Average effective mass of 3012 tonearm around 14g
So cartridges between compliance of 11cu to 25cu are a good match
with perfection being around 15cu to 20cu.
If you have damping (fluid damping) on your arm (not an unusual option for an SME I believe) - then you can extend that - perhaps another 5 down and another 10cu up.
A cartridge with a damper brush (Shures, Stantons, Pickerings, and even some styli for AT14's) will provide an alternative if the arm itself is not damped.
So some choices....
Shure V15 series - fitted with a Jico SAS stylus (compliance 22cu)
Also M series Shures fitted with a Jico SAS (M97xE for example)
AT12/13/14/15/20 along with signet members of the family- with Shibata
Compliance I am told varies upwards as you go up the range, starting at around 17cu for the lower ones - I believe the 20's may be circa 25cu or more.
ADC XLM series - preferably one of the better "Gold Body" cartridges (a ZLM or SuperXLM if you can find one is great too)
Then select from a range of NOS styli or 3rd party styli that are available for them - Original NOS styli can range from 50cu (SuperXLM Mk I) down to 8cu for some of the basic conicals - the better ones will be circa 25cu
AT120/130/140/150/155/145/440 etc... along with the Signet members of the family
Again lots of stylus options.... the 15x styli are the very best with exotic cantilevers (beryllium or boron depending on model/vintage) and the best needles. The 440MLa is very good value, with a tapered cantilever and a nice Line Contact needle. Again the compliance rises as you go up the range - and compliance specs are hard to come by - if the arm has damping you should be ok even at the top end of these which I think are probably circa 25cu maybe even as high as 30cu
Ortofon OM30/40, VMS30mkII, 2M Bronze/Black, Digitrac 300SE
These are all quite similar - the generators are all MI, the styli are all LineContact of various varieties, again a tendency towards higher compliance 25cu 30cu - the VMS30 is the exception at around 14cu but the styli are now quite expensive.
The Digitrac is a sleeper - basically an OM in p-mount guise with a stylus that may be competitive with an OM30 - The bodies have a reputation for "flakiness" - but the stylus can be fitted (with very minor surgery - cut off the plastic tab) to an OM series body. And OM bodies without styli can usually be picked up for $10.... the 300SE stylus for $80 - and you have a sub $100 cartridge combo that can compete with the current 2M Bronze/Black at 1/4 the price.
Empire 4000D/1000Z/999Z.... others
There's a bunch of choices in the old empire range... look for the ones that have a Line Contact or Shibata stylus available for them (LAC / Shibata).
For some of these the styli are very expensive/rare - for others there are reasonably priced options.
eg: the 4000D and the 2000 family share styli fittings, and 4000D shibata's can be had for around $75 or less.
Grado cartridges - I havn't had a chance to play with these... but well reputed - compliance around 20cu
Soundsmith SMCC family
These are the descendants of the famous B&O MMC cartridges - big reputation - would love to try these at some stage - available in 2 compliances - specify when ordering.
To take advantage of MM/MI cartridges you will need:
1) Low capacitance cables to the phono stage
2) Phono stage where the Capacitive load can be disabled (to achieve a total capacitance of around 100pf)
3) Phono stage that allows impedance loading with values both above and below the standard 47k (Shure M97's I am told sound best with 68k, and Grados with around 20k..... )
Finally (controversially) I believe one criteria for quality with MM/MI cartridges is low inductance - lower is better.
This is by no means a cast iron rule - 2M are around 700mH which is high inductance...
BUT: low inductance in combination with low capacitance allows for more extended frequency response along with very good extended phase linearity.
Hope this helps!
Good luck with it
David
