Help IDing AT carts

[Thefamous]

Tf: The VM35-EL was the original needle of the older AT-VM35. It's also a higher quality needle, but not quite as refined as the ATS13 and a more old-school design instead. Compared to the ATS13 it's got a fatter, more extremely tapered cantilever, which isn't crimped and angled at the front, so that its somewhat larger, square-shanked nudie pierces the cantilever at an angle instead of straight through - and the tip itself is just medium-sharp (0.3 x 0.7 mil).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

Thanks for the info. Again, everyone here is a great resource. The stylus I have appears to be in pretty great shape, although I haven’t checked it under a microscope yet. I A/B’ed it with the m12e cartridge and it sounds a lot better, although the m12 sounds pretty good too. Lucky for me that it came with both.

I have a question about headshells. The unit came with the stock one and a much lighter aftermarket one. The M13e is currently on the stock one. Is there any benefit or drawback from the difference in weight?

 

[boreas]

Lighter headshells reduce the overall mass of the tonearm assembly. This allows for the use of more compliant styli. It then becomes a question of matching the overall mass of the tonearm to the compliance of the stylus you wish to use. Using heavier or lighter headshells allows you to adjust the total mass of your tonearm.

 

[Thefamous]

Lighter headshells reduce the overall mass of the tonearm assembly. This allows for the use of more compliant styli. It then becomes a question of matching the overall mass of the tonearm to the compliance of the stylus you wish to use. Using heavier or lighter headshells allows you to adjust the total mass of your tonearm.

Well, here is another case of the more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know. Read thru the linked article (thanks btw) and now have some grasp of what to look for.

I would think my humble Sanyo isn’t fancy enough to post the relevant specs, but I did find in the manual it wants an aftermarket cartridge to weigh between 4-12 grams, and the whole assembly (headshell, cartridge, and mounting parts) to weigh 12-20 grams. Which using advanced mathematical technique lets me deduce that the original headshell is 8 grams.

I can’t find the weight of the M13e but the AT13e that Manfred says it’s a clone of has a weight of 6.7g. So I’m in the middle but on the light side with the stock heavier headshell.

Conclusion: I should probably avoid the lighter aftermarket one.

 

[Thefamous]

No info about the compliance of that cart that I can find tho...

Or the weight of the tonearm.

But it sounds good right now so maybe I lucked into it. Better to be lucky than good some days

 

[boreas]

You can make general inferrences about compliance from the recommendations for tracking force. (High compliance styli require a lower range of tracking force and low compliance styli need more tracking force.) The recommendation for the AT13E is from 1 to 2g. which suggests medium compliance. I think that would probably work well with the Sanyo's arm.

 

[Thefamous]

Good to know. That is also the recommended tracking force for the stock cartridge. So it looks like I did end up with a good match. No weird loudness at higher frequencies or rumbles at low ones so hopefully I’m good.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[Thefamous]

@lini

Found a NOS stylus from Electro Voice. Had Audio Technica on the plastic when I turned it over. I saw this listed on a number of sites as a direct replacement. Got lucky and found it for pennies. (well, close enough to pennies...) Is this the same as the original, or is it a .3x.7 as so many replacements are listed?

 

[boreas]

Since it's the real thing it's a .2 x .7 mil. In addition to aftermarket styli, ElectroVoice, Pfanstiehl and Astatic all sold repackaged original styli. That's what you have.

 

[Thefamous]

Since it's the real thing it's a .2 x .7 mil. In addition to aftermarket styli, ElectroVoice, Pfanstiehl and Astatic all sold repackaged original styli. That's what you have.

That's what I was hoping. Man, swapped it out and it sounds way better. The mids and highs are much clearer. I was worried that it was the preamp. Unfortunately, the difference in sound has convinced me that the old stylus is all worn out. Well, if I can't find affordable replacements, I guess in a couple years it will be time to switch carts...

BTW, how long does a good stylus last?

 

[boreas]

Usually about 200 hours but it can be longer if you're playing clean records and shorter if your records are dirty. You can usually tell it's time when the sound quality begins to diminish.