is made from a single piece of diamond, non nude means that only the profile is diamond and mounted on a support made from a different material, Nude cartridges have greater mechanical integrity and lower mass, allowing greater high frequency response and improved tracking).
Ortofon Vivo Red MC cartridge: £210.00
Ortofon Vivo Blue MC cartridge: £275.00
Denon DL-
The Denon have finally announced that they are bringing in the ‘R’ version of this
classic cartridge into the UK. This features higher quality wiring, a lighter coil
assembly and a slightly lower output and is considered to be the finest current production
version of this classic model. The main sonic improvement over the standard version
is a more refined and extended top end (with less grain) whilst still retaining the
dynamic and involving sound of the DL-
Denon DL-
Dynavector DV10X5
There’s no mistaking the 10x5 from any other cartridge, its vivid red appearance stands out a mile, yet the sound it produces is remarkably refined for the price, with a good sense of drive and purpose. It is a high output MC design so can be used straight into any MM input on a phono stage.
My previous reservations about not having a stylus guard and untapped mountings have now been resolved (please note the picture above is of the earlier version) making this a much easier cartridge to install, which is a real blessing with such an exposed cantilever.
Dynavector DV-
Dynavector DV-
Ortofon Rondo series
The Rondo series cartridges are novel in their use of cartridge bodies made from a composite of wood and resin. The main changes between models are that the Blue has a Nude FG70 diamond profile whereas the red (pictured above) has a Nude Elliptical. The top of the range Bronze has a Nude FG80 profile and a tapered (rather than cylindrical) Aluminium cantilever.
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Denon DL-
This is a wonderfully transparent sounding MC cartridge and whilst there are designs
with more dynamic grip, others with more extended bass, few (and none that I’m aware
of at this price point) that can match it for its faithful midband. Giving it a real
taste of hi-
It’s quite unusual as it tracks securely at a very low 1.2 gramme's and has a fairly low output (even by MC standards) so requires a quiet MC stage or preferably a good step up transformer to get it working at its best. It also has provision for 4 bolt fixing on most tonearms and the extra rigidity pays dividends with a slightly more dynamic and powerful presentation.
Denon DL-
Audio Note IQ2
I’ve been guilty of overlooking the IQ2 in the past, it’s more expensive brother (the IQ3 seen elsewhere here) has always taken centre stage offering truly stunning performance and has rightly earnt its place as one of my all time favourite cartridges. The IQ2 has an awful lot of similarities, hardly surprising when you consider that the main difference being that it has an aluminium cantilever and not a Titanium one, it even has the same diamond as the IQ3 and can even be retrofitted with the IQ3 stylus assembly when you want an upgrade.
Sonically it hits the spot, with great dynamics and speed, plus a sense of rightness that few other cartridges manage, regardless of price. It’s also a very easy cartridge to use, the only downside is it requires extended running in to lose some initial brightness, but it’s well worth it the wait!
Audio Note IQ2 cartridge £POA at manufacturers request
Audio Note IQ2 replacement stylus £POA at manufacturers request
Dynavector DV-
This is the replacement model for the classic DV 20X. This moving coil cartridge is available in two versions a high output version for use into MM phono stages (outputs 2.8mV) and a ‘low’ output version (or what I would consider close to normal MC level at 0.3mV). It uses a 6mm long aluminium cantilever and Micro Ridge stylus, and the generator is housed in a rigid aluminium body.
Dynavector DV-
Dynavector DV-
Jump to cartridges of £500 and above
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