Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
Lol!

Windings aside, I suspect that the quality of magnets used in the vintage model (perhaps Alnico?) is superior to what's fitted now in the current model.

That, and the quality of the stylus on the vintage model is in an altogether different league, the cumulative result of which is to consign the status of the modern item to that of no more than a mediocre budget cartridge, whereas the original US SC35C is a veritable vintage gem, and could compete with, and in many areas outperform, cartridges made today at many times the price of the £62 that I paid for it!

It's no one-trick pony either. I was up until 3am this morning playing a variety of genres of music, from prog rock to jazz and classical, through to ambient and electronic, and whilst its talents are biased towards beat-driven music and jazz, it is no slouch with classical or choral, due in no small part to the quality of its stylus. It may be an 'old fashioned' conical tip, but it's a refined and high-quality one, which means that this cartridge is capable of subtlety, as well as balls-out 'sonic fireworks', when the music demands.

All in all, the original US model SC35C is a very welcome addition to my cartridge collection, and joins the ranks as another true 'giant-killer', high in SPPV, along with the G800, M3D, etc. Find one if you can, as quite simply, they don't make cartridges like this anymore, this side of £500!

Marco.
Yep have to agree with marco hear,it certainly does like beat-driven music,as i mainly listen to funk/afrobeat,electronic,dub,industrial and a touch of jazz,it's perfect for me.

When listening to my nagaoka MP110,i found myself losing interest in the music and not feeling engaged enough to keep my attention.Everything was there with the nag,but the presentation is on a different level with the US SC35C.I now feel like i can hear what the croft phono is capable of,and it is even more special than i previously thought.

I still have the G800 to play around with,just need to get a headshell,weight and a re-tipped stylus but am now thinking,that money could go towards a jico SAS for the SC35C,which may take it up another level.

How does the G800 compare to the SC35C marco?

Im getting the feeling,there's more to come from this cart in my system and now it's time to start thinking about speakers as my 'budget actives' whilst good for the money,maybe holding things back.Which way i want to go,active or croft power,with some 'vintage' speakers,i don't know yet.