I've been back to enjoying listening to vinyl again in the last couple of years, after a near 40 year break. I bought a fairly modest turntable (TEAC TN-175) and this has been performing well and I'm now considering buying a new stylus, but just don't know where to begin to be honest. I would like to purchase a better quality stylus than the stock one, so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated....
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Stylus Help....
- Thread starter DarrenG
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This turntable seems to have an AT3600L cartridge, and neither tracking force nor antiskating are adjustable. I suppose there's going to be limited options besides an ATN3600LE elliptical stylus. That's something at least. Not exactly earth-shattering though. You can get HyperElliptical, Shibata and other fancy styli that fit the AT3600L, but you don't run these at the typical 3 grams of a bone stock AT3600L, more like 1.5-2 max.
Balle Clorin
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The obvious recommended cartridge would be ATVM95e which allows later upgrade to ML or shiabatha.
Or just go straight for the ATVM95 ML version from the start and cut out the middle man.
Buy the at lp5x with the vm95e already included. A decent turntable with decent cartridge (upgradeable changing the stylus) at a decent price. Done.
https://www.audio-technica.com/en/at-lp5x
https://www.audio-technica.com/en/at-lp5x
spiral scratch
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yeh I don't think the cartridge can be replaced on this turntable, it sounds like it's fixed to the headshell so you are going to just have to continue to enjoy what you have.
As Analog Steph put it so well, you can try an elliptical stylus on that body. The elliptical stylus can track better than the conical that's on there but that's assuming the arm geometry is in the ball park, the conical will allow a bit more wiggle room in that regard. Depending on the condition of your vinyl the conical can be more forgiving for worn LPs.
As Analog Steph put it so well, you can try an elliptical stylus on that body. The elliptical stylus can track better than the conical that's on there but that's assuming the arm geometry is in the ball park, the conical will allow a bit more wiggle room in that regard. Depending on the condition of your vinyl the conical can be more forgiving for worn LPs.
If you use a micro line stylus... That's not true, because the fine line stylus can "touch" the groove deeper (when conical doesn't ) and then it tracks much better, even with worn lps
spiral scratch
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Thanks for the clarification, I was just trying to speak to the OPs needs. They said their set up was "performing well" and wanted to explore other stylii. My understanding is the cartridge is permanently fixed to this arm so it's swap in an elliptical or nothing.
I also want to recommend the ATVM95ML.
Cartridge seems replaceable to me.
Cartridge seems replaceable to me.
According to the manual the cartridge cannot be replaced (english section of the manual page 5)
spiral scratch
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Does every arm benefit from a better stylus?
It's been my experience that sometimes a rudimentary arm design does not necessarily benefit from a better stylus. I was using a stanton st-70(?) with a basic fixed arm and was never able to get it to track properly with an elliptical stylus. The conical that was sold with the deck seemed to smooth out the tracking errors.
It's been my experience that sometimes a rudimentary arm design does not necessarily benefit from a better stylus. I was using a stanton st-70(?) with a basic fixed arm and was never able to get it to track properly with an elliptical stylus. The conical that was sold with the deck seemed to smooth out the tracking errors.
Wow. Never seen something like this before.
In this case how about:
any arm have a "geometry" in the movement, an arc.
you need a protractor specific to your arm to install the cartridge at the exact length and angle in the headshell (you simple "move" the screws of the cartridge / headshell, they don't need to be parallel).
if the headshell have the type of slots to "move" the screws, you can install a better cartridge / stylus.
a better cartridge / stylus is the most important thing in a turntable, unless a bad compatibility between cartridge / tonearm (tonearm mass / cartridge compliance)
DVDdoug
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A different stylus, or a new one to replace a worn one, will likely change the sound (making it better or worse). But normally there is only one or two for any given cartridge, plus possibly a few aftermarket replacements and with those who knows what you're going to get.
A different cartridge will usually make a bigger difference. The main difference is frequency response which will also be affected by the capacitance load which is the sum of the capacitance in the turntable wiring, connecting cables, and input capacitance of the preamp. Of course frequency response can be more easily tweaked with tone controls or EQ.
And some cartridges are better at tracking hard-to-track records and in that case you can get less tracking distortion on those "problem records".
I haven't played records in decades (occasionally I digitize one) but I never heard a difference from the turntable/tonearm except from "cheap record players" that sometimes had rumble/mechanical noise that was picked-up by the cartridge. And I've had slipping/worn drive belts/wheels that caused speed problems. But I was always foolishly upgrading or wanting to upgrade my cartridge... foolish because most of the problems were from the records themselves and the frequency response can be fixed-up with tone controls. I knew those things but I was reading too many audio magazines and I felt like I was "cheating" or that my system was inadequate if I had to use tone controls.
Oh yes. It's not a bargain... It's a steal.
JeremyFife
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A cartridge/stylus upgrade, certainly from a basic model up to better one, can be a sensible move in a sea of snake oil / plain weird vinyl options.
Perhaps though, OP needs to accept that this Turntable is not worth spending money on. I'd agree with @AnalogSteph, that if you can fit an ATN3600LE elliptical stylus that would be worth trying.
Other than that, enjoy the music.
If OP is still spinning disks with pleasure in a few months then start thinking about a (slightly) better deck - something from the Audio Technica range perhaps - and take it from there. Also second the AT-VM95 range as a great value, upgradeable cart
Perhaps though, OP needs to accept that this Turntable is not worth spending money on. I'd agree with @AnalogSteph, that if you can fit an ATN3600LE elliptical stylus that would be worth trying.
Other than that, enjoy the music.
If OP is still spinning disks with pleasure in a few months then start thinking about a (slightly) better deck - something from the Audio Technica range perhaps - and take it from there. Also second the AT-VM95 range as a great value, upgradeable cart
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