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I'll keep an eye out for one. Here's an interesting picture:Quote:
But if you are looking for a cartridge with an excellent SVPP, then it has to be the Grado GTE+1. Unfortunately I no longer have one to play with.
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/3690/retrocart1.jpg
I think someone else has similar tastes to you and me ;)
Marco.
P.S Name that headshell....
Ah, the G800 (sighs). My first cart, which I fitted to an ancient Rigonda idler-drive record deck that had an arm so massy it'd make the cranes at a dockyard seem feeble. It didn't sound 'alf bad though... :lol:
there where a few models of the 800
yours is the standard 800 by the look of it,, and retailed for around £13 in 72
there was a g800e at around £18, the g800 super e at £26, and the high out put g800/h at around £10.50
the super e was nearly as as much as the ortofon Sl15e, back in 72.....
i'm sure i have an '800 e' somewhere .
the spu is the synergy, it sounds very nice.. only got about 12 hours on it so far..
it's slightly better than the dynavector 30a.. but not by alot at this stage.
Hi Steve,
Nice one on the SPU - hope it hits the spot for you. It should sound fab on your FR/124 combo!
Thanks for the info on the Goldrings.
The interesting thing is that elliptical styli are always touted as being automatically 'superior' to conical ones, and thus more expensive, and in a technical sense they are, but usually I can't help but prefer conical ones, as although they don't quite have the fine detail retrieval of an elliptical stylus, somehow sound overall more musical to my ears.
Therefore, for that reason, I'm not sure if I'd prefer the 'Super E', or any of the others above the basic model.
Does anyone else or you know if the D110H stylus shown on this website (a quarter of the way down) is compatible with my G800?
http://www.adelcom.net/GoldringStylus1.htm
Marco.
:popcorn:Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
:rofl::rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Sorry, I couldn;t resist......;)
Arf!! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Well, since I'm now the self-proclaimed expert on "tat" cartridges from yore, I'm going to reserve current comments on G800's until I receive my collection - I have some G800's and 800E's coming my way along with a GL78 turntable mat.... Since I have the Garrard Lab 80 spinning as I type, I should be in a good position to comment :lol:
The G800 does have a massive suckout in the mid treble (a factor of its ancient design [by John Wright of IMF/TDL fame I remember] in 1968 or thereabouts) and I remember an original sounding rather plump and confused on "Brain Salad Surgery" when compared with a Shure M75-ED with which I replaced it. The 800E with light grey/dirty white stylus assembly was rather better and clearer I remember and the 800 Super E was sublime for the period, although soon left behind in the V15III/681EEE/XLM/1000ZE-X/M15E cartridges that came along in the early 70's. Goldring fought back with the 820 series and the Super E won a group review... I was using a VV7 cartridge preamp at the time and apparently this preamp has very narrow bandwidth and overloads easily these days, so we'll see.
The Lab 80 has come with an M75-EJ with a broken stylus and I can't yet afford a proper replacement, so I chucked in the M55E with Ed saunders stylus. There's some buzzing in the background, so before I get inside to check earthing etc, the sound so far is gorgeously sweet and NOTHING like the M55E normally is (a bit distant and rough with a fizz in extreme top).
I look forward to trying the G800's again, especially the E's. You never know, I might be tempted with an AP76 to put them in.......... ;)
I can't believe how much Shure is charging for its remaining cartridges these days (except the M97XE which can be got for very reasonable money still). The SC35C sounds very like an M75-EJ - gently rolled off but very stable and "solid," but for £50, I'd rather have an Ortofon OM pro and £20 change or a Nightclub E for similar money - or even a 510mk2 I think...
P.S. The very early G800's had no writing on the styli, only after 1973 or so did the "Goldring" logo appear on the stylus front...
Hi Dave,
As ever, your comments are as valid as anyone else's, however, this:
....is fundamentally, indisputably, unquestionably *NOT* what I'm hearing! ;)Quote:
The G800 does have a massive suckout in the mid treble (a factor of its ancient design [by John Wright of IMF/TDL fame I remember] in 1968 or thereabouts) and I remember an original sounding rather plump and confused...
The G800 sounds sweet, wide-open, detailed - in fact, any words you care to mention which define the POLAR OPPOSITE of what you've just written.....!!
Have I made myself clear enough, lol? And I see that your favourite wee word "plump" has made an apprearance again - where's "syrupy" away to? :lol:
I wonder why we have this extreme disparity sometimes with our experiences of cartridges? :scratch:
It was the same with the SPU (and the M3D before it), and we know how wrong you were about that!! Ah well, the entertainment value is worth it! :eyebrows:
Marco.
P.S Barry, I did the comparison between the G800 and SC35C today. Interesting.... I haven't finalised my thoughts yet, but will do once I've had a proper listen to both over the weekend.
I'm not going to rise to this Marco, but the "massive suckout" has been catalogued in reviews of the period (I think there's a Gramophone review-scan online). If this is evidenced as a pleasant sweetness to you, then fine, as I have the same "effect" with the M55E, which was even worse I remember :) The V15III had a major design tweak incorporated (laminated pole pieces) which sorted this problem, which many older magnetic types have. This flat response can be a problem with the nails/styli they fitted originally, the later HE (and MR?) ones being very much better I remember.
Also, I did suggest the plump and soggy quality may have been because of the Goldring VV7 phono-preamp I was using (many cheapo £20 preamps would out-perform it I understand) and I stand by my statement that I look forward to trying out the ones I have coming :)
Oh, by the way, my experiences of the after-market styli weren't too good at the time, but again, modern automated diamond grinding/polishing should be better than budget priced efforts 40 years ago...
Hi Marco,
Do you think that the differences between your experience of these old cartridges and Dave's are anything to do with the fact that he heard them 'in period' as it were with equipment that was around at the time and that you are transposing them into a completely different environment?
Is the highly and valuable Technics/ Jelco combo dragging performance out of these carts that just wasn't available at the time?
I once heard a pair of Wharfdale diamonds sound great on the end of £20k's worth of Mark Levinson electronics..... It didn't make them great speakers it just enabled them to perform right at the edge of their envelope.