Cartridge Gallery

[gpi]

I've been trying out several carts and headshells lately and have now finally installed a wonderful old Shure V15 Type III with a VN35HE replacement stylus. I think the original NOS Shure styli go for silly money (An original boxed VN35E went for over £200 on ebay the other day) and are not always guaranteed to be any better than the generic copies because they are old stock and the rubber may have perished.
I have also been successful in finding the original headshell for my vintage Sony turntable, the SH-150H, which is now ably supporting the V15 cart.

My other cart/headshell pairing in frequent use is the Goldring Eroica LX on the Sony SH-145 shell. This is my first taste of the world of MC cartridges and I'm very impressed with what it does.

Before that I had an excellent Clearaudio Aurum Classics MM on a Sony SH-135 shell:

A more than capable Shure M97xE on a very smart ADC lightweight magnesium headshell:

The low-riding Goldring 1042 MM cart on the SH-135 shell:

Being set up with a Guru alignment protractor:

I have also tried an old Shure M75ED type 2 with a Pioneer shell. That combo is now somewhere in Italy.
Fortunately the cart pictured below is not one of mine. It probably sounds fine. 🙂

 

[Andrew Everard]

Thank you for all the lovely pictures. Resizing them all so they actually fit on the Forum was the perfect start to the day...

 

[Anonymous]

well that's good luck then isn't it!

 

[gpi]

Andrew Everard:Thank you for all the lovely pictures. Resizing them all so they actually fit on the Forum was the perfect start to the day...

Did you have a lie down afterwards? You know at your age... 🙂

 

[Andrew Everard]

You're very welcome...

 

[chebby]

Nice old Sony PS-6750 there GPI.

How much difference is there between the V15 and the M97xe in sound quality and tracking?

 

[gpi]

Andrew Everard:You're very welcome...

Sorry Andrew, I honestly didn't know they'd be too big for this forum. I did wonder why the vertical banner ads overlapped them, doh.

 

[gpi]

chebby:
Nice old Sony PS-6750 there GPI.

How much difference is there between the V15 and the M97xe in sound quality and tracking?

Well spotted chebby. It's a fine turntable and one I haven't got bored with yet. Re the V15 v M97, it's a little early to say at the moment as I haven't had the former long and it's a new stylus.

 

[chebby]

Well, here is my humble cartridge....

You can see from the non matching red '2M' printed on the cartridge body that the 2M Blue stylus is an upgrade.

I should get a turntable with swappable headshells then I could have fun with different cartridges.

 

[gpi]

That's a fine cartridge chebby. I rate the Ortofon carts and have used them extensively in the past. What blue vinyl LP is that?

Any more pics anyone?

 

[gpi]

This MM cart cost me £13.00 and is an old gem. The body I picked up for a fiver and the NOS stylus was £7.99 from the only seller on ebay to stock these GP412Es. There's nothing to the body of the cart as it's completely made from plastic but boy does it sound sweet. This has convinced me even more that the cart is not too important in vinyl replay and the phono stage, main amp and speakers are far more crucial in determining the quality of the performance. Those looking to change or improve the presentation of their vinyl setup should look elsewhere other then spending mega bucks on a better cart as by rights, this cheap thing should sound awful.

 

[PJPro]

The blue vinyl is Kraftwork and was mentioned elsewhere.

 

[PJPro]

 

[Anonymous]

have you tried the jico replacement needles their really good

 

[chebby]

one off:have you tried the jico replacement needles their really good

Link for those who would like one.

 

[chebby]

I think that Philips GP 412 cartridge dates back to the great old Philips GA-212 (or GA-312) turntable of the 1970s...

When a youth I worked Saturdays in a local hifi shop and one of these was on a shelf in the staff room. I think it was an uncollected repair unit or possibly a part-exchange that no-one wanted.

Very bouncy platter/arm and the mat was almost solid (the silver trim on our one was coming unstuck) but it was insanely good!

Much to the manager's chagrin I would sometimes hook it up for a speaker/amp demo because it sounded better than all the cheap rack system type direct drives that were all the rage in the late 1970s. I was asked for a new boxed one quite a few times after such demos but had to explain it was just our staff-room turntable and that it had by then ceased to be produced anyway.

When I eventually left my part time job (after finishing A'Levels) I was offered it by the manager, but I was about to start full-time work and bought a Sansui SR-222 Mk2 soon after. (Maybe I should have accepted the offer.)

 

[gpi]

one off:have you tried the jico replacement needles their really good

I don't think there is a JICO replacement for this Philips. That's what I was told anyway and why they are largely ignored nowadays.

 

[gpi]

chebby:
I think that Philips GP 412 cartridge dates back to the great old Philips GA-212 (or GA-312) turntable of the 1970s...

When a youth I worked Saturdays in a local hifi shop and one of these was on a shelf in the staff room. I think it was an uncollected repair unit or possibly a part-exchange that no-one wanted.

Very bouncy platter/arm and the mat was almost solid (the silver trim on our one was coming unstuck) but it was insanely good!

Much to the manager's chagrin I would sometimes hook it up for a speaker/amp demo because it sounded better than all the cheap rack system type direct drives that were all the rage in the late 1970s. I was asked for a new boxed one quite a few times after such demos but had to explain it was just our staff-room turntable and that it had by then ceased to be produced anyway.

When I eventually left my part time job (after finishing A'Levels) I was offered it by the manager, but I was about to start full-time work and bought a Sansui SR-222 Mk2 soon after. (Maybe I should have accepted the offer.)

Cheers for that info chebby, interesting stuff. I wouldn't have come across this Philips cart if it wasn't for a chance encounter with someone on ebay. He enquired about the Pioneer power amp I was auctioning and we started chatting about all things turntable. 😱)

 

[chebby]

gpi:

I don't think there is a JICO replacement for this Philips. That's what I was told anyway and why they are largely ignored nowadays.

Try here.

This one in particular (GP412E)

 

[gpi]

chebby:
gpi:

I don't think there is a JICO replacement for this Philips. That's what I was told anyway and why they are largely ignored nowadays.

Try here.

This one in particular (GP412E)

Thanks, I'm not sure why I didn't spot those before when I looked. I wonder how much different they will be to my £7.99 one.