View Full Version : Decent inexpensive cartridge wanted.
Floyddroid
06-10-2012, 08:41
Looking for a cartridge to bolt onto a newly acquired Technics SL1500. This is a second turntable which i have bought from a fellow AOS member to play singles on. I don't really want to pay a fortune for a cartridge though i would like something decent. Please get in touch if you have something that will suit.
Regards
The Petch :)
How much do you want to spend?
The AT95E is still the favourite cheapy I think and should work in anything out there. I've found an Ortofon OM5E you could have cheap. tracks at 1.75 - 2g and the body will take any of the other OM series styli, although it's not the "Super" grade (laminated pole pieces I believe).
The AT95E has a "safe as houses" sound which is well balanced, but not the clearest or quietest out there. A US supplier does an HE stylus for these which apparently take it to a different level -
http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGAT95HE.html
...but the price seems to have gone through the roof in recent times (I thought it cost $60 or so :()
The OM5 was/is popular with Pro-Ject as a starter cartridge and Rega have used it too with the RP1 and previous basic models. Rega themselves have an interesting Jap made £35 model coming very soon indeed and this may beat the lot of them - we shall see.......
One final one Steve. Pickering UK (Vickers HiFi in York I believe), do a V15-VE for around thirty notes, which I reckon is an update on the Stanton 500EE I used to sell in Techie decks (and headshells!) of the period. Loads of impact, sparkle of the best kind and drama aplenty (not as dull as the 500A series and pickering related models) and with good tracking at 1.5g or so so should be good for 12" singles... :)
Floyddroid
06-10-2012, 09:55
Thanks for that Dave. I am down in Your next weekend to se re-genesis so i will call in.
Steve
hifi_dave
06-10-2012, 10:20
Don't buy anything just yet. There is a brilliant, budget cartridge on the way.
More news and pics soon..:eyebrows:
Floyddroid
06-10-2012, 10:54
I await with bated breath. I gots ta know, i gots ta know!!!!!!!!!!!
oscarsaudio
06-10-2012, 15:44
I've got Goldring Electra you can have for £20 + postage
seoirse2002
06-10-2012, 17:32
Don't buy anything just yet. There is a brilliant, budget cartridge on the way.
More news and pics soon..:eyebrows:
Ill be watching too:)
Don't buy anything just yet. There is a brilliant, budget cartridge on the way.
More news and pics soon..:eyebrows:
I'm all ears Dave... http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-clint.gif
Agree on the AT95E, its a good allrounder. Its a lot cheaper from this german store:
http://www.zum-shop.de/Audio-Technica-AT-95-E-AT95E-Tonabnehmer_p7361_x2.htm
Regards Mike
I'm all ears Dave... http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-clint.gif
The Jap makers are well revered by and large, so well worth waiting for I think ;) Should be a steal at £35 with any luck...
Lee Henley
08-10-2012, 20:01
Anyone gonna spill the beans as to who is making the cart
hifi_dave
09-10-2012, 11:41
Not yet but it is £10 less expensive than I was originally told. It is £25.99
Available here (http://www.365games.co.uk/playsets/childrens-classics-record-player?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=google+shopping+data+feed+(08/10/2012)) - only £27.47!
;)
julesd68
09-10-2012, 13:59
Available here (http://www.365games.co.uk/playsets/childrens-classics-record-player?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=google+shopping+data+feed+(08/10/2012)) - only £27.47!
;)
Looks like an upgrade for LP12 owners :lol:
Only kidding folks ...
Yes, I should add that wasn't a dig at Techies (I own an SL-150/SL-1500 myself!) or indeed the new uber-cheap (as yet unknown) cartridge HiFi Dave has waiting secretly in the wings... Just my little joke at what you can get cheap! :)
Not yet but it is £10 less expensive than I was originally told. It is £25.99
Dave, you are such a tease... http://emoticonhq.com/images/Yahoo/yahoohairpull.gif :D
Can you at least tell us something about the cartridge, even if you can't tell us where it's coming from? :)
freefallrob
09-10-2012, 15:16
Another vote for the AT95e here, very musical, interested what the new super budget cart is:scratch:
There was an excellent thread on Vinyl Engine dealing with mods for the AT95. One fairly easy one is to cut the sides and front from the stylus housing leaving just the base. This obviously has to be done very, very carefully but apparently it improves the performance of the cartridge significantly. Probably best practised on an old, worn out stylus first though.
I bought an HE stylus from LPGear in the US for the AT95 I ran on my old Thorens TD316 which was fitted to a LINN Basik LVX arm and the improvement was staggering. Gorgeous delicate highs, a much more open midband and better definition in the lower registers, it also improved imaging quite a bit too. In all the sound was far more real...
Another vote for the AT95e here, very musical, interested what the new super budget cart is:scratch:
I wonder if the AT95E will be a distant cousin of this newbie giant killer? :lol: ;)
The AT95E is one of those cartridges that works a dream in uber-decks and if you've got a good one, it trounces so many flash pretenders, despite not having PCOCC wires and gold pins like the AT110E was supposed to have (the 110E can be better but has a possible bass heaviness in some decks - or lack of treble depending on taste :))
I'm still going to mention yet again the Shure Me97XE, since tracing of heavy 12" 45rpm grooves will be exemplary and its unexaggerated performance should allow hours of enjoyable listening with potentially better detailing than an AT95E...
I'm still going to mention yet again the Shure Me97XE, since tracing of heavy 12" 45rpm grooves will be exemplary and its unexaggerated performance should allow hours of enjoyable listening with potentially better detailing than an AT95E...
I wouldn't disagree with you at all Dave. The M97XE is one of the candidates I am considering to replace the Goldring once its stylus wears out (unless I am lucky enough to obtain a replacement that is). Apparently an SAS stylus totally transforms the M97XE into a truly top performer, which appeals to me a lot ;)
The body and basic mechanics is very closely related to the V15 XMR and VST-V models I understand, which jiggled the compromises into a slightly warmer toned sound than the neutral but possibly small-scale V15 VMR model, styli of which don't fit the XMR body. Jico have a phenomenal reputation for their SAS styli, which aren't expensive in all honesty, are much more finely crafted (tie-wires etc) and apparently out-perform the original styli (measurements too apparently). For best results, they appear to need 68K loading, rather than 47K plus shedloads of capacitance as is the norm. So many phono stages offer variable impedance for MC, but not for fixed coil types (shame!).
hifi_dave
09-10-2012, 16:53
There was an excellent thread on Vinyl Engine dealing with mods for the AT95. One fairly easy one is to cut the sides and front from the stylus housing leaving just the base. This obviously has to be done very, very carefully but apparently it improves the performance of the cartridge significantly. Probably best practised on an old, worn out stylus first though.
I bought an HE stylus from LPGear in the US for the AT95 I ran on my old Thorens TD316 which was fitted to a LINN Basik LVX arm and the improvement was staggering. Gorgeous delicate highs, a much more open midband and better definition in the lower registers, it also improved imaging quite a bit too. In all the sound was far more real...
Back in the mists of time when we used to buy AT95E cartridges in blister packs 40 at a time, we did a few mods such as paring away the excess plastic (?) on the stylus assembly and gluing what little there was left in place. No good for when the stylus needed replacement but we thought it sounded a touch better.
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