To be a youtuber you have just given an incredible display of honesty and common sense, congratulations. I wish more would do the same so we would have a true exchange of information and opinions and that more people who use CZcams would appreciate and value what you just did.
Hi Kevin, I loved this post. Especially where you became passionate about Crosley players and lost your train of thought! My son being of a younger generation had a "C" player because it was an easy connection to a computer to create digital files from vinyl. When I found out what his setup was after giving him a bunch of old vinyl, I gave him my Tech-neeks turntable that had not seen service for about 5 years with me. He bought a new Grado cartridge for it and was thrilled. He still has it and even if the vinyl isn't all "collector" grade (some of it was mono from the 1950's and early 1960's), it won't get completely destroyed. I feel better now.
I know this is a late reply... But if anyone ever asks me to recommend a ~$100 starter cartridge, I usually suggest an Ortofon 2M red or an AT VM95E... and then, by the time they need a new stylus they should know how keen they are, and there are stylus upgrades for both those ranges if they want to try something better.
Running the AT VM series 95c, 95e and 95en styus on 2 cartridges depending on condition of LPs. It's fun. Used Shure in the 70s and 80s. Went through the CD player only period in the 90s and early 2000. Working a lot. Retired now and returned to LPs that I saved throughout my life. Still have my Hendrix experience LP 1967. Sounds great still. All styluses under 100. 95C cheapest conical but sounds very good.
Listening to the gear vs. listening to the music. The way I am able to listen to the music at home is to listen from an adjoining room... all I hear is music and the equipment is completely removed from the equation. I will venture into my listening room, sit in the sweet spot, adjust whatever needs adjusting and go back to what I was doing in the next room. It's not optimal, but it does allow me to enjoy the music more than if I am sitting in the sweet spot for very long.
Good advice about listening to your gear and not the music. Don't forget the joy of the music. That's why everyone got into a stereo system in the first place! No two ears are alike, so love yours and rock on man!!
New subscriber. Appreciate the video. Love the statement, "Are you listening to your stereo, or are you listening to the music". Damn, so well said. We sometimes forget that the reason we have the stereo is to "listen and interact" with the music. The feel of laying down a piece of vinyl, lifting the tone arm and introducing it to the first track, embeds us in the act of creation as the artist intended. I think it is the pursuit of the ever elusive perfection that drives most audiophiles to extremes. Nothing will ever be perfect enough. I watched a YT'er discuss his 10's of thousands of dollars of equipment and he was still "not there". If an artist takes the time to create and lay down on vinyl his creation, can we not just appreciate the act of creation and enjoy the music?
An enlightening lecture on lower cost phono cartridge; and its prime importance. As for plenty of personal listening experience, the Audio Technica AT95E MM Cartridge could be one of the fewest lowest priced, truly affordable Moving Magnet cartridges! Further, the AT95E MM that is under $100 USD, or CAD, is a wonderful, high performance MM cartridge! I also said "CAD" because I'm in Canada. I should know, and express such a statement, or opinion if it should be comprehended that way. I've got a new Audio Technica AT95E MM cartridge (not the newer VM series) that I mounted on a Linn Basik Tonearm, on a used Rega Planar 3 Turntable, circa early 1980s. I installed that tonearm on a Rega Planar 3 Turntable plinth; that I had to refurbish, repair, and bought a couple of new components. Music from this AT95E MM sounds very good, detailed, and whatever other word to describe excellent playback from a record that is recorded very well. Call it Musical then. I made a semi-dumb mistake of mounting a good, used Denon DL-80A Moving Coil cartridge on my main turntable - a harman kardon T25. I told a CZcams Reviewer who lectured, and demonstrated Phono Amplifiers about my audio hi fi connections. He did not say that such a Moving Coil cartridge is NOT a very correct fit for a turntable that still has a low mass tonearm! I became aware of this difference - of compliance of a cartridge versus tonearm mass, later on when I did more research on the Internet. HKT25 has a tonearm of 11g weight; so a high compliance cartridge is to be mounted. Then I may have to re-mount the AT70 MM with a new stylus I fitted recently.🔉🎵
Best entrylevel cartridge is the AT-VM95E, by far (50 bucks). Not just my and many people's opinion, but also according to measurements. Beats the Ortofon 2M Red and is close to the 2M Blue. Upgrade the stylus to a AT-VM95ML and you get a cartridge that's the best under 200 - easily beats the 2M Blue.
..and no, I'm not just saying that because I own a AT. I own multiple Ortofons and ATs; I'm saying it out of experience (and doing the actual measurements).
The great thing about the new AT-VM series he you can upgrade from elliptical, to nude elliptical, go to spherical if you want, or to micro-line or Shibata in one easy stylus housing change. And you can do it all for under $200. A very smart move by Audio Technica.
@@skylabsaudio I should have also said that you need to spend about $700 or more on a very good phono stage which is as important as the cart and ensure that it is set up properly with the right capacitance. It is no different than using a great microphone preamp for recording work. If your front end is not great your results can't be.
I agree with you that there is little difference in overall sound reproduction quality for cartridges in this price range, but there is a noticeable difference in their tonal spectrum. Grados tend to sound warm, so I wouldn't use one in a system with dull or rolled off highs, but I would eagerly use one in a bright sounding system. An Ortofon might sound better in a system with dull highs. Also, Grados are my favorite in my home system, but they can hum in turntables with unshielded motors like the AR. Just a few things to consider.
I love your no nonsense outlook. You talk like you're in the same room just having a conversation with a friend. I've watched quite a few of your videos and I agree with you most of the time and really appreciate your opinion. I have a Marantz 2245. I haven't had it very long but I love it. I've always had older equipment but never to this quality. Thank you. And to comment on another video, I never even noticed your hats or ever wondered if you were bald. I just found your content interesting.
Thank you Kevin so much for your honesty. It gets a bit much in this particular community. We just want straight forward answers an/or advice. We are new subscribers and can’t wait to see what’s next.-Chris & Beth🎧
The best audio advice I've ever heard! You are right! People trying to use audiophile type critique, on budget cartridges! Take your pick and be happy!
I have a Grado and I like the sound but it has one annoying feature that took me years to figure out. Whether on my Pioneer belt drive or my Technics direct drive...the darned thing hums! I finally found an SME head shell that has a unique grounding system built in and that stopped the hum. I'm not an audiophile engineer but if it allows me to enjoy my vast music collection I'm happy! I think the one thing that most people get frustrated with when it comes to how their records sound is the maintenance, or lack of, in their stylus (needle). They may look good to the naked eye but if they've got a lot of hours on them, their capabilities to reproduce accurately what is on the record will diminish. One other thing many people don'y know is the difference between a moving magnet and a moving coil cartridge. Moving magnets have the feature that allows you to change the stylus easily whereas the moving coil had to be retipped and that gets really expensive plus the moving coil for the moist part has to have a special preamp to bring their level u to what an amplifier can handle. This is NOT a cheap hobby if you're going to get seriously involved in it but for every day music enjoyment, buy what sounds good to YOU and not what has been hyped by others or by advertisements. No matter how expensive the cartridge, if you don;t enjoy the sound coming from your records then you've just wasted your money. In the end, it is what makes YOU happy. I love channels like this that just lay it out there and let you decide what you wan tot do without throwing in their own personal ideas. We need more like this channel so more people can get involved in this hobby and have some ideas as to what mine fields to avoid!
