[Steve The Egg]

I need a new needle for it. Subpar $30 please

if you can. $100 is the ABSOLUTE max.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve The Egg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I need a new needle for it. Subpar $30 please if you can. $100 is the ABSOLUTE max.

Audio Technica's AT95E cart can be had for as little as 50USD while their AT440MLA which has a better stylus is about 90USD. The best match for the Technics is really a Denon Moving coil though and these start at around 120USD for the DL110.

 

[ssportclay]

You can get the AT120E/T at Garage 'A Records for $59.95 which is the cartridge between the Audio Technica cartridges Memepool mentioned. You can also get the slightly smoother Stanton 680 HiFi at HollywoodDJ for $55.99. The Stanton seems to get overlooked so don't let that worry you. Its a fine cartridge. The AT120 will be slightly brighter and detailed but more edgy. The better cartridge depends on the type of sound you are looking for.

 

[Steve The Egg]

I'm kind of looking for a cartridge I won't want to upgrade for a while. I think the cartridge is the most important part...right?

 

[ComfyCan]

It might be worth calling Kevin at KABUSA. He seems to know more about Technics TT's than any man alive, and does sell carts and stylus. He's also a really nice guy to talk to.

 

[ssportclay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve The Egg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm kind of looking for a cartridge I won't want to upgrade for a while. I think the cartridge is the most important part...right?

Wrong: the turntable platform is the most important part and the tonearm is the next most important. Cartridges are pretty much throw away items that need to match the tonearm in compliance. The Denon DL110 or Stanton 680 HiFi as suggested should match your tonearm in their respective price ranges well enough but I suppose you could spend more if you wanted.

 

[nikongod]

for a long while I was in the "cartridge first" camp, but am almost tempted to switch to some of the "table first" camps after hearing the TT I built with a cartridge and tonearm (grado red/green stylu on rega RB-250 arm) from the Planar 2.... the sound is TOTALLY different, with pretty much everything on the better side (although i seem to have lost the rega PRAT.)

While I STILL think there is something to say for an expensive cart (my shelter 501 MK2 on the RB-250/DIY deck takes Grado on the same system and humps it like an alpha dog on its bitch) I would just find a good match for the arm at a price point SLIGHTLY more expensive than your budget and call it a day.

I would SLIGHTLY exceed your budget for 2 reasons:
1: The more expensive cart will probably sound better as long as its still a good match for the arm
2: You wont be able to afford an upgrade even though you will want one which will save you money.

 

[Akathisia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...I would just find a good match for the arm at a price point SLIGHTLY more expensive than your budget and call it a day. I would SLIGHTLY exceed your budget for 2 reasons: 1: The more expensive cart will probably sound better as long as its still a good match for the arm 2: You wont be able to afford an upgrade even though you will want one which will save you money.

This is excellent advise in hi-fi

Spending a bit above your limit definitely satisfies and helps beat down on the upgraditis.

[size=xx-small]sorry to go OT[/size]

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssportclay /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can also get the slightly smoother Stanton 680 HiFi at HollywoodDJ for $55.99. The Stanton seems to get overlooked so don't let that worry you. Its a fine cartridge.

I didn't realise they could be had for so little. i have the 681EEE which presumably would fit the 680 body as well although the stylus for this cost 70USD on it's own. Still a nice upgrade path...

Been looking at the Stantons a lot recently as I just got some Vestax decks to play with which came with the obligatory pair of 500s and they don't seem to publish anything on compliance anymore. Checking out the 890s which KABUSA do an upgraded version of and they say the body is the same as that of the 881 but this was a ridiculously high compliance model from the early '80s so I don't see how it could possibly work on a Technics arm or indeed any arm apart from a Black Widow.

 

[ssportclay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve The Egg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I need a new needle for it. Subpar $30 please if you can. $100 is the ABSOLUTE max.

Hi Steve: The tonearm on your Technics 1500 is on the heavy side which means you need a low compliance ,(stiff) cartridge. Your better choices will tend to be high output moving coil cartridges with their stiff suspensions. I assume your Phono stage can't handle a low output moving coil. This leaves you with the the Denon DL110 and DL160. To get more choices you will have to spend over $200. The Stanton 680 HiFi is actually a moving iron cartridge that is slightly stiffer than most moving magnet units. You can also replace or upgrade the stylus after 1000 hours of use where the Denon styli are not replaceable. The 2 Denon cartridges generally get thrown into the trash after 1000 hours of use.

