View Full Version : New cartridge for TP13A
Looks like I'm in the market for a new cart.
My Jico SAS for £100 in an M75EJ was very nice, but they have now doubled in price so I'm looking for something else.
Thorens TD-150ii with cannonball TP13A. Croft Integrated Phono, so has to be MM or HOMC.
I need to be grading old classical vinyl with this set up, so need something that tracks very well and that will hopefully not be too nervous with surface noise...
Advice welcome, but an upgrade to the SAS/M75 would be great. I'm currently thinking of maybe nuding a Denon 103, or maybe even big-upping the spend to a Benz Micro Silver or even a Hana EH if I thought they would work really well with my arm.
Also considering the MP500 on sale here, but my bad luck with carts makes me think I should probably buy new...
Please pitch in with advice, all welcome!
Robert
Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk
maybe I should start a new thread titled something like:
BENZ MICRO SILVER VS. HANA EH
?
I remember a time when any THORENS related TT thread would get jumped all over...
:(
It is pretty hard to damage an MM cartridge, stylus breaks or wears out you buy a new stylus.
The MP500 is very good but you are looking at £250 for a replacement stylus so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without an RCM. I don't use mine on any record I haven't cleaned in order to preserve its life. Although the stylus is new the cartridge is from about 1980. There is no problem with that. I like the M75 and it does seem quite suitable for what you want to do so if it where me I'd get a new stylus for that. the standard ones are only about £20 I think. See if you can live with that, if not, then have another think.
All sorted. You can stop panicking.
Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk
I've found that a Cheap AT 95 VL (Lpgear.com) works well on My tp13 arm.
Better in fact that My Shures and any and all Grados I've tried.
Important that the arm is well adjusted though, at least in it's Pivot needles.
They are surprisingly decent (mine is the one with the cannonball weight at the end).
I do have an issue with a broken fingerlift for it on my second headshell though. Someone is selling them on eBay for £25 each, which seems a bit steep. Currently wondering about some other McGyver workaround, and using it with no fingerlift which is fine, although it looks a little odd.
Was wanting a spare (or 2) headshells.
But the ones I found were from the Seriously Greedy Swiss Vendor on FleaBay.. ~150$ for One. Not Likely!
My TT cost me 125$.. brand New.
Conjured up a plan to buy a couple of 'standard' headshells ~7$ to use as Donors for their Connector plugs.
Then Refit a standard connector into the TP13A arm.
Then I could either use the cheapo headshells Or repurposing their Connector plugs..cobble up DIY wooden or malleable Ali sheet ones.
One day.. when I get 'round to it :-)
Was wanting a spare (or 2) headshells.
But the ones I found were from the Seriously Greedy Swiss Vendor on FleaBay.. ~150$ for One. Not Likely!
That's the same guy selling the fingerlifts for £25.
Nuts.
Have you given thoughts to reproducing the Thorens finger lift?
It 's Only a bit of ali with 2 bends and a hole?
Likely 5 mins effort once a wee bit of metal is sourced.
Suggest a sheet metal shop where they will give you a suitable/identical ali bit for free.. or ?
Have you given thoughts to reproducing the Thorens finger lift?
It 's Only a bit of ali with 2 bends and a hole?
Likely 5 mins effort once a wee bit of metal is sourced.
Suggest a sheet metal shop where they will give you a suitable/identical ali bit for free.. or ?
I have thought maybe getting some universal thing and fettling it in somehow... something like this, but it's not really upsetting me enough to do anything about it! It's something I will probably do if I come across the right thing in a shop or on ebay. I will post pics of whatever I end up doing here!
http://www.emporiumhifi.com/head-office-norfolk-suffolk/universal-tonearm-headshell-fingerlift/
topoxforddoc
08-10-2016, 10:58
How about an A&R P77? Replacement new stylus from Expert Stylus (the original manufacturer to A&R) are only £75 inc P&P for the parabolic tip version.
narabdela
08-10-2016, 13:31
Both the M55E and the M75E suited the TP13A superbly back in the day when I owned one.
I don't really think you need to look any further than one of those with a new stylus tbh.
I had a P77 from an old deck that I chucked away about a year ago because looking online suggested you couldn't get the stylus anymore...
I've now also got an Ortofon VMS30mkii that needs a new stylus, with a FL nude available from Musonic at about £110.
The M75 with SAS was indeed amazing, but the new price for a replacement is putting me off getting another...
Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk
Gordon Steadman
08-10-2016, 15:34
I had a P77 from an old deck that I chucked away about a year ago because looking online suggested you couldn't get the stylus anymore...
I've now also got an Ortofon VMS30mkii that needs a new stylus, with a FL nude available from Musonic at about £110.
The M75 with SAS was indeed amazing, but the new price for a replacement is putting me off getting another...
Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk
Jico stylus for the Ortofon is $66 whatever that is in pounds.
topoxforddoc
08-10-2016, 15:38
Jico stylus for the Ortofon is $66 whatever that is in pounds.
That's for a standard elliptical tip, not the nude FL on the original VMS30
Gordon Steadman
08-10-2016, 15:50
That's for a standard elliptical tip, not the nude FL on the original VMS30
No doubt, but if the budget demands, I'm quite sure it will offer 99% of the performance at considerably less than 99% of the price:)
No doubt, but if the budget demands, I'm quite sure it will offer 99% of the performance at considerably less than 99% of the price:)
All Jicos are not created equal. I had the SAS for a year, I also have a standard Jico stylus for the M75. I would say you could regard it as 50% of performance maybe, for what was at the time a fifth of the cost. The SAS was a revelation and has made me realise the diamond is quite important...
R
No doubt, but if the budget demands, I'm quite sure it will offer 99% of the performance at considerably less than 99% of the price:)
I put a shibata on an at95 and it was 10 times the cart it was..still got it too.
Gordon Steadman
08-10-2016, 16:02
All Jicos are not created equal. I had the SAS for a year, I also have a standard Jico stylus for the M75. I would say you could regard it as 50% of performance maybe, for what was at the time a fifth of the cost. The SAS was a revelation and has made me realise the diamond is quite important...
R
Still sounds quite a good percentage:)
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2026 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.