Goldring E3 Phono Cartridge

I bought the Goldring E3 to replace an old Nagatron 210E (which I can no longer get replacement stylus for). I have embarked on high quality digitization of my LP collection as a project. I’m using 192 KHz sampling, 24 bit digitization (more than 4x the resolution of CDs).When I re- recorded a recent recording (John Hiatt’s recent Leftover Feelings album), I literally cried when I played the 210E versus the E3 results: the crispness and balance of the midrange, even the details of the acoustic bass came out, stunned me. Now, I can look at spectral analysis of the results over a beer, but this is some altogether different kind of pleasing result.This is my little hobby project:## Equipment- Luxman PD264 turntable- Goldring E3 cartridges- Rotel RA820B amplifier (used as preamp for phono cartridge)- Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 2nd Gen (192KHz/24bit)## software- Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS- Tenacity (I compile; fork of Audacity 3)

I replaced an Ortofon 10m cart with this one. Night and day difference. It really opens up the soundstage. Look online for other purchase options and you can grab this cart for as little as 120 bucks if you can wait a few weeks for shipping. It is well worth it at that price point. Installation and alignment was a breeze. My turntable is a NAD c558 and this is a great upgrade without breaking the bank.

I got this Goldring e3 a couple of weeks ago and wanted to try it out extensively before making my comments. I mounted and aligned it on my old Technics SL-1700 which still works great, but does not have a tonearm horizontal adjustment so the cartridge end is slightly lower than the pivoting end. I have played both sides of over 40 LPs running the sound through an old 100 wpc Yamaha with no problems and out of 4 old re-ringed 15″ speakers. To my 71 year old ears, there is a definite sound improvement over my other cartridges including an ATN95E, mint condition Grado RS1 and mint Empires 2000 something and 3000XEIII. The sound is noticiably clearer on most of the LPs that I played. I seem to hear background instruments that I do not remember hearing before on my $70 AT cartridge that I was previously using.My only slightly negative comment is that I had to reduce the bass a little even with it sounding more clear. In the near future, I will probably buy a replacement stylus because I will probably wear out the needle listening to my old records that I must have kept great of while they were properly stored for many years. I put the cartridge on an ortofon headshell which was very easy to do. The lead wires on the cartridge looked a llittle thin to me, but I doubt if the cartridge is pulling enough juice to make a difference.

I recently bought a U-Turn Orbit Turntable. I ordered it with the Ortofon Red cartridge. I listened to it for a few weeks, but I wasn’t happy with the overall sound. I have a Denon amp and Bose 601 series 4 speakers along with a Klipsch sub. After reading on line reviews for 2 weeks, I bought the Goldring E3. I have to say, it’s improved the sound from my Orbit dramatically. Much clearer, richer sound that really improves the separation of instruments and voice. Not too much bass or treble on most LPs. Considering it’s about 80 bucks less than Ortofon Blue, it’s really a bargain. If you’re looking to upgrade, be assured you’ll love this cartridge. Check out the on line reviews…you’ll be convinced.

Update 1-4-20221st review while listening to side one of Sgt. Peppers, (I had set the tone arm half way between 1.5 and 2.0 grams, so about 1.75 grams) flipped record over, lowered tone arm with dampened cue lever and it settled on the record and cantilever broke. Ordered a replacement thinking it was just a fluke defect. Requested replacement rather than refund (at no cost thanks to Amazon) and within 2 hrs it was shipped and will be here tomorrow Now I’ve just read three reviews that experienced the same problem. Now after reading the reviews that this might be the nature of the cantilever and not a random defect, I think I will be sending it back and getting a refund.Review 1-3-2022This cartridge has transformed my 40 year old Marantz turntable. Took it out of the barn after being in storage (a true barn find, except i knew where it was), hooked it up Dec. 2022 and put on a 55 year old Beatles album and the vocals sounded harsh, could not adjust the sound to m