Turntable cartridges options

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Sgrilli AD

Member
Joined 2012
Hi guys,

I wonder if anyone can help me choose a cartridge for my vintage turntable.

Let me help with some informations I consider relevant.

TURNTABLE:
Brazilian made Polyvox TD-5000 (1978), JELCO 50-S tonearm. (sorry for the article in Portuguese, but has a photo)

MY PERSONAL TASTE FOR MUSIC:
Classical rock, progressive rock, pop, blues and some jazz.

CARTRIDGES OPTIONS:
I don't need a hi-end cartridge but don't want a entry level.
After a long research and reading several reviews, I choose 4 types that are within my possibilities.
Audio Technica AT92ecd
Audio Technica AT95E
Audio Technica 120E/II
Nagaoka MP110

I really appreciate any help.
Antonio
 
B

Bare

Member
Joined 2001
the implication being that their presumably 'bespoke' Tip is what elevates an AT 95e ~40$ cart to 100$?
Although I do see that the AT 95e has the older design, slightly wider Stylus as oem.
An AT 92edc has a narrower stylus (0.3 mm vs 0.4 mm) and those are a seemingly silly 20$.
Wonder what one of those is like?
 
S

sreten

R.I.P.
Joined 2003
Bare said:
the implication being that their presumably 'bespoke' Tip is what elevates an AT 95e ~40$ cart to 100$?
Although I do see that the AT 95e has the older design, slightly wider Stylus as oem.
An AT 92edc has a narrower stylus (0.3 mm vs 0.4 mm) and those are a seemingly silly 20$.
Wonder what one of those is like?
Click to expand...

Hi,

I quite agree the AT92ecd is an utter bargain, for lower mass arms.
I've recommended it, and bought it and used it in several cases.

(Your tip units are way off in any reality.)

However the Vital tip has a minor radius of 0.2 and a
major radius of 3.0 versus the 0.7 of nearly all ellipticals.

The best ellipticals are 0.2x0.7, but as they wear they become
0.3x0.7, then 0.4x0.7 and eventually 0.7 spherical before being
effectively useless, though the sound quality obviously suffers.

In simple terms the Vital 0.2x3.0 tip will last about 4 times
as long as any 0.2x0.7 high quality elliptical. In this case in
particular its mated to to a cantilever / suspension that suits
relatively high mass arms, so IMO its the best $100 choice.

rgds, sreten.
 
C

clivel

Member
Joined 2004
I recently acquired a Linn LP12 fitted with an Ittok LV II arm and a Shure M94 cartridge.

Unfortunately the cartridge needs a new stylus, which no longer seems to be available. I was wondering if was worth trying to hunt down a suitable replacement stylus or replacing the complete cartridge. Any recommendations?

I am hoping to keep the expense to around a maximum of US$100 but preferably less.
Thanks,
Clive
 
S

sreten

R.I.P.
Joined 2003
clivel said:
I recently acquired a Linn LP12 fitted with an Ittok LV II arm and a Shure M94 cartridge.

Unfortunately the cartridge needs a new stylus, which no longer seems to be available. I was wondering if was worth trying to hunt down a suitable replacement stylus or replacing the complete cartridge. Any recommendations?

I am hoping to keep the expense to around a maximum of US$100 but preferably less.
Thanks,
Clive
Click to expand...

Hi,

In most circles $100 would be regarded as being an
utter cheapskate option for a LP12/Ittok combination.

At around $200:
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...ds=at440mlb&qid=1465421550&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

At around $100 :

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...ds=at120e/t&qid=1465421997&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
False economy IMO. The AT 440mlb tip will last far longer.

LP Gear AT95VL phono cartridge | LP GEAR
Nice long lasting tip for the price.

Under $100 :
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...ords=at100e&qid=1465422558&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Note : I've recommended all AT's simply because Linn
simply liked AT's. All their MM's were sourced from AT.

rgds, sreten.
 
Last edited:
S

sreten

R.I.P.
Joined 2003
clivel said:
I recently acquired a Linn LP12 fitted with an Ittok LV II arm and a Shure M94 cartridge.

