New cartridge recommendation
- Thread starter abhiv0508
- Start date
I'm not certain we answered this very good question, so I'll have a crack at it. The ATN140LC, by the way, is an excellent stylus which does happen to fit and work in the AT120E body.
Once this "stylus" became a vitally important yet separate assembly that slid or snapped into place, manufacturers often produced one very good quality body which then became many different models depending on which stylus was sold with it.
Your 120E body can accept many different Audio-Technica styli because the same body was sold stamped with the names of all those different styli, and sold at every price point imaginable. Why? The maker then appears to have a cartridge for every need and wallet. What he really has is a stylus for every need.
"One body, many styli". This makes it simple for the enthusiast who wants the future opportunity of a simple upgrade but doesn't want to have a lot of cartridges mounted in a lot of headshells. Merely swap in a better stylus.
We don't always get this nice treatment from manufacturers. But even when we don't, the strategy is usually "few bodies, many styli". ADC, Pickering/Stanton and Empire are good examples of this. Shure, on the other hand, is an example of the "several bodies, several styli".
This is a simplified picture. As the decades passed and records got better and louder and more dynamic, the engineers would get a good idea for coping with these software improvements and want to make a big hardware improvement, but the old design wasn't flexible enough to accommodate the changes, so they'd start with a clean sheet of paper, change the body's internals and create a new cartridge incompatible with anything before it. So, you often need to know what era a given body comes from so you can match it up with its companion styli.
That's the case with your AT120E, which is a much-improved version of the AT12E, which dates back to around 1972. They look almost the same at first glance. But the 120E body is so different that you can't mount a 12E stylus on it. The new styli are also improved, though, so you're not missing much by having to leave the 12E stylus behind.
Yes, in this case and a majority of other fixed-coil/moving-magnet cases. For exceptions, see below..abhiv0508 said:
For fixed-coil (aka moving-magnet) cartridges like your 120E, the user-replaceable stylus assembly has been the norm for many decades. Once upon a time, though, stylus assemblies were not separate, and once the diamond wore out, the cartridge had either to be tossed out, or else removed from the turntable and sent to the manufacturer to be re-diamonded. This is still the case with most moving-coil cartridges.abhiv0508 said:
Once this "stylus" became a vitally important yet separate assembly that slid or snapped into place, manufacturers often produced one very good quality body which then became many different models depending on which stylus was sold with it.
Your 120E body can accept many different Audio-Technica styli because the same body was sold stamped with the names of all those different styli, and sold at every price point imaginable. Why? The maker then appears to have a cartridge for every need and wallet. What he really has is a stylus for every need.
"One body, many styli". This makes it simple for the enthusiast who wants the future opportunity of a simple upgrade but doesn't want to have a lot of cartridges mounted in a lot of headshells. Merely swap in a better stylus.
We don't always get this nice treatment from manufacturers. But even when we don't, the strategy is usually "few bodies, many styli". ADC, Pickering/Stanton and Empire are good examples of this. Shure, on the other hand, is an example of the "several bodies, several styli".
This is a simplified picture. As the decades passed and records got better and louder and more dynamic, the engineers would get a good idea for coping with these software improvements and want to make a big hardware improvement, but the old design wasn't flexible enough to accommodate the changes, so they'd start with a clean sheet of paper, change the body's internals and create a new cartridge incompatible with anything before it. So, you often need to know what era a given body comes from so you can match it up with its companion styli.
That's the case with your AT120E, which is a much-improved version of the AT12E, which dates back to around 1972. They look almost the same at first glance. But the 120E body is so different that you can't mount a 12E stylus on it. The new styli are also improved, though, so you're not missing much by having to leave the 12E stylus behind.
Yes... If the sites offering up these options know their stuff. That's the tough part, knowing which sites are knowledgeable enough not to lead you astray, and the tougher part is to find the sites that will correct their mistakes without insulting you and/or making you wait months for a refund/replacement.abhiv0508 said:
Wow! That was exactly the information I was looking for! Thanks so much for taking the time to explain this to me.
So what I can conclude from all this, is I have a pretty darn good cartridge body AT-120E and the ATN-140LC will be a great stylus to replace/upgrade to.
I really think for my TT (Technics SL-1900) and its current condition, this stylus is going to be a perfect match.
So what I can conclude from all this, is I have a pretty darn good cartridge body AT-120E and the ATN-140LC will be a great stylus to replace/upgrade to.
I really think for my TT (Technics SL-1900) and its current condition, this stylus is going to be a perfect match.
Agreed. You have the gist.
As has been suggested, you can even upgrade to the 150MLX or 440MLb styli, both still in production. You can also use some of A-T's out-of-production p-mount styli, the ones Pfanstiehl indexed as 212-Dsomething. All were designed to give flat response in the cartridge body you have.
As has been suggested, you can even upgrade to the 150MLX or 440MLb styli, both still in production. You can also use some of A-T's out-of-production p-mount styli, the ones Pfanstiehl indexed as 212-Dsomething. All were designed to give flat response in the cartridge body you have.
If connecting to your "studio gear" Just curious what preamp you are using?
Are you applying any RIAA correction or cartridge loading? If not, your sound will be way off. RIAA can be added digitally, but you would still need to make sure you have a proper load on the cartridge. Sounds like you need a proper phono stage. If you are using an application like Pure Music that has really good RIAA EQ, then that is the best way to go, but you still need to properly load the cart.
Yes it is, but they are both wrong! Without proper EQ the result will be flat and dull. This is not like an EQ that you apply to suit your taste, but one built into the format that must be applied for it to sound decent at all. A phono stage is more than just gain.
hi*ball
Records & Coffee
Glad that you are happy with this set up. I think the SL-1900 gets a bit of a bad rap because it doesn't fall in with its heftier siblings, the SL-1100 thru SL-1800. I have an SL-1900 with an AT96e cart on it and it sounds very nice in my system.
Enjoy the music!
Agreed, but I'm just doing quantitative analysis between the two needles. So if the RIAA curve is missing on my source, then both samples can be compared because they are both missing it. Now if I was doing a listening test, I agree I need the phono stage.
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Glad that you are happy with this set up. I think the SL-1900 gets a bit of a bad rap because it doesn't fall in with its heftier siblings, the SL-1100 thru SL-1800. I have an SL-1900 with an AT96e cart on it and it sounds very nice in my system.
Enjoy the music!
I am thoroughly pleased with this setup. I'm sure in due time I'll upgrade, but for now I can't seem to find a reason to complain. [emoji4]
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Ahhhhh!
