Stanton 500?

[stevied]

Hi
My father was having a bit of a clear out and found this cartridge it has a gold body with 500 on side I cannot find much info on it as the box and literature was lost

Was it any good I think it was from the 80s

Does any one know tracking weight and were I could obtain spare stylus although the stylus lucks new.

Thanks in advance

[Beobloke]

New stylii are about £10 on eBay and, IIRC, tracking weight is 3-5g.

Nasty thing IMHO - useful for getting some MM action onto old autochangers that were meant for ceramics, but that's about it!

[seoirse2002]

oooh....I think you are being a bit unkind to the stanton 500....they were a broadcast quality cartridge(says so on the box and paperwork) and many a djs friend...Ive still got some originals and a couple of new stylii from the 80s when,having worked part time in a hi fi shop,I learned to ignore the old-school, traditionalist, stuck-up, pinky raising, exclusionary, elitist, audiophiles,who had forgotten about the music and was only interested in the one upmanship regularly seen in such circles.....but Im sure you aint one of them...The stanton 500 played most of my original Beatles....oh....just to have those days back again

[Marco]

Ah, a Stanton 500 - the DJ's favourite :D

Can sound remarkably good on a Techy, if you mainly play 12" dance singles (and 'pop').... Lots of fun with the right music, but subtle it ain't!

Marco.

[stevied]

Thanks

A load of s..t then :)

[Marco]

No, not at all, Steve. What George says contains more than a grain of truth! ;)

Marco.

[Tarzan]

oooh....I think you are being a bit unkind to the stanton 500....they were a broadcast quality cartridge(says so on the box and paperwork) and many a djs friend...Ive still got some originals and a couple of new stylii from the 80s when,having worked part time in a hi fi shop,I learned to ignore the old-school, traditionalist, stuck-up, pinky raising, exclusionary, elitist, audiophiles,who had forgotten about the music and was only interested in the one upmanship regularly seen in such circles.....but Im sure you aint one of them...The stanton 500 played most of my original Beatles....oh....just to have those days back again

Just go and buy one or a 520v3.......;)- awesome for the money and rediscover music not hifi.

[seoirse2002]

Far from it....it has graced many a turntable to good effect,and if you ever listened to the radio way back when late at night under the covers, or with a little earpiece,chances were you were listening to a stanton....give it a shot,it might surprise you:cool:

[stevied]

Ok what's the best stylus for it ?

[Gromit]

My leetle beestie...

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e320/Gromit011/DSC00167.jpg

Sounds a darn sight better than it has any right to - considering its origins (ie as a very robust cartridge, built to take serious abuse) it's a rather pleasant device to play records with. Tracks at around 3.5g, and with quite a clean top end, and not at all 'clumsy'.

It's not great on Bach or Britten - it paints a rather 2-dimensional sonic picture - it's not particularly expansive but my goodness does it get the building blocks of music just right. And for that, like a good 103, I can forgive it its limitations. :)

[DSJR]

A 500V3 has good diamond polish and low surface noise as promised, but can sound a little too safe for detail freaks. Tracks superbly at 3g and is fine in solid medium to high mass arms. A bit more finesse than the original I found.

Should you have this body and want to get the best out of it, the old 500EE stylus and the Pickering alternatives (VE at 2g or TE at 1.5g approx) should get more treble "grip" going I think..

I like and firmly respect these Stantons and I must admit, the safe balance really works brilliantly with old 7" singles. The 500EE is like a baby-Decca but a bit raw ;)

Hope this helps :)


P.S. Makes HUGE musical sense from one of these or one of its close relatives and descendants -

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/a6ee3cf2.jpg

[stevied]

Thanks

[Gromit]

Dave - great info, as usual. :)

So would one be right in thinking that pretty much all 500-Series stylii will fit all 500 Series bodies? I think the tip on my 500 ALII is on its last legs, and knowing that it ain't too shabby a performer, what would be a good move in terms of a replacement tip?

Thanks.

[DSJR]

P.S. PLEASE don't think I'm damning it by showing a pic of it in a A60mk2 (fully auto SP25mk2). It shows much of it's true colours in this deck and in the Techie arm (check for hum loops though), it'll sing really well. Stanton/Pickering have a number of styli available, from super-high output models to more subtle elliptical ones. I'd be inclined to avoid the pattern styli unless Jico have something special to tempt you.


P.P.S. Richard - As far as I can tell, ALL the 500/V15 bodies are identical and all the 500 "versions" and V15 styli are interchangeable, unlike the 680/XV15 and 980 series which are different internally. Others here will tell you more (I think someone somewhere's written a book about them).

[Gromit]

Thanks Dave - I see Jico (http://stylus.export-japan.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=stanton&search_in_description=1&image_x=0&image_y=0&sort=2a&page=2) are selling genuine Stanton tips including the 500E which is tempting for mine. Not unreasonable prices, although I'm a little out of touch tbh.

[DSJR]

"DOUBLE E" if possible, as this had the lowest tracking force - around 1.5g IIRC and similar to the Pickering TE stylus made for the T4-P models and used by Vickers in York (Pickering UK) for the XV15-TE they once sold for around £30 and may still do possibly.

[WOStantonCS100]

I'd say, "Retip it" and find out what the cartridge is really capable of; but, only idiots like me do that kind of thing. :lol:

[DSJR]

According to tests carried out in the 80's, the older models had a tip resonance at 18kHz where stereo separation was all but mono'd (one reason why it may sound the way it does - re the Francinstein box). Not sure a re-tip would cure this, but we're going way beyond the original OP question here..

[stevied]

Whell I'm using the Stanton and its not that bad

[Marco]

It's not, Jon. You'll find that with rock, pop and dance music that it's a fun listen. Just don't give it anything too demanding! :)

Marco.

[Tarzan]

Just plugged my Stanton 500 stylus into my Stanton 520v3 body with a Sumiko headshell and........ for some reason it sounds more refined than the standard 520v3:scratch: ( l think the old 500 is dead).

[DSJR]

The 500V3 is the correct replacement for the original 500. Doesn't the 520 have loads more output? If so, it'll be a heavy old magnet being lugged around behind the cantilever with a stylus equivalent of "tail wagging dog" scenario possibly...

[Macca]

The 520v3 is 6mv the 500 V3 is 4.6mV according to the Stanton literature.