Stanton 681EEE: surprisingly good. But a question...

Bourbon

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I've been wanting to run a dual turntable setup for a while. So I recently picked up a 2nd Marantz 6300. It came with an old Stanton 681EEE cartridge that (to me) was an afterthought. Just for a laugh, I swapped headshells/cartridges with my currently installed turntable and dropped the needle on an old record that use for testing. I was genuinely surprised at the sound quality from the old cartridge. In fact, I was shocked. It's definitely a close second to my Shure M91ED in terms of listening enjoyment and ahead of my Denon DL-110.

Now I have a question: Where can I get a really good replacement stylus for this cartridge? I've been looking around this site, but haven't found a definite source. Are there still original styli floating around? If so, where might I find one?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Good question. I have a 681EEE in need of a stylus and would like to get it up 'n running.
 
My 681EEE stylus

I have used some of the old Pickering XV-15 styli in place of a 681EEE stylus. They are cheaper and with a good variety of them available you can get one to sound as you like it.
I tried a few and settled on one that lets the music through and puts pops and clicks in the rear.
Also sounds good.

Paul
 
They're a classic.

Jico do a shibata for them but ,of course, people will say they're not as good as the originals.

I have seen recent rave comments about the Pickering D625E but honestly mine sounded slow and dull compared to the shibata so I sold it !
 
If I was the OP I'd count my blessings that I have an original 681EEE stylus and it still sounds fine. I'd wait till it's in need of a retip and send it to Expert Stylus in the UK for a Stanton NY recommended retip service. Forget about any of the generics, even JICO couldn't do the 681 justice, the common advice to replace/toss the stylus doesn't apply to a Stanton681EEE.
 
The original D2400Q Quadrahedral is still available at the UK site. :thmbsp:

The D2400Q was for the UV-15 quad cartridge which, I believe, was a moving magnet cartridge. It also had quite different specs for DCR and inductance. It actually would work because the moving magnet in the stylus would act like a moving iron but I don't know how it would sound. An expensive gamble, IMO.

John
 
If it does not sound good, then find an UV-15 quad cartridge ! :D

Have you seen any UV-15 quad cartridge in your travels on the Ebay? :scratch2:
 
If it does not sound good, then find an UV-15 quad cartridge ! :D

Have you seen any UV-15 quad cartridge in your travels on the Ebay? :scratch2:

Yes, they do show up now and then. As I recall, folks ask a bunch of money for them but they don't sell so they get listed over and over.

John
 
Balifly said:
The original D2400Q Quadrahedral is still available at the UK site.
I know there's a strong temptation to get one of these styli for the 681EE/EEE because they're still available new and they're "quad". But this gambit is not without problems. Some DIY may be necessary. For one thing, there's a problem getting flat response from the D2400Q and D2000Q styli in a 681 body. Records will sound as if somebody had turned the treble tone control down.

boreas said:
The D2400Q was for the UV-15 quad cartridge which, I believe, was a moving magnet cartridge... [emphasis added]
Dang you to heck, Pickering, for confusing people and dealers so badly. The UV-15 is a heavily modified (electrically) XV-15 (ie, moving iron) with a Stereohedronlike diamond (the Quadrahedron) that tracks at 2g and requires CD-4 (ie, 100k ohm) loading for flattest response in stereo, at least on my system, compared to all my other cartridges.

boreas said:
It also had quite different specs for DCR and inductance...
So right. The inductance ratio of the two versions is nearly 3:1. This means trying to use any PickerStant styli other than the four specifically made for the UV-15 (aka Stanton 780) will give you a sound bright enough that it moves away from "different", much closer to "wrong". More to the point, the sound goes in the direction of dull if you use the D2400Q in the 681EEE body. Not life-threatening, but not subtle. If you have a sophisticated setup with flexible EQ and phono stage loading, then okay. Otherwise...

Balifly said:
If it does not sound good, then find an UV-15 quad cartridge ! ...
It won't sound very good compared to other body+stylus combinations, and boreas is correct; these UV-15s do show up on eBay from time to time, but by the time you've waited for one at a reasonable price to show up, you probably could've found a better and more versatile cartridge... like a 681EEE, or even an XSV-3000.

Bottom line: unless you're a tweaker, don't use this stylus in a 681 body; you'll be disappointed... IF you're after a flat response curve from your cartridge+stylus.
 
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You have one non genuine new old stock choice. That is having your stylus retipped if the suspension is still good. Expert Stylus Company's ParaTrace tip is the closest thing made to the Stereohedron II stylus (Stanton and Pickering's finest line contact tip they manufactured)
 
Beatcomber there was a recent thread that involved the same question re cost of Expert Stylus doing a Stanton stylus retip and as best I remember it was probably a little under $200 with postage both ways to UK. Not out of line with what SoundSmith and Andy charge for retips. Kent may have more accurate info re the cost or another AK member that recently had a Expert Stylus retip done.
 
I have a 681EEE with the Jico replacement. Works and sounds fine to me, but I haven't compared it to an original.
 
You Want the Best gets the Best! Expert Stylus UK

Take Kents advice-I did! Shipping your cart to UK was about $25.00 And the paratrace tip was $140.00 and it included shipping back to me! I did the same thing with my 881S type 2 with original stereohedron stylus. They sent it back saying the oriinal tip still had at least another 1000 side playing time left! Yea!!! I would have gone the jico route but after careful research I went with the Expert way cus I simply want the best!
 
Yesterday I was sorting a box of carts and came across a 681EEE. It even has the threaded plastic mounting piece. I remember reading about how difficult or costly it is to get a decent stylus so I put it in the box and forgot about it.

I cleaned and inspected the stylus and it looked great so I mounted on my Dual 1229. Wow! I too was surprised. Very different from the N91ED that I'd been using but very enjoyable.

I also came across a Pickering XV15 with a very nice D625 stylus. I feel pretty fortunate and will take care of these guys. :yes:
 

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Take Kents advice-I did! Shipping your cart to UK was about $25.00 And the paratrace tip was $140.00 and it included shipping back to me! I did the same thing with my 881S type 2 with original stereohedron stylus. They sent it back saying the oriinal tip still had at least another 1000 side playing time left! Yea!!! I would have gone the jico route but after careful research I went with the Expert way cus I simply want the best!

I might do this when I notice a drop-off in sound quality.

Thanks for all the suggestions and information.
 
Yes, $170 got me an Expert Stylus Company ParaTrace tip and shipping to and from England. Performs like old Stereohedron II, Walter Stanton approved their custom tip work and granted them access to Stanton and Pickering patents and technology.
 
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