New subscriber here. I have a Music Hall turntable and wanted to upgrade the entry level cartridge that it came with. Back in the 80's I always used Shure cartridges, so I was disappointed that they got out of the game. I bought a Grado Black because I heard good things about it and it was priced right. While it sounded good, I kept hearing an annoying hum when it was cueing up, between tracks or finishing. I did some looking up online and found out that there's a thing called the "Grado Hum" that occurs on some turntables. I guess the Music Hall was one of them. I put up with it for a while, but couldn't take it anymore and ended up getting a mid-level Audio-Technica bundled with the shell and have been happy with it. Audio-Technica seems to be one of those brands that's just always dependable with their products.
Thanks for video. I just bought a Grado Black for a Marantz 6100 I am restoring. To me $100 is a lot for a cartridge. So this is a big purchase for me. I chose this for the reasons you cited. 1. Manufacturer reputation. 2. I thought it would look good. Thanks again.
Thanks for the great video! I have an expensive system and I like cheaper cartridges. Worrying about wrecking an expensive cartridge is not for me. Experimenting with cheaper cartridges to find one that you like, is worth the time. It’s a synergy thing. Right now I use the Nagaoka mp110. It has an stylus shape that is safe for styrene records and mono records and sounds good in my set up.
I bought most of my hi-fi components before 1982 while I was stationed overseas. I carefully reboxed and stored them when I returned and still haven't used them. I don't know why. I've watched a few videos here, subbed, and kinda want to unbox them now. Thanks, Kevin
It is a highly individual preference game. All cartridges in all price ranges do have different sounds. It is in the balance between bass, mid, and treble, as well as how "punchy" it is, which is mainly a function of how steep the voltage rise of the generator-body is, but also how well the stylus can react, when you look at the output on an O-scope, and that is a real thing. Some people like hard hitting bass, so go for the el-cheapo Audio Technica AT3600 for 30 bucks. "Detail", "resolution", "staging" (being able to hear where the sounds located) is a function of treble not getting muffled and a quality stylus, that is slim enough to fit into the "waves" in the groove. AND that cartridge needs to sit on a good arm. I can hear differences between my dozen little jewels when I mount them, but it was a real revelation, when I got my entry-level "high-end" machine with its arm.
I agree "musical" is a problematically vague, subjective term. I've kinda come to terms with it like this: I suspect for 'audiophiles' it likely means gear that allows 'em to leave their brain in "music-enjoyment-mode" rather than get into "analytical-detail-mode" or "upgrade-comparison-mode". We've all been or seen guys that seem more interested in the chasing gear rut rather than just settling down and enjoying what this was about at the beginning: music 🎶
Not being anywhere near an expert phono cartridges/stylus have always bewildered me somewhat. I now have a newer Orbit U-Turn TT with a Ortofon stylus and I don't even know exactly which model except that it isn't a Blue or a Red. This is part of a very vintage Grundig Majestic stereo console from the mid 50's (German made!) that I purchased some time ago from Skylabs. It's not restored as the original TT and speakers were missing ... probably a good thing? ... so I have the Orbit & a nice pair of B&W speakers. Honestly with the cartridge I have it sounds great! Proves that both Grado & Ortofon are very good, depends on the TT & how satisfied you are with your sound. I even had a Pickering on a vintage Thorens TD160 and the sound was very good.
Great video man! I am still using an Audio Technica AT95E on my Rega Planar 1. Dual magnet cartridge has serve me well for a long time. I totally agree with you on good turntable for your good records.
During the late 60's through the 70's working as a Lafayette store manager in Boston, cartridge reps would regularly come by asking to recommend their brand. We would get reps from Pickering, Shure, Stanton and others. I think I remember Pickering was the parent company of Stanton? The reps would give away sample cartridges to our employees. I do remember that our cost price for cartridges was surprisingly low. Even high end cartridges had a low cost price.
Back in the '70s we had a Lafayette store in Dayton, Ohio and I bought my first decent rig there. Had a Lafayette receiver and cassette deck and AR turntable and speakers. Unfortunately the whole thing got destroyed from leaking water, but I enjoyed it up to then.
Well i did not get much out of that ramble. Started with a m91. Had a Pickering, Stanton, Grado, Ortofon. V15 III with Jico stylus my sentimental favorite, Rotate with AT 440 / 150 (i like high frequencys). Never had high end beyond that. They all sounded different with their own personalities, like cassette decks. My ears can hear the difference even at that price point. Since the Shure 97 is no longer produced I would say the AT 95 is the logical choice for bang for the buck. we are talking HI Fi my .02 cents. Keep up the dialogue.....
In terms of your comments regarding listening to the music versus listening to your equipment…… Well said, guilty of that and had to give my head a shake Cause it’s true, get to a certain level and you have to ask yourself why Freebird doesn’t sound as good as Melody Gardot? Gotta get over it, it’s about the music. Nice work as always.
It's sad that people are using turntables like Crossleys and that they are not even curious about whether there is something better out there for not a huge amount of money. I agree that there is a sweet spot for cartridges and audio equipment in general. The sweetspot may vary from person to person. I am fine with the Ortofon 2m Bronze and Rega Exact and don't feel I need anything better.
I still have the Stanton cartridge from the early 1980s and my first turntable (Technics SL-j2). I was surprised back then that the cartridge cost as much as the turntable. Currently running an AT-440Mlb on a KAB modified Technics SL-1200 A $200 cartridge several years ago replaced by the VMS540ML at $280. A definite upgrade over the cheaper replacement styli with the old Stanton and Pickering carts I have. The biggest change was getting a better phono pre-amp. A $50 ART DJPRE isn't going to cut it.
Having the cartridge aligned properly makes a huge difference in tracking the groove correctly, if not aligned correctly your records will sound tinny and lifeless. You might get lucky and hit the mark just bolting it on but not likely. Also wouldn't recommend any cartridge under a hundo, if you are seeking somewhat of a premium detailed sound step it up a notch. As usual great sensible advice from Kevin.
There you go picking on Crosley again like everyone else. 🙄 Honest question: what about the Crosley C6? Or C-whatever for that matter? Everyone dissing on Crosley never mentions the fact that they actually make turntables beyond the crappy little Cruisers. Why is that? I bought a Crosley C6 and it’s actually a pretty nice TT for a beginner setup. It comes equipped with an Audio Technica cartridge and sounds really good. Are there better TT’s? Of course. But it’s still good. Could I slap a better cartridge on it and improve the sound? Absolutely; it’s standard mount. But honestly I’m not in a huge hurry to do so because it already sounds really good as is. I seriously don’t understand the hate.
@@aaronkelley3865 well the cruisers and similar cheep models on Amazon like Victrola can be doing the exact opposite of getting people into vinyl. Bc someone will buy one of these (basically toys) and use them and be like, “this sounds terrible” and just quit and not use vinyl. I’m not sure what model you’re talking about, but if it’s not the cruiser or something like it, it’s probably fine. I do know crosely does make better record players for around $100-$200 that are definitely a lot better than the cruisers.
