Audio Technica cartridge upgrade

[nbaptista]

I have an AT VM95e on a Rega Planar 2. I know the 95EN and the 95ML are better. But I like the 95e and for the price is amazing. Does make sense install a 95EN without try another cartridges like Nagaoka?For me the 95e is the right cartridge for the price(60€).I mean, the best for the price.For the price of an 95EN or ML you have Goldring, Nagaoka and others.So should I keep the 95e and Be happy, or try the others brands?

[Pete The Cat]

I have a VM95E on a deck that I'm using to test a load of second hand records and I agree that it's astonishingly good. Once I've sorted out the records that I want to keep I'm going to upgrade to the VM95ML stylus since the VM95E can be a bit shrill on the top end when playing loud, but then again what do you expect for £50?!

Sure, there are well reviewed Nagaoka and Ortofon alternatives and there are no rules about all of this, but AT designed the latest VM95.. range as an upgrade path so you can swap the upgrade stylus into your existing cartridge for a saving against the price of buying a completely new cartridge.

Pete

[CageyH]

If you like the AT sound, why change?

[nbaptista]

Yes, I' m keeping the 95e.When the time comes for a replacement, I might buy the 95ml . It lasts for 1000 hours, unlike the EN with 300 h

[CageyH]

I would go for the ML or the SH. I like the AT Microline and Shibata styli. I have an older AT95 with the Shibata tip and it is great.
Changing to a different brand will give you a different flavour to the sound, but it can be expensive trying them all out to see which you prefer. If you are staying with the cheaper cartridges, then AT is very hard to beat for VFM.

[nbaptista]

If you are staying with the cheaper cartridges, then AT is very hard to beat for VFM.
Cheaper carts you mean cartridges that cost no more than 160£?
The vm95 ml beats the Nagaoka mp100/110?

[CageyH]

Cheaper carts you mean cartridges that cost no more than 160£?
The vm95 ml beats the Nagaoka mp100/110?

It is all a matter of personal taste to what sound you prefer. I had an MP-150, which was good, but I preferred my AT150Mlx.

[nbaptista]

Ok, I understand.And the AT is easier to install on my Rega Planar 2.VM 95 ML is the better choice, I guess.

[diviy]

To get even more out of your 95 have a look at a RigB body conversion .
I have the VM540ML RigB it is made out of T16 Aluminium brilliant upgrade imo

[Mikeandvan]

To get even more out of your 95 have a look at a RigB body conversion .
I have the VM540ML RigB it is made out of T16 Aluminium brilliant upgrade imo

I'm not sure, thought mine sounded a bit metallic, wouldn't mind going back to it though to check.

[Mikeandvan]

I'm using the 95EN at the minute, prefer it to the 95ML, it's a great cart, I swear it's almost as good as a Nag MP200 I had once, and which now cost 4 times as much.

[Mikeandvan]

Didn't realise the EN version was only good for 300 hrs, that must why my records are all sounding a bit shit atm.

[Mikeandvan]

Emmmm, just had a sort out of my carts, chucked the 95ml as the needle was wonky, chucked the 95en as it had way more than 300 hrs on it, and thought why buy another when I can go back to the 540ML for the same price (£180 for a stylus vs £80 for a EN stylus, only it lasts over 3 times as long), so actually cheaper. Now I had the Rigb 540ml before, but I wanted to try the regular one so got one on offer at only £205 with cart complete, from Audio Affair, same place as my speakers. What a fiddly bastard to set up though, fooming, doggo needed to 'intervene' a few times to calm me down, haha. Are there better tags to be had, because these fuckers are fiddly as hell, and don't seem to crimp up nicely, not that Ive got the right tools for that anyway, just a pair of tweezers (proper tweezers not one's you pluck eyebrows with), but how are you supposed fit anything in there after fitting anyway, there's about 3 mm of space. Fuck it, done now, first two plays sounding good. ps what are those clicky things called you count the plays with these carts ? You know, play an lp, click the windy clock, I need to start paying more attention to the hours I put on my carts, i don't fuck around, its vinyl 4 hours daily for me, that's single life for you, do what the fuck you want, has it drawbacks, I sometimes drink too much.

[ianlenco]

I recently replaced my AT-VM95SH with a..........AT-VM95SH :) It's a cartridge I really like so have stuck with it. At £155 from Amazon it has to be the bargain of the century - the replacement stylus is £144.