Well rounded, reasonably dynamic performer.Excellent value when discounted. Takes cheaper stylus for my old 1950's recordings

BASS detail and extension . Not obtrusively so

Having had a sonic disaster with a damaged Rega cartridge, I bought the 1042 at a good discount, while I wait for my DL 103R to arrive from Japan. My system is certainly on the analytical side, and not particularly high end. The 1042 is not fully run in , but I concur with the other reviews here. It put a smile on my face. Two things to note: Surface noise will go down if you increase the playing weight. 1.75g is a little optimistic for a new cartridge. I'm currently tracking at closer to 2g in a cold room. Mistracking: The cartridge is certainly mistracking on Sting 'Moon over Bourbon St ', vocals in the first 20 sec of play. Album previously unplayed. Also mistracks twice in 'Tinpan Alley Blues' ( Stevie Ray Vaughn. I will invetigate this as the cartridge hours and room temperature come up. Other than that , it is not exhibiting anything other than polite and moderately exciting behaviour, even on a previously unplayed copy of 'OK, Computer'

Similar Products Used:

None, but will use a cheaper stylus , when vinyl goes bad.

I purchased this cartridge based upon the strengths listed in this forum and beyond, and I haven't been disappointed. Comparing this to other cartridges I have owned (an admittedly short list), this cartridge has been able to capture that elusive "balance" that many of its contenders lack. Take my Grado Prestige Red, for example. It has fine bass reproduction, great mids and tracks well, but what's the deal with the smeared treble? And why couldn't it do justice to a humble domestic pressing? On the flip side of the coin was the Audio Technica ML440 with its line contact stylus. Man, that baby can track through *anything*. It also dug deep in the groove to extract the best from my regular pressings; extra fine high end resolution. But again, there were shortfalls. The bass was unimpressive, stereo separation mediocre, and rendition of complex harmonics (especially in upper octaves) left a saccharine aftertaste.

The Goldring seems to strike that sensible balance between "colored and rich" and "detailed and sterile". As one of the other users noted, it's "just right". It does a commendable job of extracting information from my proletarian pressings, has upper frequency rendition that doesn't leave me fishing for more, and a bottom end that is, while not as fat as the Grado, pleasingly plump and satisfying.

Complaints? Well, I couldn't disparage the price since I mail ordered the item from overseas (saving $120), but one flaw has kept me groaning for quite some time: cantilever protrusion. On my sample, the cantilever doesn't clear the cartridge body far enough to keep the body from rubbing on both the outer edge of the vinyl (many of my pressings have a slight 'cup' on the outer edge) and conversely, the inner label. This may have been due to manufacturing anomaly, or (heaven forbid) a design intention, but should clearly be addressed. One unrelated caution: be careful of VTA, measure it carefully and keep it set at 24 degrees, otherwise the tracking, and high frequency detail, will suffer.

Similar Products Used:

Grado Prestige Green, Grado Prestige Red, Audio Technica ML440

Well, recently I aquired a new cartridge. The old one was on it's way out. In a drive to keep cost's down I had around for both Moving Magnets and high-output Moving Coils.
It was a close contest between the Sumiko BPS, the Shure V-15 and the Goldring under review here. At the HiFi-Show in Heathro 97 I was able to hear each catridge used.

Sumiko BPS - thin, hard and it's price in the UK is twice the Goldring.
Shure V-15 - warm but terminally colored

So the winner is Goldrings top-of the range moving Magnet. Neatly falling inbetween the sonical behaviours described above, it neither bright nor warm, like Goldilocks, I say "this juuuuust right".

Having had the cartridge in my system for a while and heard some other much more expensive moving coils, this Cartridge is a steal (even in the US where it costs $250).

It also uses a Line-Contact Stylus like many of the really good MC's and thus has a excellent extension in the Treble. It also rides in the less abused part of the Groove for my DJ'ed records and was the only Cart I haerd that could dig some treble from a well downplayed copy of Rose Royce "Love don't live here anymore".

This is THE Cartridge to get if You need something to feed a non-MC compatible (but good) Phonostage. To get notably better, look for a $600+ moving Coil with a good Stepup.

I give four Stars in view of the Cartridges price here in the UK. On Sound alone it get's 3.5 Stars from me (I almost never give 5 BTW as that implicates a almost perfect Component - few around of them).

Very detailed, soundstage, precision.

A bit cold and clinical.

At first very impressive, but after a while, in my opinion,
to clinical and thin.