I have the C8 model Aaron so I know where you coming from. I see people knocking Crosley quite often on online turntable groups but generally they are not aware of the serious models like the C6, C8, C10, C100, or C200 models they make
Great vid! I would say, though, that while "musical" is subjective, it's still important. There are definitely cartridges that sound more musical than others, just like speakers. They're both transducers, and evaluation requires some subjectivity. Beyond that, we also have clicks and pops, which aren't "musical" and can be more noticeable in equipment with better high frequency response if not prevented. There can also be tracking challenges, like Telarc's 1812 Overture, which could easily throw a lesser cartridge into a neighboring track. Back in the 70s, I went through 2 or 3 cartridges a year and eventually opted for "musical" cartridges with a brush...to sweep out what my Discwasher couldn't and keep the clicks and pops to a minimum. The Shure V15 series had brushes and tracked the 1812 Overture but didn't sound musical to me. I ended up spending about $90 on a Stanton 881S, which tracked the 1812 Overture at 1.3 grams and sounded slightly more musical to me than the almost twin Pickering XSV-3000 I had just prior. Years later I added a high-end Ortofon. It sounded musical...but not the same. It also couldn't track the 1812 Overture, so I kept them both and swapped when I felt like it. Looks like Stanton is history, but I recently saw a new 881S on eBay still in the box...$899!
I sold off a classic Pickering with an antique TT . . . I know it is a classic, but I never mounted it on a modern TT for a listen. I'm sure the new owner is glad to have it. I use an Audio Technica on a Pioneer and Ortofon Red on a basic manual TT and they both sound fantastic through high end amps and speakers. A Shure I have is permanently shelved . . . horrible sound. With Ortofon, you can upgrade from Red to Blue merely by changing the stylus, but the Black series is in the $400 range and another animal entirely, it seems. Haven't listened through it.
Kevin: have you read "This Is Your Brain on Music" ? It explains much about how we hear,... Turns out 'Novelty' is a component of our ongoing search for the 'best'. IMHO it explains the Audio Fool mentality - which we are all subject to. (To various degree) -- my first love was the Shure V15-III with Pioneer PL-51 , now a days Denon 103 on a restored by me Empire 598 very old school TT
Looking at Amazon, I also noticed nobody seems to be listing rumble or wow and flutter on turntables anymore. Seems weird to me; I will upgrade my cartridge to reduce distortion but depend on the turntable for low wow and flutter and rumble. I guess turntable purchasers today are just looking for something that "looks cool?"
Some good points but sadly found this to be a mostly wasted time listing to rants. Keep it simple and useful. Some under $100 carts offer easy future upgrades, some have threaded mounting holes to make mounting easier (unless your headshell is threaded) etc. Good to also see what brand your local shop sells so you can support them.
I've never understood why younger people will pay basically nothing for a crap TT, but $100's on new records that are going to sound like crap & be destroyed at the same time? Mind Blowing!
Think overtones. The more overtones a cartridge will deliver, the more satisfied you would be. Detailed cartridges are usually less biased and more suited for critical listening.
Great advice!! Sadly to operate a TT you need to know what you are doing, This is not a plug and play game , there is a lot more involve to get a proper sound for you, remember this is a solo game and as you say you need to choose between to listen your gear or the music.
I’m gonna nitpick you a bit, because I mostly like the conclusion this video makes - namely that at entry levels, just buy from a reputable brand and enjoy your record collection. It’s the more productive use of your time. That said, I respectfully think this take is making an unfair assumption that manufacturers don’t compete (at least not meaningfully) on quality at lower price points. Budget cartridges are an exercise in how little you can compromise quality while optimizing cost. Premium cartridges, the inverse. These are two pretty different engineering and manufacturing mindsets and some companies are great at one and not the other. The logic that the margin a manufacturer makes on budget cartridges rules out extensive effort to make them as good as possible (at a price point) really doesn’t hold up for me. The unit margin is small, yes, but the total units sold is huge relative to premium cartridges. I’ve known a few engineers who made retail products and their proudest achievements often weren’t what they could do with huge budgets, but how much value they could cleverly give customers in a budget product. Giving a customer 90% of the top-of-the-line performance at 9% of the price was a point of pride. Thanks for a straight shooting video with your honest opinion. I subbed👍🏻
I bought a Grado NOS Prestige Red for $85. You have to look around, there are bargains out there. Buying on looks doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
I appreciate what you guys do and how you inform! I was on your site and store and looked at the phono cartridges you offer and looked further into them (and many others online) and one of the specs (when it was listed, and often it was not) was stereo separation at 1 kHz. Phono cartridges were showing 30 to 35 dB and that shocked me. Even a cheap FM tuner can do 40 dB at 1 kHz and other sections of a unit (phono pre-am, line-in, aux, etc) much higher. So why are phono cartridges so limited in separation? Newbie here so please excuse my ignorance. So if I possess a tuner capable of 45 dB separation at 1 kHz and am listening to FM OTA... what's the point if their turntables are only producing 30 dB at 1 kHz? Am I missing something here?
turntable noob myself but i _think_ the issue is just that you've just got one needle getting both tracks at the same time, moving back and forth in one direction for one side and moving back and forth but 90° offset from that to get the other side. you've still got both sides moving one needle at the same time so there's going to be vibrations getting through into the other channel at least a little bit pretty sure the era of FM radio playing vinyl has been over for a very long time now
I always thought "musical" meant sounding as close to like the actual instruments as possible.. just the way I took it.. but it's probably an over used and misused term a lot of the times.
Musical means I enjoyed what I was listening to which has little to do with tonal quality. Detail does play a part in that at certainly spherical tips are a downer for that. I must say I am biased a little. Never was a high end owner, linn lp12 with an at moving coil. If a system is working well you get to enjoy music you never thought you would, expanding your interest and more fulfilling and getting to appreciate that musicians generally good at what they do.
When I hear that someone is listening to LPs on a Crosley, I usually ask them if they think it's wise to play a $40.00 record on a $40.00 turntable. I let them figure it out from there. If they're just dropping a buck of two on used LPs at Goodwill - no harm, no foul.
Well forget about Ortofon and Nagaoka.. they are way more exepensive now. Shure, well you can buy them as Jico cartridges nowadays. But much more expensive. The Audio technicas that you later RigB mod is killer for its price and super cheap styli
As a person who's bought a bunch of $100 cartridges, I'll say that most are decent. I was disappointed in the Sumiko Pearl, but it's not awful. I like the Grado sound a lot. I think pretty much any Audio-Technica cartridge sounds great, meaning you can get the AT3600L for $25 and spend an the leftover $75 on records. Ortofon also doesn't make a cartridge that sounds bad to me. The $5 red needle ceramic cartridges sound better than they look, but I just cringe at what they must be doing to the records, plus for a mere $25 - AT3600L!! Did I mention AT3600L? LOL - for a hundred or less, just get one and see for yourself.
