I have a couple of TTs I picked up at garage/thrift/charity sales. These are not tables that will end up in my system. I consider them decent tables for someone who has records to play, but not at all the kind of table a vinyl lover would be looking for. The likely scenario is they will be given to deserving family members or friends, or even possibly end up on CL. Wherever they end up, I have a desire to make them functional by replacing the stylus or the whole cartridge.

The tables are a MCS 6601 VGC, JVC LA55 fair to GC, Dual 1237 VGC, Yamaha YP-B4 VGC. Out of these I think the pecking order would be Yamaha, MCS, Dual, JVC

The Yamaha has a Signet TK3E needing a stylus. The MCS has a Shure R25XT needing a stylus. The Dual has a Grado MKII condition unknown. The JVC has a Shure Premier needing a stylus.

I think I already know the answer for the Dual and the JVC.....so what would be a really cheapo cartridge for these decks that might actually play music?

The Yamaha isn't a bad deck at all and it is in really beautiful condition. Needs a belt. This is the kind of deck someone who has records to play and a slightly more than casual desire to extract a little detail could appreciate. I could see spending $60 on a Shure M97xe or something....suggestions here?

The MCS has a middle line Technics quality to it, I do not know its actual manufacturer, but it could be Matshita. The $60 is probably more than I am willing to spend on this deck. Is it worth $30 to replace the Shure 3x?

The two lowest decks have very little value without a working cartridge/stylus and probably not much more value than the cost of the replacement cart/stylus (maybe even less) .

I am just hoping to get some perspective from anyone who feels like chiming in.

What about Shure M75, M91, M95 off the auction site?

The Grado may still have a stylus available? Email Grado or call them and ask.

The Premier is an likely M75 body, but could be M70 or and M95 depending on stylus assembly color. Beige and Lt Green are M70, Black is M75 and Yellow is M95. So get whatever quality you want for it. I'd stay away from the $9 PE stylus as it sometimes comes in the wrong sized shank and that can kill the cart body.

Hak recommends a little AT with a P mount adapter that's like $30 of the Bay. That should do it for the lesser two tables :)

Yes, it's the AT-92ECD on ebay for $24 shipped. You won't find another new cartridge as good for that money. .3 x .7 elliptical. They are p-mount, but include a decent, rigid adapter to use on a standard mount arm, and all hardware, of course.

The R25XT can be upgraded with an N95ED or N95HE stylus.

Thanks for the input.

It is sad to think that even in working condition $25 might be too much for the Dual and the JVC.

I think MAT Electronics has some very cheap AT cartridges.
Yes they have one at $9.50 (1/2" or P-mount) http://matelectronics.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww.matelectronic s.com%2facatalog%2fsearch.html&WD=technica%20audio&PN=Needles___Cartridges.html%23aAT3600#aAT3600
$25 minimum order.

If you were going to actually listen to one, to my tastes the entry level is the Grado Black. In the 1970s, the approximately equivalent Grado was the FTE+1 ($13). I still have one; it was exceptional for $13.