Review on 🎶 Enhance Your Vinyl Experience with Denon DL-301MK2 Moving Coil Phono Cartridge by Vanessa Garcia

My first introduction to the moving coil cartridge. First, let me see that I've built a quality audio system over the years. McIntosh Amp, a McIntosh C47 preamp with an amazing built in phono stage supporting Bot MM and MC cartridges with all the necessary settings. Played via VPI Scout Player. Lately I've taken a liking to the excellent Ortofon 2M Black MM cartridge. Well, with the goal of building a second rig for our country house, I had the opportunity to purchase the exact same turntable from a friend who upgraded it. This prompted me to delve into the world of Moving Coil. I don't want to pay too much for the highly rated MC cartridges on the market that have great reviews and I've found many people claiming that the Denon DL-301MKII performs well above its price point. And they were right. So I figured since I have both MM and MC inputs on my preamp why not use Ortofon A/B vs Denon. Same equipment and exactly the same player. Having played about 10 albums on the Denon it's been a very enjoyable experience, the Denon is so smooth with great detail, a wide soundstage with great bass response, solid mids and good highs that are unrealistic to you. high frequencies . Very nice, to my surprise. So I did an A/B against Ortofon. Exactly the same album (got 2 Carly Simon Greatest Hits for Christmas) and was amazed Denon sounded better to me! I continued to compare other albums and found Denon to be superior to instrumental music, jazz, vocals and in most cases blues. The Ortofon handled bad pressing and rock and hard rock better. The Ortofon sounds more straightforward, while the Denon is more relaxed. And then it becomes clear why the orthophone sounds better on the rock. Then my friend came over and listened to the Denon with me and was blown away! He has several high end MC cartridges in the $1000-$2000 price range and he said they sound just as good as these cartridges and I agreed when we went to his system and listened to some of the same albums. If you are thinking of a moving coil cartridge then the Denon is an ABSOLUTELY GOOD BUY, it offers excellent value for money and performance well above its price point. It actually stays on my primary system and Ortofon moves to my second system. Don't get me wrong, the Ortofon is an amazing cartridge, but it costs twice as much. If you listen to rock choose Ortofon first, if you like a good mix of jazz, vocals and blues you will love the Denon and it works well with rock! Fast delivery from supplier Revain! I hope this helps, and I know that all listening is subjective to the person listening, so in the end, have fun and good listening!