I've happened upon a few used turntables that just happened to have good cartridges on them, B&O MM20CL, and Nakamichi M500 among others. These taught me just how important a cartridge is. I do have a few lower cost carts and I swap out depending on what I'm listening to. My question is what do you think is the cheap Technics knockoff headshells out there?
Personally listening way too subjectively to put any labels on any gear, beyond "Ooh, I like that" and "Ok, that's not for me, really", the term "musically", from my understanding, describes the opposite of "analytically", thus packaging the details in a way that may or may not become them well. Very vague term, says nothing except "not overly dry". But then, which cartridge ever is truely too dry?
I just discovered this channel now and I like it, but I do not agree with some of your assessment in this video. My hobby is to buy and restore vintage turntables. First of all, Grado cartridges are tricky on some Dual turntables because they may hum and it is more of a pain to mitigate that. Secondly, personally I have never had success with budget Audio Technica cartridges. I find them sounding boring. And I have tried them on multiple turntables. I do agree that I can only speak for my self but I do not agree it makes no difference. One of favorite combinations is a Dual 1009 or 1019 (idler wheel) with a Shure M35 cartridge. I also like the combination Kenwood KP5022 (direct drive) with a Philips GP501, that sounds more like something in-between a Dual 1019 / Shure and a CD player. So budget cartridges do sound different in my experience.
Thanks for the feedback. Never had an issue with a Grado on a Dual, and have used that combo many times. I'll ask Bill from Fix My Dual about that one, as he is a neighbor.
Grados never shined in my opinion and they have had compatibility issues, hum. Ortofon's are never the best value. A VM95e is a nice balance in an affordable cartridge but for a little more, the AT-VM95en is an excellent choice and a large step up from an 95e with its naked stylus for many systems and frankly competes with Ortofons up to the Black(a dull and warm cartridge, especially for the money).
Pay attention to stylus shapes relative to the records you play. Conical is the safest for old styrene records. Joe Collins has some great videos on his website about stylus shapes and where to use and not use certain shapes.
To me personally…Goldring E3 is the best around 100 bugs. It sounds like it have to be, good controlled bass, nice mids, no harsh treble…like vinyl have to sound. Tried AudioTechnica VM95 (the green one), Ortophon red and blue, Nagaoka 110. The most of them are loosing in bass.
The Goldring E3 (with cheap bonded elliptical stylus) is a 190 dollar cartridge at DISCOUNT dealers! For 100 bucks, you may be able to get an E1 (conical). There is also a lot of snake oil here. The E-series is made by Audio Technica with AT95 internals. The huge body on those things makes a difference in the resonance characteristics, just like Ortofon's chunky looking 2M series is internally the same beast as the 40 year old slim and super-light OM series. Yes they all sound different, and it is a personal preference thing, but let's not state we can buy a 190 dollar cart for 100 bucks! Personally, for 169 bucks, I'd much rather have an original Audio Technica VM95ML with a nude Microline stylus. They deliver a lot more detail resolution for the money, and are 20 bucks LESS than the E3, which is a disguised 59 dollar VM95e in a souped up case, kinda like an econo-car, but with a SPOILER KIT and a LOUD MUFFLER selling for a sporty premium! :)
@@owenlaprath4135 …the at series is a bit brighter on my rig, a bit more analytical. I much more prefer the Sound of the E3 for its musicality and warmer sound (an older AT95e comes with the tt and i first changed only the needle to ml and shibata).
I had a Micro Acoustics 2002e, it was the best I ever owned, until a child got its hands on the turntable and bent the shaft. Unfortunately, no replacement is available.
I've got a micro acoustics cartridge. I flip back and forth between that a Shure M97e. While the Shure is good, I think it is not quite as good as the micro acoustics, which has excellent high end. So I agree with you.
hi, I have a pair of technics sl 1200 mk2 with shure m44-7 cartages that now sadly need to be replaced. I do some mixing still but mostly now just listening. Do you have any recommendations for there replacements? (something with that bass sound and good quality)
So, what’s in your wallet, I mean your turntable ,..I still have The Shure V 15 Type III from ten years ago..on my rebuilt Dual 510 (Jim in Iowa) is it better to use a cartridge from the turntables manufacture,..AT deck with an AT cart…Denon Table and Denon cart..ect. Or does it matter
You should monetize your channel with sales. I get it shipping speakers are usually a loss leader. I also get it that you can't keep great 70's receivers in stock for local sales. But what about $200 cartridges for 150? Or $100 cartridges for 85? Really good bargain headphones at a discount.? Record cleaning brushes? Good deals on cables that aren't crazy expensive. That way you can ship small light boxes and folks will be able to take advantage of your advice and expertise.
In my opinion, that depends on how much they value their records? I've wasted my fair share of money over the years. Being that most new records range from $25 to $50, I don't think a $50 cartridge is out of line as an entry level cart, no.
I have seen Audio-Technica AT-3600L cartridges as mentioned in this video for less that $20 on eBay. This cartridge in marketed at a much higher price by Rega as the Rega Carbon. At these prices, they are usually shipped from China, but I installed one for a friend on an old Pioneer PL12D and it sounds really musical. So no, you don't need even $50 IMO.
To be a youtuber you have just given an incredible display of honesty and common sense, congratulations. I wish more would do the same so we would have a true exchange of information and opinions and that more people who use CZcams would appreciate and value what you just did.
I thought my smoke detector battery that I changed yesterday went bad 'till I realized it was in the video.
Hi Kevin, I loved this post. Especially where you became passionate about Crosley players and lost your train of thought! My son being of a younger generation had a "C" player because it was an easy connection to a computer to create digital files from vinyl. When I found out what his setup was after giving him a bunch of old vinyl, I gave him my Tech-neeks turntable that had not seen service for about 5 years with me. He bought a new Grado cartridge for it and was thrilled. He still has it and even if the vinyl isn't all "collector" grade (some of it was mono from the 1950's and early 1960's), it won't get completely destroyed. I feel better now.
I know this is a late reply... But if anyone ever asks me to recommend a ~$100 starter cartridge, I usually suggest an Ortofon 2M red or an AT VM95E... and then, by the time they need a new stylus they should know how keen they are, and there are stylus upgrades for both those ranges if they want to try something better.
Running the AT VM series 95c, 95e and 95en styus on 2 cartridges depending on condition of LPs. It's fun. Used Shure in the 70s and 80s. Went through the CD player only period in the 90s and early 2000. Working a lot. Retired now and returned to LPs that I saved throughout my life. Still have my Hendrix experience LP 1967. Sounds great still. All styluses under 100. 95C cheapest conical but sounds very good.
Honestly this is the funniest, most honest video I’ve ever seen.
Listening to the gear vs. listening to the music.
The way I am able to listen to the music at home is to listen from an adjoining room... all I hear is music and the equipment is completely removed from the equation. I will venture into my listening room, sit in the sweet spot, adjust whatever needs adjusting and go back to what I was doing in the next room. It's not optimal, but it does allow me to enjoy the music more than if I am sitting in the sweet spot for very long.
Good advice about listening to your gear and not the music. Don't forget the joy of the music. That's why everyone got into a stereo system in the first place! No two ears are alike, so love yours and rock on man!!