Unfortunately the cartridge needs a new stylus, which no longer seems to be available. I was wondering if was worth trying to hunt down a suitable replacement stylus or replacing the complete cartridge. Any recommendations?

I am hoping to keep the expense to around a maximum of US$100 but preferably less.
Thanks,
Clive
Click to expand...

Hi, don't post in multiple threads, its very tedious, rgds, sreten.
 
B

Bare

Member
Joined 2001
Hmmm I have a pair of M91 ed' s an M95 Eh . All bought new
All of which are Ok but Not something I would Buy again.
These sound best on Mid Fi gear.. No more .. No less.
Like it or not.
Just bought the LP gear AT 95.
Hopefully it proves to be a Sleeper.. as claimed
 
C

clivel

Member
Joined 2004
sreten said:
Hi,

Seems the post in another thread identical to the one in this
thread has been deleted and my reply moved to this thread

rgds, sreten.
Click to expand...

Hi sreten, thanks for the comprehensive reply above, you are probably right about my budget, I should probably increase it and go for something a bit better.
But, I really did only post in one thread, this one, I can only think that some sort of forum hiccup made it appear in a different thread as well.

Clive
 
S

Sgrilli AD

Member
Joined 2012
Thank you guys.

I'm in contact with LP Gear on shipping costs to Brazil to verify the viability of AT95VL.
And also looking at some other site, like Amazon and eBay, to compare the costs of AT100E.

If I understand well, the difference between LP Gear AT95VL and AT95E it is in the needle durability. As my use is not often, I think AT95E can be my best buy.

Our biggest problem are the customs costs, which can increase up to 90% the original price.

But a AT92ECD for $ 29.90 on eBay is really a bargain!
What's wrong if you use this cartridge with the Jelco 50-S arm? . Sorry, I did not understand the question of "lower mass arm".

Thanks
Antonio
 
rongon

rongon

Member
Joined 2009
Sgrilli AD said:
If I understand well, the difference between LP Gear AT95VL and AT95E it is in the needle durability. As my use is not often, I think AT95E can be my best buy.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the difference is tip *shape*. A longer ('hyper') elliptical shape sits deeper in the record's groove, theoretically tracking the modulations in the groove a bit better than a more round (closer to spherical) stylus.

However, using a hyper-elliptical shaped stylus means you'll need to be very careful to get the tracking angle/cartridge mounting geometry *exactly* right. The sound really snaps into focus when you get the geometry right, but can suffer badly if the geometry is only a little bit off. Which cartridge alignment protractor are you using?

You'll also have to worry about which geometry to use with your tonearm. Your Jelco is probably designed to work best with the Stevenson geometry (null points), although I'm sure the more common Baervald geometry will work fine.


Sgrilli AD said:
But a AT92ECD for $ 29.90 on eBay is really a bargain!
What's wrong if you use this cartridge with the Jelco 50-S arm? . Sorry, I did not understand the question of "lower mass arm".
Click to expand...

I can't find any references to a Jelco 50-S tonearm. I did find a Jelco SA-50 tonearm. Is this your tonearm?
Jelco SA-50 Manual - Static-Balance Type Tonearm - Vinyl Engine

jelco_sa-50.jpg


If yes, then that is a medium-mass tonearm. Its specs say it's designed for cartridges weighing 5 to 17 grams. There's no specification available for it, but I'll guess the SA-50 has an effective mass of somewhere around 15 to 20 grams. If that's correct, then:

The AT-92ECD weighs 6 grams, so is just barely compatible.
The AT-95E weighs 5.7 grams, so is also just barely compatible.

There's also the dynamic compliance of the cartridge to consider. The spec for the AT-95E says 6.5 x 10-6 cm/Dyne, but since that's measured at 100 Hz, it will probably be about 10 x 10-6 cm/Dyne at 1000 Hz. Using vinylengine's Cartridge Resonance Evaluator, it looks like a cartridge with dynamic compliance of 10 x 10-6 cm/Dyne at 1000 Hz, weighing about 7g including mounting screws and nuts, coupled with a tonearm with effective weight of somewhere between 15 to 20 grams, should be pretty much OK.

And you thought this would be simple, I'll bet. Records are complicated things.

--
 
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