ADC XLM Mk III Improved..... Worth Keeping?

[Minstrel SE]

Hi

A mint looking ADC XLM III Improved came with a Dual turntable for £20

I have been reading about Peter Pritchard and the Induced Magnetism principle. I have all the advertising literature and spec sheets on it. I can buy an original XLM II improved stylus for £60. It has a serial number hand etched on the top and it all looks the business really.

Im not sure I like the shoe stylus fit but maybe a tiny square of double sided tape will make that more solid

I have only been able to test the stylus that came with it on an old record as it looks worn and almost certainly will be well worn out.

It seems to be a nice nuanced sound with plenty of detail....doesnt seem too kind on surface noise but it will be worn so thats not a worry. Seems to add something over say an AT95.....more atmosphere and a certain involvement in the music

It tracks at 0.75g + and is high compliance. Would it be ok on a Rega Arm or best suited to Dual /ADC ULM arms?

Basically have times moved on or is it worth treasuring this cartridge? Is it a keeper? :)

Best wishes
Martin

[Barry]

Since a generic replacement stylus for the XLM III is relatively inexpensive (http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SRCH ), I would be inclined to keep it, though your Rega arm may not be the best arm in which to mount it.

Taking figures from vinylengine.com the calculated low frequency resonance will occur at ~ 8.75Hz.

I cannot comment on the "Dual / ADC ULM" arms.

[walpurgis]

Use a microscope to check the diamond tip of the stylus. If it is not worn, you have a very fine cartridge. I'm a big fan of ADC's. In my opinion they are amongst the best non MC cartridges ever made, their transparency, depth of soundstage and detail exceed that of many MC's. If you find surface noise being emphasised, experiment with the VTA. You may find raising the back of arm a bit helps.

[Barry]

Use a microscope to check the diamond tip of the stylus. If it is not worn, you have a very fine cartridge. I'm a big fan of ADC's. In my opinion they are amongst the best non MC cartridges ever made, their transparency, depth of soundstage and detail exceed that of many MC's. If you find surface noise being emphasised, experiment with the VTA. You may find raising the back of arm a bit helps.

Agree - which is why I have four of them. Not only are they a fine sounding breed, generic replacement stylii for them are inexpensive.

[Minstrel SE]

Yes Thanks. I can still source the original stock which would seem much better than the generic replacements. Im not sourcing nude tips from Japan or anything hard to find

I havent given it a full test yet but it seems something fairly special and I see it had fans

I have a jewellers loupe and the tip looks very dirty. I wouldnt really know about wear but I have seen profile pictures. I suppose £60 for a NOS stylus seems reasonable

I think for say £75 all in with a NOS XLM II tip it will be a VFM listen.

Cheers I have it on a spare Dual Headshell which are my dabble decks for trying things out. Its probably not ideal to put on an RP3 but I will keep it

All the best
Martin

[kcc123]

The ADC XLM Mk III Improved was the second cartridge that I bought in the seventies. At that time I was using a JVC QL70 turntable and SME series 3 tonearm. It was an excellent tracker and one of the best sounding moving magnet cartridges at that period.

[walpurgis]

Yes Thanks. I can still source the original stock which would seem much better than the generic replacements. Im not sourcing nude tips from Japan or anything hard to find

I havent given it a full test yet but it seems something fairly special and I see it had fans

I have a jewellers loupe and the tip looks very dirty. I wouldnt really know about wear but I have seen profile pictures. I suppose £60 for a NOS stylus seems reasonable

I think for say £75 all in with a NOS XLM II tip it will be a VFM listen.

Cheers I have it on a spare Dual Headshell which are my dabble decks for trying things out. Its probably not ideal to put on an RP3 but I will keep it

All the best
Martin

The XLM II is nice, but not as good as the XLM III, so try to obtain the correct stylus.

It's worth cleaning the original stylus properly with decent cleaning fluid (isopropyl alchohol with distilled water). I don't use this on MC's, but have used it on ADC's since the seventies with no problems. I use a small soft art brush with the bristles cut down to about 5mm.

[Barry]

I use an electronic stylus cleaner with a carbon fibre bristle pad:

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Aoi3qWv5-7ho_LY9OGR0vwEsDq&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300

Depending on how the stylus is bonded to the cantilever, I will sometimes apply one drop of neat isopropyl alcohol to the pad.

[narabdela]

I'd say that an SME Series 2 would be the ideal arm for it. I ran an ADC ZLM in one back in the day and it sounded superb.

The SME series 3, or the ADC arm is another option. Either way, it needs a pretty low mass arm if you really want to get the best out of it. The ADC XLM and ZLM were designed in a different era with a set of priorities that some find it difficult to get their heads round nowadays.

[Jimbo]

The ADC - XLM- 111 Improved is a great cartridge although I think the XLM ii improved is better. Definitely worth keeping and getting a replacement stylus for although the replacements are not as good as the original which you may still be able to find on ebay? I had the ADC XLM ii improved with original stylus and it was superb but I was a bit nervous of the suspension falling apart which is the problem with there old cartridges so I moved it on.

[Minstrel SE]

Yes thanks everyone.

I can source the original new old stock XLM II improved only. I look at whether they are nude mounted or whatever. Its going to be better than the QLM and others down the range I hope :)

Plenty of generic aftermarket shoes but I dont really know who has made them which is worrying to me.

I got it for effectively nothing so I think up to £60 to keep it going is fair. It may be that the original stylus is ok but I will have to check that out...its probably had the sort of use where it needs replacing

Thanks again
best wishes
Martin

[walpurgis]

its probably had the sort of use where it needs replacing

Not necessarily. My ADC's are near fifty years old and just fine on their original styli.

[Barry]

My only word of caution concerning high compliance ADCs (30cu or greater) is that, with time, the suspension can collapse.

I have a couple of ADC25s with full range of stylii as well as a couple of 10E Mk. IVs, Fortunately the stylii/cantilevers for them are still fine, but a year or so ago I sold an ADC26 (essentially identical to the 25, both having a very high compliance of 50cu) to a former Member here, and unfortunately the suspension collapsed within a couple of weeks of use!

Clearly a new replacement stylus should be free from these concerns.

[Minstrel SE]

Not necessarily. My ADC's are near fifty years old and just fine on their original styli.

I thought there was only a certain amount of time they could be used before wear and excessive damage to records.

I will look at the stylus. It did come on a deck that had been in storage. I dont know the history of anything so I thought it best just to start with something guaranteed as NOS by a respected supplier.

As Barry says I will look for suspension issues but at this stage I wouldnt know if the suspension is weak or due to pack up

Cheers
Martin