New subscriber. Appreciate the video. Love the statement, "Are you listening to your stereo, or are you listening to the music". Damn, so well said. We sometimes forget that the reason we have the stereo is to "listen and interact" with the music. The feel of laying down a piece of vinyl, lifting the tone arm and introducing it to the first track, embeds us in the act of creation as the artist intended.
I think it is the pursuit of the ever elusive perfection that drives most audiophiles to extremes. Nothing will ever be perfect enough. I watched a YT'er discuss his 10's of thousands of dollars of equipment and he was still "not there".
If an artist takes the time to create and lay down on vinyl his creation, can we not just appreciate the act of creation and enjoy the music?
An enlightening lecture on lower cost phono cartridge; and its prime importance. As for plenty of personal listening experience, the Audio Technica AT95E MM Cartridge could be one of the fewest lowest priced, truly affordable Moving Magnet cartridges!
Further, the AT95E MM that is under $100 USD, or CAD, is a wonderful, high performance MM cartridge! I also said "CAD" because I'm in Canada. I should know, and express such a statement, or opinion if it should be comprehended that way.
I've got a new Audio Technica AT95E MM cartridge (not the newer VM series) that I mounted on a Linn Basik Tonearm, on a used Rega Planar 3 Turntable, circa early 1980s. I installed that tonearm on a Rega Planar 3 Turntable plinth; that I had to refurbish, repair, and bought a couple of new components.
Music from this AT95E MM sounds very good, detailed, and whatever other word to describe excellent playback from a record that is recorded very well. Call it Musical then.
I made a semi-dumb mistake of mounting a good, used Denon DL-80A Moving Coil cartridge on my main turntable - a harman kardon T25. I told a CZcams Reviewer who lectured, and demonstrated Phono Amplifiers about my audio hi fi connections. He did not say that such a Moving Coil cartridge is NOT a very correct fit for a turntable that still has a low mass tonearm! I became aware of this difference - of compliance of a cartridge versus tonearm mass, later on when I did more research on the Internet.
HKT25 has a tonearm of 11g weight; so a high compliance cartridge is to be mounted. Then I may have to re-mount the AT70 MM with a new stylus I fitted recently.🔉🎵
Best entrylevel cartridge is the AT-VM95E, by far (50 bucks).
Not just my and many people's opinion, but also according to measurements.
Beats the Ortofon 2M Red and is close to the 2M Blue.
Upgrade the stylus to a AT-VM95ML and you get a cartridge that's the best under 200 - easily beats the 2M Blue.
..and no, I'm not just saying that because I own a AT.
I own multiple Ortofons and ATs; I'm saying it out of experience (and doing the actual measurements).
Change that fire alarm battery! Great video and soft selling novices is the way to go!
The great thing about the new AT-VM series he you can upgrade from elliptical, to nude elliptical, go to spherical if you want, or to micro-line or Shibata in one easy stylus housing change. And you can do it all for under $200. A very smart move by Audio Technica.
Agree, seems like a logical concept
@@skylabsaudio I should have also said that you need to spend about $700 or more on a very good phono stage which is as important as the cart and ensure that it is set up properly with the right capacitance. It is no different than using a great microphone preamp for recording work. If your front end is not great your results can't be.
Yeah great cartridges for the money...same for the Ortofon 2M red
I agree with you that there is little difference in overall sound reproduction quality for cartridges in this price range, but there is a noticeable difference in their tonal spectrum. Grados tend to sound warm, so I wouldn't use one in a system with dull or rolled off highs, but I would eagerly use one in a bright sounding system. An Ortofon might sound better in a system with dull highs. Also, Grados are my favorite in my home system, but they can hum in turntables with unshielded motors like the AR. Just a few things to consider.
Thanks for your perspective. I appreciate it!
I love your no nonsense outlook. You talk like you're in the same room just having a conversation with a friend. I've watched quite a few of your videos and I agree with you most of the time and really appreciate your opinion. I have a Marantz 2245. I haven't had it very long but I love it. I've always had older equipment but never to this quality. Thank you. And to comment on another video, I never even noticed your hats or ever wondered if you were bald. I just found your content interesting.
Thank you!
Thank you Kevin so much for your honesty. It gets a bit much in this particular community. We just want straight forward answers an/or advice. We are new subscribers and can’t wait to see what’s next.-Chris & Beth🎧
Totally agree Kevin. If you can’t compare A to B, and you throw in moods and feelings, it’s apples to oranges.
The best audio advice I've ever heard! You are right! People trying to use audiophile type critique, on budget cartridges! Take your pick and be happy!
Thank you! Glad I'm not the only one that shares this opinion, lol.
I have a Grado and I like the sound but it has one annoying feature that took me years to figure out. Whether on my Pioneer belt drive or my Technics direct drive...the darned thing hums! I finally found an SME head shell that has a unique grounding system built in and that stopped the hum. I'm not an audiophile engineer but if it allows me to enjoy my vast music collection I'm happy! I think the one thing that most people get frustrated with when it comes to how their records sound is the maintenance, or lack of, in their stylus (needle). They may look good to the naked eye but if they've got a lot of hours on them, their capabilities to reproduce accurately what is on the record will diminish. One other thing many people don'y know is the difference between a moving magnet and a moving coil cartridge. Moving magnets have the feature that allows you to change the stylus easily whereas the moving coil had to be retipped and that gets really expensive plus the moving coil for the moist part has to have a special preamp to bring their level u to what an amplifier can handle. This is NOT a cheap hobby if you're going to get seriously involved in it but for every day music enjoyment, buy what sounds good to YOU and not what has been hyped by others or by advertisements. No matter how expensive the cartridge, if you don;t enjoy the sound coming from your records then you've just wasted your money. In the end, it is what makes YOU happy. I love channels like this that just lay it out there and let you decide what you wan tot do without throwing in their own personal ideas. We need more like this channel so more people can get involved in this hobby and have some ideas as to what mine fields to avoid!
New subscriber here. I have a Music Hall turntable and wanted to upgrade the entry level cartridge that it came with. Back in the 80's I always used Shure cartridges, so I was disappointed that they got out of the game. I bought a Grado Black because I heard good things about it and it was priced right. While it sounded good, I kept hearing an annoying hum when it was cueing up, between tracks or finishing. I did some looking up online and found out that there's a thing called the "Grado Hum" that occurs on some turntables. I guess the Music Hall was one of them. I put up with it for a while, but couldn't take it anymore and ended up getting a mid-level Audio-Technica bundled with the shell and have been happy with it. Audio-Technica seems to be one of those brands that's just always dependable with their products.
Thanks for video. I just bought a Grado Black for a Marantz 6100 I am restoring. To me $100 is a lot for a cartridge. So this is a big purchase for me. I chose this for the reasons you cited. 1. Manufacturer reputation. 2. I thought it would look good. Thanks again.
Thanks, Jamie. Hope you enjoy the Grado!
Thanks for the great video!
I have an expensive system and I like cheaper cartridges.
Worrying about wrecking an expensive cartridge is not for me.
Experimenting with cheaper cartridges to find one that you like, is worth the time. It’s a synergy thing.
Right now I use the Nagaoka mp110. It has an stylus shape that is safe for styrene records and mono records and sounds good in my set up.