 

[ssportclay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by memepool /img/forum/go_quote.gif I didn't realise they could be had for so little. i have the 681EEE which presumably would fit the 680 body as well although the stylus for this cost 70USD on it's own. Still a nice upgrade path... Been looking at the Stantons a lot recently as I just got some Vestax decks to play with which came with the obligatory pair of 500s and they don't seem to publish anything on compliance anymore. Checking out the 890s which KABUSA do an upgraded version of and they say the body is the same as that of the 881 but this was a ridiculously high compliance model from the early '80s so I don't see how it could possibly work on a Technics arm or indeed any arm apart from a Black Widow.

Hi Memepool: The 680HP, 680ELII, 680HiFi, and 681EEE MkIII all use the same body. The stylus is the only difference. The 890s are suppose to be hot wired 881 bodies with higher outputs. I notice that JICO makes an expensive Shibata stylus for each of these bodies for people who want to play. These may even be better units than the wonderful Stanton styli made at their old location in New York.

 

[ssportclay]

I just read on another forum that Kevin of KABUSA actually recommends the Stanton 681EEE MkIII cartridge for the Technics 1200 turntables which I believe have similar tonearms. He has mounted more cartridges on these tables than I ever could in 5 lifetimes.

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssportclay /img/forum/go_quote.gif I notice that JICO makes an expensive Shibata stylus for each of these bodies for people who want to play. These may even be better units than the wonderful Stanton styli made at their old location in New York.

Cool thanks I hadn't noticed that they made Stanton compatible stylii. Seems Stanton themselves arn't supporting Hi-Fi playback beyond basic elipticals these days, (dunno if they ever did?). Funny there is no SAS for but Shiabata will do nicely

I am going to stick some different arms on the Vestax, probably OL and Linn to see how they measure up. Hi-Fi World has done this of late with a more recent, but less well made, model with good results and they were going for a song so I couldn't resist...

 

[ssportclay]

The wonderful stereohedron styli Stanton quit manufacturing before they left Long Island, New York were among the best at the time. They had the best engineering of any of the cartridge manufacturers but somehow fell short in marketing and advertising. They still own some of the best technology available but when the new company moved to Florida, most of the employees were let go so that most of the employee tribal knowledge may have been lost. I feel that if they were to bring back the stereohedron styli and update the 881 series of cartridges to be in compliance with modern medium mass tonearms, they could compete with anyone in terms of sound quality. I suppose the near death of the LP and the separation from the Stanton family pushed the new company toward the DJ market and away from Hi-Fi playback.

 

[memepool]

This is interesting

Quote:

The Stereohedron stylus was derived from the Stanton Quadrahedron stylus designed for playback of recordings at frequencies approaching 50kHz to enable an early version of discrete four-channel sound to be encoded on a compatible vinyl disc. I do not have the exact shape of the Stereohedron, but it may be similar to the Shibata (patent 3774918 November 1973) developed by JVC although I understand the stylus proved problematic and is not used today. The Quadrahedron had a minor radius of 0.1 to track 50kHz in the inner grove while Stereohedron has a larger minor radius of 0.3 This Stereohedron early design is not as radical as the Namiki Micro Line stylus

from here http://www.kabusa.com/SS1200b.pdf

So basically KAB seem to prefer the sonics of the older '70s designs. This looks to be born out by their customised Ortofon concorde design which takes the mass of the Technics arm down towards late 1970s ULM designs and the fact they don't seem over enthused by Rega arm upgrades.

I remember Pickering getting really good reviews for their carts back in the '70s but I don't know if they were part of Stanton or not at that point? or maybe they were Stanton's premium brand?

It appears Stanton have moved on insofar as they have embraced modern lower mass magnets in the newer MM carts but they market these towards DJs as a bundle with Final Scratch.

Don't know much about the history of the company but they must be one of the biggest cartridge manufacturers in the world, since for almost every one of the 30 million Tecnics SL1200s sold a Stanton 500 is the industry standard fitting.

I think they are just concentrating on this market and havn't yet noticed the vinyl revival outside the DJ community. To be fair other manufacturers like Ortofon, Goldring and Nagaoka have only brought out new low cost moving magnet ranges in the last few years.