Well, it's interesting

[rb122]

The look certainly is different! I suppose we'll all get used to it.

At any rate, some sad news indeed. My trusty Benz ACE cartridge needs retipping. Stupid me, I didn't see it coming. It has several thousand hours on it and it's in no shape to play anything more for awhile. The word is that it could take as long as 3 months to fix. What will I do with no vinyl to spin? I'm seriously considering buying a cheap backup. Any suggestions? As this one will be called into service only when the ACE is down, I don't want to spend more than $100. Any help would be appreciated.

[hifitommy]

the at 440ML is about $90 or so and will do nicely for the duration. its always good to have a cart like this lurking about for emergencies. it has been repeatedly reviewed on AA. when the review was negative, the dissenting posts were overwhelming, that is-people disagreed with the neg review.

one of my friends admonished me for not buying a backup. i have several other cartridges and just dont need too many of the same cartridge.

...regareds...tr

[rb122]

Is that an MC cartridge? I suppose I could work with an MM but I'd prefer MC.

Thanks for the tip.

[hifitommy]

an ortofon. i idont think ANY of them sound bad. but it may be an interesting foray int mm at $90 with the 440.

[jbangelfish]

There are many used cartridges but I don't really know if I'd buy used. I bought an NOS Grado MM from Ebay for $100. Maybe not a great one but a decent backup. I use MC also and prefer them, hmmmm.... good luck for $100. Tommy's suggestions would be backed by his experience.
Bill

[maxg]

For about $150 you could get a Denon 103. Everyone I know who has bought one has been astonished by how well it plays for the money.

I plan on getting one as a back up for my Shelter - as soon as I have off-loaded my Clearaudio Virtuoso 2....