My initial impressions after a few hours comparing it to the KAB/Stanton Groovemaster II AE:

- Ortofon has less bass "weight" than the Stanton.

- Bass is much more "punchy" with the Ortofon.

- The Ortofon seems less congested in the mid-bass; doesn't have that mid-bass "bloom" the Stanton does.

- The Ortofon has clearly more extension in the highs and the highs are more detailed - more MC like.

- The Stanton has incredible midrange; the Ortofon's midrange is quite transparent.

- Soundstaging is better with the Stanton, but not by much.

- The Stanton is the better tracker on test records, but I never heard any mis-tracking with the Ortofon on music.

- Surface noise seems to be less noticable on the Stanton

Both carts are excellent trackers and, quite honestly, both sound great - just different. The Stanton has more weight and slam to it and the Ortofon is more delicate sounding - more detailed.

I'll post more details once the Ortofon is fully broken in - but my intial thoughts are that I'm probably going to enjoy the Stanton a bit more simply because of its midrange magic. It's just a chunkier sounding cartridge that just kills on rock records.