Fantastic cartridge and great value
The LS-10 Mk Ii is an incredible cartridge at a great price. Super fast shipping to the US. I received mine in 8 days. There are lots of choices one could make in this price range. I own 2 others, an Ortofon that costs slightly less and a Grado that costs slightly more. The LS-10 Mk II easily bests both of them. It tracks really well- no sibilance. Tonally, it’s as close to perfect as I’ve ever heard, and I’ve been messing with audio systems for 45 years. I finally have the sound in my living room that I’ve been searching for. I’ve owned dozens of cartridges over the years. The LS-10 Mk II is easily the best cartridge I’ve ever owned and one of the best I’ve ever heard regardless of price. It’s not a cartridge that favors a certain type of music. Classic rock, funk, jazz, classical, EDM, it does it all. And very well. It’s not a cartridge that you’ll use to play your 10 sonic blockbusters- it sounds great with regular garden variety records too. One day I listened to all of my pressings of Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung”- a near mint first US pressing, the Steve Hoffman DCC cut ($$$ now) and the current Steven Wilson remix. The Steven Wilson remix was the winner, and the transparency of the LS-10 allowed me to easily hear the differences. It was super easy to set up on my Technics SL-1210G. As one reviewer noted, the included stylus guard leaves something to be desired. Just be careful during installation and you’ll be ok. I don’t use a stylus guard otherwise, I lock the arm at the end of each listening session and leave the cueing in the up position while flipping or changing the record. It’s an easy habit to get into and I’ve never damaged a cantilever once I got into the habit. Yes, I have previously- a Dynavector. A bad day for sure. Sound quality wise, this cartridge is super quiet in regards to groove noise, and there’s no surface noise with ultrasonically cleaned records. With their 60 day money back guarantee, you really have nothing to lose. Try it. You’ll like it.