I Did A Bad, Bad Thing

[WOStantonCS100]

It's bad enough I'm using a DJ table ;)...

...and speaking of "fun with inexpensive carts", oh dear, I've gone and done it now...

I've just sent off my first generation Stanton Trackmaster EL to Sound-Smith for a mid-level ruby cantilever/NCL stylus upgrade. :eek:

These were the stated specs from the manufacturer:

Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
Tracking force: 2 to 5 grams
Output: 5.2 mV @ 1 kHz
Channel balance: Within 2 dB @ 1 kHz
Channel separation: Greater than 30 dB @ 1 kHz
Stylus tip: Elliptical 0.7 mm super high polish diamond
Recommended load: 47k ohms and 275 pF
Cartridge Weight: 18 grams

I guess it won't be as inexpensive as it was before when complete. I wonder how the new cantilever/stylus will make it sound (and track)? Could I hope for 10 Hz to 25 kHz with far improved (smooth, more natural) sibilance; tracking force between 1.25 and 1.75 grams all while retaining the ease of an integrated headshell design?? I've done crazier things; but, I'm not as young as I used to be. :)

[MartinT]

Very nice, Biff. I would have thought a ruby cantilever would need to be very short, I wonder how that affects the geometry of the design? Do report back with how it sounds :)

[chris@panteg]

Hi Biff

Be interesting to know how you get on with that ! Jon ' who lent me his 103 is going to send it to them for a rebuild and a new tip .

[WOStantonCS100]

Very nice, Biff. I would have thought a ruby cantilever would need to be very short, I wonder how that affects the geometry of the design? Do report back with how it sounds :)

Compared to my AT carts, Stanton styli are pretty short. I'm with you. I have a lot of questions about how all this will go and how well it will work. It's a combination of nervous anxiety, excitement and great expectations. LOL.

The cart originally came with an extra stylus, which I have retained; so, a true A/B comparison (where all the other variables remain the same) will be a simple matter. Honestly, it's a bit unfair. The original cantilever is a tree trunk!!! LOL. I certainly will report back.



Hi Biff

Be interesting to know how you get on with that ! Jon ' who lent me his 103 is going to send it to them for a rebuild and a new tip .

According to what I've read and heard, the 103 is a specialty of Peter's. I'd be surprised if that wasn't a crackin' cart when it's returned. Will you reaudition the cart after the rebuild/retip?

[WOStantonCS100]

I just got a call from my significant other. The cartridge is at the house! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.

[chris@panteg]

Compared to my AT carts, Stanton styli are pretty short. I'm with you. I have a lot of questions about how all this will go and how well it will work. It's a combination of nervous anxiety, excitement and great expectations. LOL.

The cart originally came with an extra stylus, which I have retained; so, a true A/B comparison (where all the other variables remain the same) will be a simple matter. Honestly, it's a bit unfair. The original cantilever is a tree trunk!!! LOL. I certainly will report back.




According to what I've read and heard, the 103 is a specialty of Peter's. I'd be surprised if that wasn't a crackin' cart when it's returned. Will you reaudition the cart after the rebuild/retip?

Hi Biff

Alas no , Jon has decided to sell it !

[MartinT]

The cartridge is at the house!

So tell us how it sounds!

[WOStantonCS100]

Ok, so I arrived home and promptly waited until everyone had gone to sleep. Then out came the goodies! First, let me say that I have never been afraid to handle any cartridge and/or stylus PRIOR to opening the package from Sound-Smith. This was my first up close, in person, experience with a ruby cantilever. I was nervous; afraid. This cantilever/stylus assembly screams "meticulous work of art". Unlike some aftermarket Shibata's that have landed here, the cantilever was dead centered with no bias to one side or the other. (Considering what a Shibata is and how it's supposed to work, affixing it to a crooked cantilever makes absolutely no sense. In other words, beware of the aftermarket stylus for AT cartridges, trust me.) Light glistens off the ruby cantilever, plays tricks on you, and my old eyes did doubletakes to make sure what I was seeing was not a string of dust. This is a thin cantilever and how Sound-Smith manages to do what they do obviously takes a boat load of skill and patience. (Unlike KAB, the stylus guard is not dispensed with; it's a straight replacement.) Keep in mind, what's scaring me now is not a Van den Hul, not a Dynavector XV or Sumiko Evo. It's an old Stanton Trackmaster! Unlike a Technics SL-1200MK2 which is commonly confused as a DJ product; the Trackmaster was purpose built as a DJ product. But, what is it now!?

