Help.Cartridge for at1010

[stewart]

I have a luxman PD300 with Audio Technica AT1010 arm.
At the moment I am using a pickering xsv4000 cart and d4000 stylus that came with it.
Sometimes it sounds great but then it suddenly turns distorted and noisy.
After loads of fiddling about with set up I have discovered the stylus seems to be loose in the cart. It can be pulled out about 5mm without hardly gripping it. Is this normal and is it possible the record is dragging it out while playing?
Also I have no idea how much use it has had.
I have decided that it is new cart time.
But which one.
Ortofons web site recommends the 2m bronze. But I think this cart is high compliance and I have read high compliance carts are not recomended for the AT1010.
Has anyone used an AT1010 and can offer advice.

[phonomac]

Hello there,
I use an AT1010 arm (modified with ceramic bearings and Cardas rewired) with several relatively high compliance cartridges.

I think that the LF resonance issue which is what drives most compliance recommendations depends on your turntable mounting/isolation. Mine is on a wall shelf fixed to a brick/block wall on a concrete raft with additional isolation measures. The arm/cartridge LF resonance is around 7 Hz, just on the borderline of recommended ranges. That is far enough above record warp, but produces excellent bass response.

The cartridges I use/have used successfully in the AT1010 include AT155LC, Denon DL-304, AT-OC9/MLII, and currently an AT33PTG/II. All of these worked well, with static compliance in the 35 - 40 range, and dynamic compliance (at 100Hz) around 10 - 12. These figures translate to somewhere in the 18 - 24 region for input to typical resonance calculators.

All of these cartridges worked well also in the standard arm, before it was modified. The AT1010 is an excellent, under-rated arm in my view - I am currently trying an Origin Live Encounter Mk3, and while there is a very slight increase in treble detail with the OL, the AT1010 beats it comprehensively for bass weight and extension (with the same cartridge - AT33PTG/II), I suspect because the LF resonance is higher in the OL.

Sorry for the long-winded answer :lol: but I think compliance matching and turntable isolation are strongly interconnected.

In short, provided the t/t mounting is good the AT1010 will work well with most of the modern candidate cartridges, and fine-tuning with the adjustable damping is also available to help.

Happy to provide any more info I can, just ask.

regards

Angus

[Barry]

If the stylus is loose in the cartridge then this needs to be addressed straight away. Something is very wrong if the frictional drag between the LP groove and the stylus is sufficient to pull the stylus assembly away from the cartridge body.

Try carefully applying couple of dabs of polystyrene glue to the plastic stylus holder before fitting it to the cartridge body, or failing that, replace the stylus assembly with a new one.

[DSJR]

Stanton/Pickering bodies are usually fairly grippy on their styli, so it may be worth locating a replacement body if possible. Vickers in York run the Pickering UK site and may have a new body available. The cartridge is a good one (may be the same as the Stanton 881S, I can't remember) and a 2M Bronze is about where the 881S would be now, if not actually 2M Black level :)

The PD300 sucks the record onto the platter doesn't it? This should help stability issues as the playing surface should be held pretty tight to the platter.

[stewart]

Thanks for the advice guys.
The stylus is moving away from the cart. After playing only a couple of tracks, pushing lightly on the stylus products a loud rustle and thud through the speakers. Pushing a second time and it is silent.
But even then, slightly touching each corner of the plastic front of the stylus makes a noise the same as using a brush on the styles tip.

[Barry]

Thanks for the advice guys.
The stylus is moving away from the cart. After playing only a couple of tracks, pushing lightly on the stylus products a loud rustle and thud through the speakers. Pushing a second time and it is silent.
But even then, slightly touching each corner of the plastic front of the stylus makes a noise the same as using a brush on the styles tip.

When you say "pushing lightly on the stylus", do you mean the stylus assembly block (that fits into the cartridge body)? If so, from your description, you either need to replace the stylus assembly or the cartridge body, or do as I suggested - glue the stylus assembly to the cartridge body (but be careful!).

[stewart]

Yes, I mean the block.
I am going to have chat with Vickers
Thanks again.