Yeah, he is polarising. I went far down the vintage top MM rabbit hole some time ago, so hopefully this helps you.
Vintage top range MMs that I have tried and liked:
- ADC XLM mkII improved - midrange centric sound, soft sound lacking in ultimate detail, but a fun sound. Very high compliance which means low mass arm needed.
- Technics EPC-205C mk3 - worth tracking down for relatively little money. Excellent refined and well extended on top and bottom end. Slams like a MM should with 75% of a good MC resolution and air. Better than modern Nagaoka up to and including MP-500. Jico make an excellent MR + solid boron rod stylus replacement that gets you 75+% of the way there to an original retipped stylus. If you can track down an unmolested example with intact boron hollow pipe cantilever (not solid rod) that is not filled with crud from prior wet stylus cleaning and get it retipped to a MR stylus you have a nearly top of the line MM.
- Technics EPC-205C mk4 - very very hard to find in good condition, but even better than the mk3. Boron pipe is tapered to reduce tip mass further. Often have loose tie wire which causes an apparent suspension "collapse". Very difficult to fix the loose tieback wire but some good retippers can. Sounds like a Koetsu Black Goldline but with better slam and a more "fun" and "big" sound. You lose some of the top MC "air" but there is fine detail retained along with precise imaging (including depth) which is where MMs lose out typically to MC IMO.
Vintage MMs that I have tried and been meh about
- Victor X-1ii - the 2 examples of this that I tracked down had a certain hardness to the upper midrange which I did not care for, but otherwise sounded good... Do not confuse this with the inferior X-1iiE which had an interior elliptical stylus (non-E has a Shibata). The X-1ii has a beryllium cantilever which looks bent but is actually meant to look like that.
- ADC XLM mkII non improved - don't bother unless you like an unfocussed "vintage" sound.
I have always wanted to try the Grace F9/F10 but never got around to it before I got sidetracked by Koetsu. The F10 is nearly unobtainable IMO.
Hope this helps.
F9L for me best compared to the F8 series, they have reduced needle mass dimensions to get more bandwidth to higher frequencies. open airy sound with wonderful midrange.
F 10 are moving coils. Types different cantilever
F-10C specifications:
Frequency characteristics: 20~30,000Hz±2dB
Output voltage: 0.5mV(5cm/sec, 1,000Hz, 45°)
Impedance: 15Ω±10%(1,000Hz)
Channel balance: within 0.5dB(1,000Hz)
Crosstalk: below -25dB(1,000Hz)
Stylus tip: 0.2×0.8mil Advanced Luminal Trace
Stylus pressure: 1.8gr (±0.3gr)
Compliance: 20×10-6cm/dyne
Cantilever: Superhard aluminum alloy-made tapered pipeline
Weight: 8.6gr
Price: ¥26,000
F-10L specifications:
Frequency characteristics: 20~30,000Hz±2dB
40~20,000Hz±1dB
Output voltage: 0.75mV(5cm/sec, 1,000Hz, 45°)
Impedance: 23Ω±10%(1,000Hz)
Channel balance: within 0.5dB(1,000Hz)
Crosstalk: below -25dB(1,000Hz)
Stylus tip: 0.2×0.8mil Advanced Luminal Trace
Stylus pressure: 1.8gr (±0.5gr)
Compliance: 20×10-6cm/dyne
Cantilever: Boron composite
Weight: 8.6gr
¥44,000
F-10P specifications:
Frequency characteristics: 20~25,000Hz±2dB
40~20,000Hz±1dB
Output voltage: 0.75mV(5cm/sec, 1,000Hz, 45°)
Impedance: 23Ω±10%(1,000Hz)
Channel balance: within 0.5dB(1,000Hz)
Crosstalk: below -25dB(1,000Hz)
Stylus tip: 0.2×0.8mil Advanced Luminal Trace
Stylus pressure: 2.5gr (±0.5gr)
Compliance: 13×10-6cm/dyne
Cantilever: Tapered OX titanium
Weight: 9.3gr