Audio Technica AT-VM95

[Oxfordian]

Are you after one particular model of turntable and does it have to be new?
Apologies if you have already stated this....
This is why the old days were the best when turntables didn't come with a prefitted cartridge. Now you are simply paying extra for a ' get you going cartridge ' which is essentially money down the drain.
With dealers, as always, it is worth haggling. If you 're spending this much money the difference between a £150 cartridge and a £350 cartridge shouldn't bother them too much knowing their usual mark-up.
Perhaps one of our dealer forum members might be along soon to correct me...

I have deliberately not included what I am after simply to avoid the 'you should get this or why not get a ...' debate, I wanted to focus on the issue of the cartridge.

There are a number of options that I am looking at, from a couple of new set-ups complete with cartridge through to a new build your own type set up, then there is the mix of new and old whereby I buy a TT base and have someone willing to fit a tone arm and all the other necessary bits. This last option gives me the potential to own a deck that would normally be well out of my price range but comes with the worry of the older parts failing and then an additional expense to get it sorted.

I'm in no immediate rush to buy and everyone i'm talking to knows that it will be at least the second quarter of the year before I commit.

 

[Al ears]

I have deliberately not included what I am after simply to avoid the 'you should get this or why not get a ...' debate, I wanted to focus on the issue of the cartridge.

There are a number of options that I am looking at, from a couple of new set-ups complete with cartridge through to a new build your own type set up, then there is the mix of new and old whereby I buy a TT base and have someone willing to fit a tone arm and all the other necessary bits. This last option gives me the potential to own a deck that would normally be well out of my price range but comes with the worry of the older parts failing and then an additional expense to get it sorted.

I'm in no immediate rush to buy and everyone i'm talking to knows that it will be at least the second quarter of the year before I commit.

Thanks.
Take your time and buy carefully and you will end up up with a lovely set-up I am sure.
You are right to start with the cartridge as, with any analogue item, the source is everything.
If I were spending that sort of money on a turntable then £300 is the minimum I would set aside for a cartridge, possibly more.
Starting with a well looked after turntable base would be a good idea unless warranty is an issue.
It's the way it used to be done. Choose the turntable, add a tonearm then a suitable cartridge. The art of getting this right has been lost over time I feel, which is why we get so many disgruntled posters these days......

 

[WhiteKnight2020]

That’s my point, am I being fobbed off with an inferior cartridge?

Its a point that has nagged at me since our conversation began, my gut feeling is that I should be asking for at least a low output MC (a Hana EL or SL as examples), I am sure that there are other carts that others can suggest.

The important questions are what is the arm it's going on and what phono stage will you be using?