Does he need to change the battery in his smoke alarm?
I thought it was mine. Glad you wrote that.
My old mid tier stuff sounds great to me. I’m not going down that rabbit hole. Thanks for the honesty
If you are happy with your system, that is all that matters.
I bought most of my hi-fi components before 1982 while I was stationed overseas. I carefully reboxed and stored them when I returned and still haven't used them. I don't know why. I've watched a few videos here, subbed, and kinda want to unbox them now. Thanks, Kevin
It is a highly individual preference game. All cartridges in all price ranges do have different sounds. It is in the balance between bass, mid, and treble, as well as how "punchy" it is, which is mainly a function of how steep the voltage rise of the generator-body is, but also how well the stylus can react, when you look at the output on an O-scope, and that is a real thing. Some people like hard hitting bass, so go for the el-cheapo Audio Technica AT3600 for 30 bucks. "Detail", "resolution", "staging" (being able to hear where the sounds located) is a function of treble not getting muffled and a quality stylus, that is slim enough to fit into the "waves" in the groove. AND that cartridge needs to sit on a good arm. I can hear differences between my dozen little jewels when I mount them, but it was a real revelation, when I got my entry-level "high-end" machine with its arm.
I agree "musical" is a problematically vague, subjective term. I've kinda come to terms with it like this: I suspect for 'audiophiles' it likely means gear that allows 'em to leave their brain in "music-enjoyment-mode" rather than get into "analytical-detail-mode" or "upgrade-comparison-mode".
We've all been or seen guys that seem more interested in the chasing gear rut rather than just settling down and enjoying what this was about at the beginning: music 🎶
That makes sense to me!
Not being anywhere near an expert phono cartridges/stylus have always bewildered me somewhat. I now have a newer Orbit U-Turn TT with a Ortofon stylus and I don't even know exactly which model except that it isn't a Blue or a Red. This is part of a very vintage Grundig Majestic stereo console from the mid 50's (German made!) that I purchased some time ago from Skylabs. It's not restored as the original TT and speakers were missing ... probably a good thing? ... so I have the Orbit & a nice pair of B&W speakers. Honestly with the cartridge I have it sounds great! Proves that both Grado & Ortofon are very good, depends on the TT & how satisfied you are with your sound. I even had a Pickering on a vintage Thorens TD160 and the sound was very good.
Great video man! I am still using an Audio Technica AT95E on my Rega Planar 1. Dual magnet cartridge has serve me well for a long time. I totally agree with you on good turntable for your good records.
Thank you! Just subscribed to your channel. Looking forward to watching your videos, as well! Kevin
Excellent points!
Greatly appreciated your assistance when I dusted off my Dual and needed a new cartridge!
Thank you! Glad we were able to help get your Dual back in business :)
@@skylabsaudio The vinyl selection was great as well. Went home with some classics.
During the late 60's through the 70's working as a Lafayette store manager in Boston, cartridge reps would regularly come by asking to recommend their brand. We would get reps from Pickering, Shure, Stanton and others. I think I remember Pickering was the parent company of Stanton? The reps would give away sample cartridges to our employees. I do remember that our cost price for cartridges was surprisingly low. Even high end cartridges had a low cost price.
Back in the '70s we had a Lafayette store in Dayton, Ohio and I bought my first decent rig there. Had a Lafayette receiver and cassette deck and AR turntable and speakers. Unfortunately the whole thing got destroyed from leaking water, but I enjoyed it up to then.
Basically, $100 is cheap. Don't overthink it! LOL Thanks for the straight talk. I'll probably go with the Grado for the classic look.
Smoke detector battery is low. Great video
Lol, thanks!
Well i did not get much out of that ramble. Started with a m91. Had a Pickering, Stanton, Grado, Ortofon. V15 III with Jico stylus my sentimental favorite, Rotate with AT 440 / 150 (i like high frequencys). Never had high end beyond that. They all sounded different with their own personalities, like cassette decks. My ears can hear the difference even at that price point. Since the Shure 97 is no longer produced I would say the AT 95 is the logical choice for bang for the buck. we are talking HI Fi my .02 cents. Keep up the dialogue.....
In terms of your comments regarding listening to the music versus listening to your equipment……
Well said, guilty of that and had to give my head a shake
Cause it’s true, get to a certain level and you have to ask yourself why Freebird doesn’t sound as good as Melody Gardot?
Gotta get over it, it’s about the music.
Nice work as always.
It's sad that people are using turntables like Crossleys and that they are not even curious about whether there is something better out there for not a huge amount of money. I agree that there is a sweet spot for cartridges and audio equipment in general. The sweetspot may vary from person to person. I am fine with the Ortofon 2m Bronze and Rega Exact and don't feel I need anything better.
I still have the Stanton cartridge from the early 1980s and my first turntable (Technics SL-j2). I was surprised back then that the cartridge cost as much as the turntable.
Currently running an AT-440Mlb on a KAB modified Technics SL-1200 A $200 cartridge several years ago replaced by the VMS540ML at $280. A definite upgrade over the cheaper replacement styli with the old Stanton and Pickering carts I have.
The biggest change was getting a better phono pre-amp. A $50 ART DJPRE isn't going to cut it.
You showed an mp 110. That’s about 180 and 55 to 65 for replacement stylus. Great cart for the money.
I think this video is almost 3 years old.
The $80-100 Sweet Spot?" Pickering phono cartridges were some of the best! RIP
Having the cartridge aligned properly makes a huge difference in tracking the groove correctly, if not aligned correctly your records will sound tinny and lifeless. You might get lucky and hit the mark just bolting it on but not likely. Also wouldn't recommend any cartridge under a hundo, if you are seeking somewhat of a premium detailed sound step it up a notch. As usual great sensible advice from Kevin.
I just bought a Nagaoka MP110. Sounds good to me.
I know you are dealing with new cartridges in this video but if you ever get the chance give a listen to a vintage Elac STS-344
Love this video! Well spoken!
Great description of going down the rabbit hole...
There you go picking on Crosley again like everyone else. 🙄
Honest question: what about the Crosley C6? Or C-whatever for that matter? Everyone dissing on Crosley never mentions the fact that they actually make turntables beyond the crappy little Cruisers. Why is that?
I bought a Crosley C6 and it’s actually a pretty nice TT for a beginner setup. It comes equipped with an Audio Technica cartridge and sounds really good. Are there better TT’s? Of course. But it’s still good. Could I slap a better cartridge on it and improve the sound? Absolutely; it’s standard mount. But honestly I’m not in a huge hurry to do so because it already sounds really good as is.
I seriously don’t understand the hate.
If they’re talking about crobsley then there talking the cruiser bub
Socaran Ectien Well, that needs to change BUB. It’s misleading and unfair to Crosley as well as people wanting to get into vinyl.
@@aaronkelley3865 well the cruisers and similar cheep models on Amazon like Victrola can be doing the exact opposite of getting people into vinyl. Bc someone will buy one of these (basically toys) and use them and be like, “this sounds terrible” and just quit and not use vinyl. I’m not sure what model you’re talking about, but if it’s not the cruiser or something like it, it’s probably fine. I do know crosely does make better record players for around $100-$200 that are definitely a lot better than the cruisers.
