Favorite cartridges that minimize surface noise?

[noisefreq]

My experience with line contact or microline styli has not been very positive with respect to noisy records. I think the problem is that they have so much vertical contact that no matter where the damage is on the groove wall, it's sure to hit it. This footnote from a Stereophile article matches my experience:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/tweaking-your-record-player-page-8
Footnote 12: Changing to a different cartridge can sometime work sonic wonders with old records, due to the new stylus riding on a different, relatively undamaged part of the groove wall. On the other hand, changing to a cartridge with a long-contact profile, Microridge or van den Hul, for example, can often increase surface noise and the reading of groove damage due to the stylus's being in contact with more of the groove wall.—JA

I've had quite the opposite affect happen with my line contact stylus.

I've been running an Audio Technica Technicraft 4000LC on an Isotrack arm.


It absolutely bypasses surface defects. And extracts sound from deep in the groove even though the vinyl surface has visual dust scratches.

BUT the key to any noise reduction is a VERY clean record.

If you get distortion from a clean record and a line contact stylus, properly set up, nothing is going to help that.

 

[tw1st]

I have a Pfanstiehl 4772-DHE "Hyperbolic" (Shibata) replacement stylus for my V15 Type IV which sounds very nice, and performs very well with respect to minimizing surface noise.