Similar Products Used:

Ortofon mc20super Ortofon mc20supreme Denon DL103

Detail, soundstaging, brilliant high frequency reproduction

Tracking on serious scratches

There is a good review of this cartridge at www.tnt-audio.com. Switching to this cartridge from the stock Sumiko Oyster cartridge that came with my Pro-Ject 1.2 TT made a considerable difference, particularly in the high frequency range. I can hear female backup vocals and high frequency guitar distortion at painful levels now, and these high frequency sounds are now clealy audible whereas they previously were smeared out in the treble. I ordered this from mantraaudio in Britain and got it for less than half the price it retails for in the US. What a bargain!

The only complaint I have is it will skip on moderate to serious scratches which the Sumiko used to just plow right through, even at the same tracking weight. But this is only a problem with old records that were abused and have deep visible scratches.

Similar Products Used:

Sumiko Oyster

A while ago I needed a new Cartridge. As I am still using a "secondary" Turntable in my Main System (a highly tweaked Kenwood Direct-Drive unit with Corian plinth and Sumiko Arm), I did not wanted to spend too much. The usual supect would be the Sumiko Blue Point Special. But some would think it relativly expensive in the US and more than twice the Money here in the UK, it is simply not a good deal. Various people put me onto the Goldring Moving Magnet Cartridge as "THE Buget MC-Killer". Yup, it is that good. Most imprtantly, it has a nice Line-Contact Stylus and the sound is very close to many rather expensive MC-Cartridges I came across. The sound is smooth, with plenty of detail and very few "raw edges". Yes, it could go a bit lower, could be a bit more informative and such.
To put it into perspective, the Goldring walks all over the Shure V-15. I will be upgrading my whole Vinyl frontend soon and the Cartridge for my "NOS" Oracle Delphi + Manticore Magician Tonearm will be a Dynavector Karat D17. After all,
I do want to notice the step up.
The UK List-Price is about $200. It may be interesting to know that both Roksan and Audio Note have "OEM" Versions of this Cartridge (Corus Black and IQ). All in all, if I have ever seen a bargain in analog audio, here it is. I normaly never give ten out of ten, but here it is justified. Five Pioneer Speakers bumpin...

I think this is the cartridge to beat in this price category ($200-300). (Well, maybe the Grado Woodie is the other you should hear.) I compared it to the Sumiko Blue Point Special and the Shure V15 (newest one), and IMO the Goldring is the best. The Shure by comparison sounds very smooth, but less dynamic and with a more obtrusive flaw--a sort of synthetic sound on voices, sort of "whitish." Although the sound is not far from that of the Goldring, I ended up really disliking it by comparison.
The Blue Point Special is far below the other two. That's a cartridge for people who like CD. It's bright, etched, unnatural, and has NO bass, I mean none, by comparison. Avoid!

The Goldring isn't perfect--a bit rough sounding--but it's full and rich, and dynamic (a strength), and doesn't seem to have significant annoying flaws (to my hearing anyway). There is also an OEM version put out by Audio Note--I think it's called the IQ/2, I can't keep AN designations straight in my head--that sounds a little better and is actually cheaper. I prefer MM cartridges to MC.

The Goldring 1042 and the Grado woodie are the ones to beat, in my view.

The Best MM cartridge in the world !!! Better than a lot of $us600 MC's altho costs alot for MM. It is dynamic yet is sweet sound on my Oracle and SME set ups. Not too warm like Grados Ref Platinum which is very coloured.

Resolution,Dynamics

Slight bit mechanical

This is a great cartridge.To anyone looking for a musical cartridge,that sounds like MUSIC,not a reviewers tool.Clean,resolution and in some way betters the Grado Ref. but they are both great cartridges,in the same price class,just a bit different perspective.

Similar Products Used:

Grado Ref.

Life, dynamics and transparency

Not as smooth and relaxed as some; Revealing of surface noise

Having tried a few different cartridges on my Linn Axis/Akito turntable, this is one product I can happily recommend - the best cartridge I've heard. I upgraded from a 1012GX stylus and heard greater detail, smoothness, crispness and transparency. Yet the sound isn't at all clinical or fatiguing - it's full-bodied and very lively.
By contrast, the Linn K9 sounds rather 'grey', dull and noticeably less transparent. It also sounds slightly slower than the 1042 (and the 1012 as well).
The Ortofon 510 is bright and thin and lacks dynamics - too clinical and uninvolving.

I would only caution against the 1042 if you have a harsh sounding amplifier (the Linn K9 does sound smoother and might be better suited). Also it does reveal more surface noise than the K9. Otherwise, it's a great buy (especially in the UK) and I wouldn't hesitate from buying it again(cost me £76 GBP for the stylus)

Similar Products Used:

Linn K9, Ortofon 510, Goldring 1012GX, Audio Techcnica AT95E