I have the C8 model Aaron so I know where you coming from. I see people knocking Crosley quite often on online turntable groups but generally they are not aware of the serious models like the C6, C8, C10, C100, or C200 models they make
I actually saw the C6 model in Wal Mart 2 weeks ago. It blows my mind that Crosley doesn't market their C models more.
Good points. Music should be enjoyed for what it is.
Great vid! I would say, though, that while "musical" is subjective, it's still important. There are definitely cartridges that sound more musical than others, just like speakers. They're both transducers, and evaluation requires some subjectivity. Beyond that, we also have clicks and pops, which aren't "musical" and can be more noticeable in equipment with better high frequency response if not prevented. There can also be tracking challenges, like Telarc's 1812 Overture, which could easily throw a lesser cartridge into a neighboring track. Back in the 70s, I went through 2 or 3 cartridges a year and eventually opted for "musical" cartridges with a brush...to sweep out what my Discwasher couldn't and keep the clicks and pops to a minimum. The Shure V15 series had brushes and tracked the 1812 Overture but didn't sound musical to me. I ended up spending about $90 on a Stanton 881S, which tracked the 1812 Overture at 1.3 grams and sounded slightly more musical to me than the almost twin Pickering XSV-3000 I had just prior. Years later I added a high-end Ortofon. It sounded musical...but not the same. It also couldn't track the 1812 Overture, so I kept them both and swapped when I felt like it. Looks like Stanton is history, but I recently saw a new 881S on eBay still in the box...$899!
I sold off a classic Pickering with an antique TT . . . I know it is a classic, but I never mounted it on a modern TT for a listen. I'm sure the new owner is glad to have it.
I use an Audio Technica on a Pioneer and Ortofon Red on a basic manual TT and they both sound fantastic through high end amps and speakers. A Shure I have is permanently shelved . . . horrible sound.
With Ortofon, you can upgrade from Red to Blue merely by changing the stylus, but the Black series is in the $400 range and another animal entirely, it seems. Haven't listened through it.
Kevin: have you read "This Is Your Brain on Music" ?
It explains much about how we hear,...
Turns out 'Novelty' is a component of our ongoing search for the 'best'.
IMHO it explains the Audio Fool mentality - which we are all subject to. (To various degree)
-- my first love was the Shure V15-III with Pioneer PL-51 ,
now a days Denon 103 on a restored by me Empire 598 very old school TT
Gonna check that out. Thanks
Looking at Amazon, I also noticed nobody seems to be listing rumble or wow and flutter on turntables anymore. Seems weird to me; I will upgrade my cartridge to reduce distortion but depend on the turntable for low wow and flutter and rumble.
I guess turntable purchasers today are just looking for something that "looks cool?"
Some good points but sadly found this to be a mostly wasted time listing to rants. Keep it simple and useful. Some under $100 carts offer easy future upgrades, some have threaded mounting holes to make mounting easier (unless your headshell is threaded) etc. Good to also see what brand your local shop sells so you can support them.
I've never understood why younger people will pay basically nothing for a crap TT, but $100's on new records that are going to sound like crap & be destroyed at the same time? Mind Blowing!
Agree
Think overtones. The more overtones a cartridge will deliver, the more satisfied you would be. Detailed cartridges are usually less biased and more suited for critical listening.
Great advice!!
Sadly to operate a TT you need to know what you are doing, This is not a plug and play game , there is a lot more involve to get a proper sound for you, remember this is a solo game and as you say you need to choose between to listen your gear or the music.
Thanks!
It's jungle out there.
This was refreshing, thanks!
I’m gonna nitpick you a bit, because I mostly like the conclusion this video makes - namely that at entry levels, just buy from a reputable brand and enjoy your record collection. It’s the more productive use of your time.
That said, I respectfully think this take is making an unfair assumption that manufacturers don’t compete (at least not meaningfully) on quality at lower price points.
Budget cartridges are an exercise in how little you can compromise quality while optimizing cost. Premium cartridges, the inverse. These are two pretty different engineering and manufacturing mindsets and some companies are great at one and not the other.
The logic that the margin a manufacturer makes on budget cartridges rules out extensive effort to make them as good as possible (at a price point) really doesn’t hold up for me. The unit margin is small, yes, but the total units sold is huge relative to premium cartridges.
I’ve known a few engineers who made retail products and their proudest achievements often weren’t what they could do with huge budgets, but how much value they could cleverly give customers in a budget product. Giving a customer 90% of the top-of-the-line performance at 9% of the price was a point of pride.
Thanks for a straight shooting video with your honest opinion. I subbed👍🏻
I hear the damn smoke detector beeping in the background! Wasn’t it bothering you?
Security system actually. Long story
I bought a Grado NOS Prestige Red for $85. You have to look around, there are bargains out there. Buying on looks doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
I appreciate what you guys do and how you inform! I was on your site and store and looked at the phono cartridges you offer and looked further into them (and many others online) and one of the specs (when it was listed, and often it was not) was stereo separation at 1 kHz. Phono cartridges were showing 30 to 35 dB and that shocked me. Even a cheap FM tuner can do 40 dB at 1 kHz and other sections of a unit (phono pre-am, line-in, aux, etc) much higher. So why are phono cartridges so limited in separation? Newbie here so please excuse my ignorance.
So if I possess a tuner capable of 45 dB separation at 1 kHz and am listening to FM OTA... what's the point if their turntables are only producing 30 dB at 1 kHz? Am I missing something here?
turntable noob myself but i _think_ the issue is just that you've just got one needle getting both tracks at the same time, moving back and forth in one direction for one side and moving back and forth but 90° offset from that to get the other side. you've still got both sides moving one needle at the same time so there's going to be vibrations getting through into the other channel at least a little bit
pretty sure the era of FM radio playing vinyl has been over for a very long time now
I always thought "musical" meant sounding as close to like the actual instruments as possible.. just the way I took it.. but it's probably an over used and misused term a lot of the times.
Musical means I enjoyed what I was listening to which has little to do with tonal quality. Detail does play a part in that at certainly spherical tips are a downer for that. I must say I am biased a little. Never was a high end owner, linn lp12 with an at moving coil. If a system is working well you get to enjoy music you never thought you would, expanding your interest and more fulfilling and getting to appreciate that musicians generally good at what they do.
Well said. Thank you. Honestly, that makes sense.
When I hear that someone is listening to LPs on a Crosley, I usually ask them if they think it's wise to play a $40.00 record on a $40.00 turntable. I let them figure it out from there. If they're just dropping a buck of two on used LPs at Goodwill - no harm, no foul.
Well forget about Ortofon and Nagaoka.. they are way more exepensive now. Shure, well you can buy them as Jico cartridges nowadays. But much more expensive. The Audio technicas that you later RigB mod is killer for its price and super cheap styli
As a person who's bought a bunch of $100 cartridges, I'll say that most are decent. I was disappointed in the Sumiko Pearl, but it's not awful. I like the Grado sound a lot. I think pretty much any Audio-Technica cartridge sounds great, meaning you can get the AT3600L for $25 and spend an the leftover $75 on records. Ortofon also doesn't make a cartridge that sounds bad to me. The $5 red needle ceramic cartridges sound better than they look, but I just cringe at what they must be doing to the records, plus for a mere $25 - AT3600L!!
