SA-708
Appalachian-American
I was the only bidder on an ADC p-mount cartridge on eBay, and it arrived this past week while I was gone on vacation. Photos from the auction are below.
I have a couple of ADC p-mount cartridges in my collection, both from the PSX series, and like them very much. The cartridge in the auction was a different beast, using the more common style of ADC stylus. I was intrigued, so I bid on the cartridge and won the auction.
It arrived as pictured, repackaged by Rivertone and still in plastic wrap. I ripped it open, and made several interesting discoveries. The finish around the base wasn't well done, with an uneven melted-and-cooled appearance to the plastic across the top, and some extra glue at the bottom that kept the stylus from seating well. Some work with a small screwdriver to remove the glue ended up loosening the metal cover over the cartridge, but the stylus now fits on tight. Also, the cartridge is rather light for a p-mount, weighing just under 5 grams when the recommended tracking force for the stylus is 1.5 grams. I wasn't able to adjust the tracking force to anything close to that on my SL-M3 turntable on my first attempt.
So I swapped out the stylus for the one from my Integra Mk X, which had the advantage of more mass (flip-down stylus guard), better tip (elliptical vs spherical), and a lower recommended VTF of 1.2 grams. I also added about a gram of blue-tack to the top of the cartridge, which also helps keep the metal cover in place.
I also looked up the cartridge in the database at Vinyl Engine. As I suspected, someone (probably Rivertone) had converted this from a half-inch mount cartridge to a p-mount, and not done a terribly good job of it. The photos confirm it to be a half-inch mount, even if they got the tracking force wrong, compared to the cartridge insert and other sources: http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_database.php?m=ADC&t=any&mod=XT
On the other hand, I'm now spinning a Stan Ridgeway 12" single with this ADC frankencartridge, and it sounds pretty darn good.
I have a couple of ADC p-mount cartridges in my collection, both from the PSX series, and like them very much. The cartridge in the auction was a different beast, using the more common style of ADC stylus. I was intrigued, so I bid on the cartridge and won the auction.
It arrived as pictured, repackaged by Rivertone and still in plastic wrap. I ripped it open, and made several interesting discoveries. The finish around the base wasn't well done, with an uneven melted-and-cooled appearance to the plastic across the top, and some extra glue at the bottom that kept the stylus from seating well. Some work with a small screwdriver to remove the glue ended up loosening the metal cover over the cartridge, but the stylus now fits on tight. Also, the cartridge is rather light for a p-mount, weighing just under 5 grams when the recommended tracking force for the stylus is 1.5 grams. I wasn't able to adjust the tracking force to anything close to that on my SL-M3 turntable on my first attempt.
So I swapped out the stylus for the one from my Integra Mk X, which had the advantage of more mass (flip-down stylus guard), better tip (elliptical vs spherical), and a lower recommended VTF of 1.2 grams. I also added about a gram of blue-tack to the top of the cartridge, which also helps keep the metal cover in place.
I also looked up the cartridge in the database at Vinyl Engine. As I suspected, someone (probably Rivertone) had converted this from a half-inch mount cartridge to a p-mount, and not done a terribly good job of it. The photos confirm it to be a half-inch mount, even if they got the tracking force wrong, compared to the cartridge insert and other sources: http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge_database.php?m=ADC&t=any&mod=XT
On the other hand, I'm now spinning a Stan Ridgeway 12" single with this ADC frankencartridge, and it sounds pretty darn good.