What's that I spy? For all that art, something did stick out at me that raised an eyebrow. And, it was the cantilever. Compared to the original stylus (from the factory the cartridge is supplied with 2 extra styli) the Sound-Smith rebuild sticks out. The Trackmaster is an integrated cartridge/headshell design with no provision for adjusting overhang, unlike some Technics cartridges of old; but, like, I believe, the SPU's. It's collar to stylus distance is 52mm normally and matches up exactly with the Technics overhang guage. With Sound-Smith mod it is more like 53 or 53.5mm, a minus. I feared this could be a problem and considered packing it back up and placing a phone call. However, I received an email from Vic (Trans-Fi) yesterday letting me know that he's just about done with my T3 Pro with bayonet. Obviously, with a T3 Pro issues with alignment pretty much go away by the nature of it's design; so, the extra 1 to 1.5mm would become negligible. The problem was I couldn't wait to hear how it sounded. I made a note to self that I would probably hear some distortion attributable to alignment that wasn't spot on. So, I VERY gingerly affixed the cartridge to the tonearm and had a go at it.

I have never so gently lowered a stylus onto a record in my entire record playing lifespan of well over 30 years. The white papers included recommended the VTF be set between 3 and 3.5 grams. That's heavy for someone used to flea weight 1to 1.5 gram trackers. So, naturally, I did not do as instructed and set the weight to 2.5 grams with anti-skate tested and set at 2 to 2.25 grams, which I made another note to self, might cause a tad more chatter in the grooves. This is the stock Techie arm with the KAB Fluid Damper in place. I carefully watched to make sure inordinate down force was not being exerted on the cantilever; lots of bright light. I bumped VTF up to a smidge over 3 grams. No problem. Nevertheless, I rolled it back to 2.5 grams.

Now it was time to listen. This is also the first time I seriously, almost painstakingly, considered what record to lay upon the platter; not for the sake of the music but the condition and cleanliness of the vinyl. I'm not sure if I like this new hesitation. I guess it's a good thing I have a Spin Clean on the way. I settled on a recently acquired copy of Urszula Dudziak's Urszula (yes... the one with "Papaya"). Anyway, I purchased it as a sealed copy. I played it a few times and there was no problem with mold release agents. Essentially, this is as clean as it gets. I've listened to this recently with an Audio Technica VS245 with Shibata and it's sound is still in my head. What I noticed right off is that the Sound-Smith retip did NOT transform the Stanton Trackmaster into a Benz Micro, ZYX or Koetsu nor did I think it would. The original Trackmaster with it's tree trunk stylus had issues with what I call "ride" noise. It's suspension is somewhat unforgiving and in the lead in and out grooves you can hear it "riding" the groove. The high output of the cartridge exacerbated that trait. With the SS mod, the overall output is reduced and while some "ride" noise can still be detected, it also has been reduced, a plus. I fearfully pulled out the SS stylus and put in an original stylus. That lasted for less than a song's length. Despite not sounding like utter trash, there was no comparison. After all, the original is a tree trunk of a cantilever/stylus assembly aimed mostly at durability. That it plays as well as it does is as much a miraculous feat as an SS mod. The SS assembly was promptly reinserted. I then moved on to the Heritage album by Michal Urbaniak's Fusion featuring Urszula Dudziak. From there I listened to a white label mono promo of David Newman's Bigger & Better. Bjork's Post was next. The second track on side one is Hyberballad. When the SS mod hit the opening bass line of this track it snapped my neck around. Wow! Holy flying cows, Batman!