Did I mention AT3600L? LOL - for a hundred or less, just get one and see for yourself.
Agree! There a lot of really really good carts at the $100 range. Thanks for watching!
awesome vid
pienso lo mismo , saludos de chile y sigan
I've happened upon a few used turntables that just happened to have good cartridges on them, B&O MM20CL, and Nakamichi M500 among others. These taught me just how important a cartridge is. I do have a few lower cost carts and I swap out depending on what I'm listening to.
My question is what do you think is the cheap Technics knockoff headshells out there?
The only difference I can discern is the real crappy cartridges do not play as loud. I like the Shure carts .
Personally listening way too subjectively to put any labels on any gear, beyond "Ooh, I like that" and "Ok, that's not for me, really", the term "musically", from my understanding, describes the opposite of "analytically", thus packaging the details in a way that may or may not become them well. Very vague term, says nothing except "not overly dry". But then, which cartridge ever is truely too dry?
I just discovered this channel now and I like it, but I do not agree with some of your assessment in this video. My hobby is to buy and restore vintage turntables. First of all, Grado cartridges are tricky on some Dual turntables because they may hum and it is more of a pain to mitigate that. Secondly, personally I have never had success with budget Audio Technica cartridges. I find them sounding boring. And I have tried them on multiple turntables. I do agree that I can only speak for my self but I do not agree it makes no difference. One of favorite combinations is a Dual 1009 or 1019 (idler wheel) with a Shure M35 cartridge. I also like the combination Kenwood KP5022 (direct drive) with a Philips GP501, that sounds more like something in-between a Dual 1019 / Shure and a CD player. So budget cartridges do sound different in my experience.
Thanks for the feedback. Never had an issue with a Grado on a Dual, and have used that combo many times.
I'll ask Bill from Fix My Dual about that one, as he is a neighbor.
Grados never shined in my opinion and they have had compatibility issues, hum. Ortofon's are never the best value. A VM95e is a nice balance in an affordable cartridge but for a little more, the AT-VM95en is an excellent choice and a large step up from an 95e with its naked stylus for many systems and frankly competes with Ortofons up to the Black(a dull and warm cartridge, especially for the money).
Pay attention to stylus shapes relative to the records you play.
Conical is the safest for old styrene records. Joe Collins has some great videos on his website about stylus shapes and where to use and not use certain shapes.
To me personally…Goldring E3 is the best around 100 bugs.
It sounds like it have to be, good controlled bass, nice mids, no harsh treble…like vinyl have to sound.
Tried AudioTechnica VM95 (the green one), Ortophon red and blue, Nagaoka 110. The most of them are loosing in bass.
The Goldring E3 (with cheap bonded elliptical stylus) is a 190 dollar cartridge at DISCOUNT dealers! For 100 bucks, you may be able to get an E1 (conical). There is also a lot of snake oil here.
The E-series is made by Audio Technica with AT95 internals. The huge body on those things makes a difference in the resonance characteristics, just like Ortofon's chunky looking 2M series is internally the same beast as the 40 year old slim and super-light OM series. Yes they all sound different, and it is a personal preference thing, but let's not state we can buy a 190 dollar cart for 100 bucks! Personally, for 169 bucks, I'd much rather have an original Audio Technica VM95ML with a nude Microline stylus. They deliver a lot more detail resolution for the money, and are 20 bucks LESS than the E3, which is a disguised 59 dollar VM95e in a souped up case, kinda like an econo-car, but with a SPOILER KIT and a LOUD MUFFLER selling for a sporty premium! :)
@@owenlaprath4135 …the at series is a bit brighter on my rig, a bit more analytical. I much more prefer the Sound of the E3 for its musicality and warmer sound (an older AT95e comes with the tt and i first changed only the needle to ml and shibata).
I had a Micro Acoustics 2002e, it was the best I ever owned, until a child got its hands on the turntable and bent the shaft. Unfortunately, no replacement is available.
I've got a micro acoustics cartridge. I flip back and forth between that a Shure M97e. While the Shure is good, I think it is not quite as good as the micro acoustics, which has excellent high end. So I agree with you.
You don't know what music sounds like ? I can understand what you mean. A lot of people don't actually listen to music. They listen to noise.
But for a few dollars more 😉
Replace the battery in that smoke detector 🤦🏻♂️
I thought Shure stopped making cartridges.
lol, yeah they waited for vinyl to come back, then quit. Weird
hi, I have a pair of technics sl 1200 mk2 with shure m44-7 cartages that now sadly need to be replaced. I do some mixing still but mostly now just listening. Do you have any recommendations for there replacements? (something with that bass sound and good quality)
This guy loves and hates being in love with hi-fi. I’m just starting lol
Lol, I know that feeling!
What's that chirping, does your smoke detector need a battery?
Dude, are your ears trained to hear you need to change the damn battery in your fire alarm?
So, what’s in your wallet, I mean your turntable ,..I still have The Shure V 15 Type III from ten years ago..on my rebuilt Dual 510 (Jim in Iowa) is it better to use a cartridge from the turntables manufacture,..AT deck with an AT cart…Denon Table and Denon cart..ect. Or does it matter
You should monetize your channel with sales. I get it shipping speakers are usually a loss leader. I also get it that you can't keep great 70's receivers in stock for local sales. But what about $200 cartridges for 150? Or $100 cartridges for 85? Really good bargain headphones at a discount.? Record cleaning brushes? Good deals on cables that aren't crazy expensive. That way you can ship small light boxes and folks will be able to take advantage of your advice and expertise.
Skylabsaudio.com/shop
if I spend 300 bucks on a cartridge it better have a bad ass turntable ready to go with it.
Well I’ll be dammed - Your not full of shit? WTF? How do you get views? SUBBED!
If a person cannot afford a $100 (or $50 for an AT) cartridge, do you think they should just stay completely out of the vinyl world?
In my opinion, that depends on how much they value their records? I've wasted my fair share of money over the years. Being that most new records range from $25 to $50, I don't think a $50 cartridge is out of line as an entry level cart, no.
I have seen Audio-Technica AT-3600L cartridges as mentioned in this video for less that $20 on eBay. This cartridge in marketed at a much higher price by Rega as the Rega Carbon. At these prices, they are usually shipped from China, but I installed one for a friend on an old Pioneer PL12D and it sounds really musical. So no, you don't need even $50 IMO.
Where is your store located?
Valley Junction in West Des Moines Iowa.
I hear what you're saying. Buy anything, because I can't hear the difference. Probably not subscribing for your help.
You sure make a lot of assumptions on quality control without ever visiting the companies.
You sure make a lot of assumptions that I have never visited the companies.
Eleven minutes to say absolutely nothing. Could have said it in 2 minutes. Block channel...
Or maybe I said everything? Lol
I'll take one of those under $100 Shure M97XEs you advertise in the thumbnail. Just message me your paypal.
When this video came out in early 2020, you could still buy an M97xe for $99... Little context there so you aren't waiting for my PayPal.