Cartridges for the Rega P25

Ashley, I think you'll find that to be the Super Elys.

John, I have an Elys (purple) on my 25 but I'v heard that the table can do justice to much better cartridges. From Rega you could try the Super Elys or Exact (yellow).

Jay

Dynavector's 10x4 (£200) is the entry level cartridge for this deck as far as I'm concerned. It's a good high output MC and works into MM boards perfectly well.

Dynavector have introduced a limited edition 10x4 Gold (£225) which is superlative. This is a low output MC version of the 10x4 with a boron cantilever like that found on the really expensive cartridges!!! It's an absolute steal and very good value for money, giving a true idea of higher end performance.

Dynavector's 17D2 (£450) is a great little performer with a clean liquid treble. Some detractors say it has too lean a bass response, and it has very low output so you need to turn it up more than some cartridges.

Ortofon's Kontrapunkt A is a fine performer at £500. It's not quite as gobsmackingly good value for money as its bigger 'B' brother, but it's a good one nevertheless.

That's as far as I'd take a P25.

Regards,
Frank.

Frank funny you should mention this as I have a 10x4 at the moment and the dealer has given me two weeks grace to change to either the gold or the 17D2 which I can't afford but sounded great. Which stageline boards would I need for the gold 10X4? Why out of interest is a low price low output MC better than the high output version?
By the way I demoed the AudioNote TT2, very disappointing no groove or rhythmn, way below a Rega 25 in my estimation.

John

I had an elys on my p25 for about 18mnths and it never did lps justice- basically it was pretty dull! Recently, after some 'sound'advice I changed to a goldring 1042 which I found for £93 exch. mail order (a special offer!) and what a complete revelation it has been! Vastly more detail and not too expensive. I needed to raise the rb600 arm with a rega 4mm spacer, by the way.

t

Been busy.

The 10x4 Gold is quite a step up from the standard item.

The low output is caused by less windings in the coils. This usually means that the coils will have less mass and should move faster, giving better transients and detail.

Don't forget the cantilever. This £225 cartridge has a boron cantilever of similar design to that in the Te Kaitora! That's cracking value for money.

But in the end it comes down to what you like. If you really like what the 17D2 did, then my advice would be to wait and save until you can afford it. There are very few cartridges indeed that have the 17d2's liquid treble.

Both 17D2 and 10x4 Gold are best with S boards (or S stageline) I believe.

Regards,
Frank.

Frank, thanks very helpful advice as always.

John