Just a quickie.

Does anybody know the official tracking weight for this cartridge? I can't seem to find this info online anywhere.

My SL1200 balance weight arrived today, so I can play with the turntable properly at last, but other than a quick spin of an old (and worn) LP I'm not keen on trying anything else yet, until I know the correct weight I need to work with, or at least a decent guideline weight.

Other than that the turntable is great - so easy to set up too :yes: . Add me to the Technics SL1200 fanclub :thmbsp: .

c77,e77 or p77 ?

Unfortunately I have absolutely no idea. As far as I remember reading the only major difference between them all is the stylus.

The colour of the stylus housing and markings on the sides give away the model afaik, but mine appears to have an aftermarket stylus with no markings. It is, however, red, which suggests C77, though if it is aftermarket that probably means nothing. I'll try to get a pic and post it here in case it helps anybody with identification.

the early version of the c77 1.6 - 2.2 gm...spherical tip...

designed for arms of 6-16gm effective mass.. so can be considered a medium-ish compliance cartridge as would befit an entry level model at the time of release..

then came a later version of the c77...the c77mg

c77mg sees the suggested effective mass range change to 4-8g..
i suspect the tracking force range stayed similar
(sorry..i have no info on this i'm afraid but unlikely to be much different to the rest of the x77 range if the compliance was made similar)

e77mg ... arm effective mass 3-8g ...tracking 1.6-2.0 gm ..elliptical tip
p77mg...arm effective mass 4-9gm..tracking 1.6-2.2 gm...line contact tip

usually the c77 had a red stylus body,e77 had a blue and the p77 a black...though the colours may have changed in later years..

i'd track around the 1.8 gm mark initially...until you have it properly aligned...then fine tune by ear within the range..:thmbsp:

Piccie time...

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5286/p1040776.jpg

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3466/p1040780.jpg

most likely a c77 from the colour..wouldn't have made sense to change the colour even for after market stylii

i'd track around the 1.8 gm mark initially...until you have it properly aligned...then fine tune by ear within the range..:thmbsp:

Cheers Melofelo.

I was playing it at around 1.5g earlier and the treble was very harsh and there was little to no bass, so I wound it up to 2.0g and it improved no end, but the bass was maybe a bit too heavy. 1.8 is probably about the right mark.

I ought ot say the track chosen for setup was The Chain on Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album. Obviously strong bass is essential for the second half of the track :yes: .

I really must invest in a better copy of the album now. I bought this one cheap on Fleabay to use precisely as a test disc - everybody knows nearly all the tracks, so if they sound just about right to just about everybody who listens after I've calibrated things, then it probably is right. It's just a shame some tracks are a bit worn :tears: .

most likely a c77 from the colour..wouldn't have made sense to change the colour even for after market stylii

That would make sense. I had wondered whether the markings could be removed from a genuine stylus housing and leave it just bare plastic, but from pics I've seen it looks as though the gold printing on the sides is almost etched too, so even if the gold lettering was gone, the outline would still remain.

Mind you, this stylus still sounds like it has plenty left in it, and on inspection under a magnifying glass looks to be in good shape.

if it hasn't been used for a while...i'd keep it around the 1.8 gram mark if it sounds ok..
let the stylus suspension get a good 5-10 hours or so run in time.. then make small adjustments again by ear..

if it hasn't been used for a while...i'd keep it around the 1.8 gram mark if it sounds ok..
let the stylus suspension get a good 5-10 hours or so run in time.. then make small adjustments again by ear..

Will do. I'll run Rumours through a good few times then. There's plenty on that LP to exercise the suspension.

Cheers again. I'll report back with results when I have some.