[WOStantonCS100]

A Stanton Trackmaster has good bass to begin with; so, no surprise here. It’s the definition and depth of the bass that got my attention. We’re talking seriously good and major improvement. Next up was the torture test. I have a white label promo of Dori Caymmi’s eponymous album recorded for the Elektra/Musician label AND it says “DIGITAL” on the label. The first track on side one, “Gabriela’s Song”, has cymbals that are recorded far too hot. In my experience, WLP’s are generally on the hot side anyway; but, this is way past hot. The original Trackmaster assembly literally jumps out of the grooves even at recommended tracking forces. Even when it stays in the groove the sibilance is over-powering and unfriendly. It’s tendency to “splatter” the highs is the original Trackmaster stylus’ most apparent sonic deficiency. The Shibatas stay in the groove. Yet, sibilance is still unnerving. The Sound-Smith mod, hands down, made the best of "bad grooves". It did not cure the issue; just made it far more listenable. I spent approximately 3 to 4 hours pulling out album after album. Everyone who writes a review falls back on phrases like, “it reveals more detail”; but, it did. Somehow, without adding harshness, there was more detail over the entire spectrum including the high end, bettering my Audio Technica/Shibata combinations. In fact, in going back to the Audio Technica/Shibata combinations, they now seem a bit splashy and diffused in the high end. The guitar nested behind Bjork’s vocals in “It’s Oh So Quiet” was not artificially and incorrectly pumped to the front of the soundstage but it was a whole lot easier to tell that it was a guitar and whether it was being plucked or strummed or whatever. That was the case with many records from The New Birth to Gary Burton. Resolution wasn’t just improved, it became excellent. This cartridge still seemed to hold its Stanton signature. In other words, the SS mod didn’t turn the generator of the Stanton into the generator of a Grado. The midrange was much better defined; but, it did not gain considerable “bloom”. In essence, it just the gave the generator much cleaner and more detailed information with which to work. Stanton’s in general, especially the audiophile aimed 681’s and 881’s, have a certain percussive attack. That, too, remained.
The Stanton Trackmaster, specifically purchased by me to handle less than pristine records, was the worst overall performing cartridge I had. No high expectations for it; it was just supposed to force it's way through scratches and ride warps that I dare not torture my better styli with. Is it now the best cartridge I have? I hesitate to say, at the moment. But, it just might be! It would be down to the same question of, “Do you prefer the Stanton 881 sound or the Grado Prestige sound?” The Grado coloration is too lush and forgiving for me. As a personal preference, I rank them above, say, a Shure M97 and my personally owned M111; but, I can’t live with the hum. The Audio Technica's have much better detail than the Grado and leave the Shure's in the dust. Previously, it depended on what day it was whether I would go Stanton or Audio Technica, and it may still. However, one thing I can’t say about the Audio Technica/Shibata combos anymore, is that they have better detail, clarity and overall presentation than the Stanton/Sound-Smith modded Trackmaster.

There is still the issue of a bit of “ride” noise which may be able to be mitigated somewhat with a better platter mat setup and spot on alignment. We’ll have to see about that when the T3 Pro arrives. And of the alignment? Even at 53 – 53.5mm I certainly didn’t hear any more distortion than I heard from the properly aligned Shibatas, outer or inner groove. Given the funds, I’m not sure I would ever return to the world of aftermarket styli. This rebuild/retip is just too good. Yes, it’s early. No, I haven’t lived with this cartridge for a long time; but, the sonic differences and the tracking differences are immediately and unquestionably apparent. What would my Audio Technica's (or Shure's) sound like with this upgrade? I could certainly properly dial in overhang with a standard headshell mounted cartridge. The scary part of all this is how much better it could make a great cartridge sound. If it can make a Trackmaster sound this good, I would expect, modifying an upper end cartridge from an alloy cantilever and decent diamond to the ruby/contact or contour stylus, to rock the world of it’s owner.

I’ll try and do a follow up after the T3 arrives and have put it away until then, half out of fear I'll muck it up before then.

Related Gear:
Technics SL-1200MK2/KAB Fluid Damper/TTWeights Classic Record Weight/upgraded balanced interconnects
stock bearing, mat, platter and arm
In main system (see sig)

Cheers!

[MartinT]

Nice, comprehensive, review Biff. I didn't know anything about Stanton cartridges before but you have described this upgrade very well. You're obviously pleased with the outcome and that's really what it's all about - furthering your enjoyment of music.

Oh, and I know exactly what you mean about the stress of fitting a new cartridge. I breathed a sigh of relief once my DV was safely in its headshell connected to the arm.