Stanton 681eee and 505 skII review

[Cyrix_2k]

I have to say, I have been nothing but impressed with my stanton cartridges. I own an older 681eee and a 505 skII. I have auditioned the 681 on both a Technics SL-23 and a cheap MCS turntable; I have only auditioned the 505 on the SL-23. Both sound exceptional for the price imo. I paid $9 shipped for the 681eee mounted to an awesome A-T headshell plus $15 for a new (680) needle and I paid $25 shipped for the 505 mounted to a Stanton headshell. Both have their tracking force set to 4 grams. Both were auditioned through an older MCS receiver and A900 cans.

Impressions so far:
The 681 sounds the best. The bass is extensive and it's able to pick up flaws in the recording quite easily. Highs are crystal clear... tracking is nothing to write home about, but it tracks records that my father's (old) AT110 can't. Interestingly enough, it doesn't seem to pick up much noise from dust overall; it's a much quieter cart than the AT and the 505. Overall a superb cartridge and my main workhorse.

The 505 sounds good for a cheap cartridge. I haven't used it too much yet, but it seems to track fine. The mids seem to be exaggerated, bass is a bit recessed, but low bass is once again present. I have several LPs that the 680 sounds terrible with during loud passages that the 505 sounds acceptable; however, you can still hear the distortion, it's just recessed. The 505 also seems to reproduce more crackle from dust, possibly from the exaggerated mids. However, overall I find this is a fine choice for a budget cart. The 505 certainly sounds better than the AT110.

A NOTE ABOUT THE SL-23: If anyone has a technics deck that no longer maintains its speed, you need to replace the electrolytic capacitors in the board mounted under the table. It's a pretty easy job. I just got done recapping mine and it works beautifully. I also hit the pots and power switch with contact cleaner.

[derekbmn]

Gotta agree that for the little money you can get some of the Stanton carts for, they are pretty darn good. The really have a sound all their own.

They really are often over looked and forgotten about.(in the U.S.)
Don't expect the last word in refinement and they do tend to have a rather small soundstage, but they DO have a very pleasing sound.

[memepool]

I have always rated the Stanton carts. I think they suffer the same reputation as Technics turntables from some audiophile quarters and they are judged on the basis of the 500AL (which incidentally must be one of the best selling carts of all time).

Apart from the fact the 500AL is one of the very few carts made these days for which you can get a full range of stylus tips, which makes it a great favourite with professional archivists and shellac enthusiasts, it's the standard cart used by DJ's the world over hence the prejudice.

But Stanton's other carts especially the 681 are pretty damned good. Certainly well up there with the Shure M97, Grado Gold and AT440MLA.


Cyrix_2k, you did very well on that 681EEE stylus. I paid 70USD alone for the last one I bought


Also Stanton own Pickering these days and some of their carts have a lot of fans especially the X15

[Cyrix_2k]

I bought it a few years ago. Prices seem to have gone up since then :-/ I *just* bought the 505 though.

It's unfortunate when a company gains a bad reputation from it's low end products. Perhaps that's why so many AT carts were rebranded?