styluses (styli??) - ortofon 5 vs. 5E

[admin_exported]

First, hi all - let me introduce myself v. succinctly. I'm rob and I've had some separates for a few years now. Real entry level stuff - rotel 921a, kef cresta 1s, project debut II, yamaha kx580se. I listen to a pretty wide range of stuff, but not much classical. Mostly, indie/pop/rock/electronica etc.

I like the sound of my set-up but my stylus broke about a year ago. The stylus was the stock Debut II jobber - an ortofon 5E. I wanted to replace it with the same model, but was told by a *big* national hi-fi chain that the 5E was no longer being made. I was also told that only one other stylus would fit the cartridge, and that was the ortofon 5.

At this juncture I asked what the difference was and didn't really seem to get much of a reply - something along the lines of oh it's absolutely fine, just buy one already.

So I did.

Well, it sounds okay. However, when I come to record to cassette (yep, still do that from time to time), I swear the level is lower. The kx580 isn't too bad a deck, and I honestly think that with the 5E stylus I was getting significantly higher recording levels. Not as high as those from CD, but still pretty good. But with the ortofon 5, ugh. I'm lucky if I hit 0 db with most records. It's pretty annoying.

I have used this site's search function to see if this issue has been covered before, but wasn't able to find anything.

Am I now stuck with an "un-upgradeable" t/table, that won't perform to anywhere near the capabilities it did when I bought it, and if not, what steps do I take and how much will it cost? Any advice, info and suggestions gratefully received. ;-)

 

[Tesler]

Hi Rob,

Welcome to the forum,

I have the same turntable as you and have replaced the Ortofon Stylus recently. I think the "E" referred to on the OM5E stylus refers to the shape of the stylus. "E" meaning "Ellipitical".

When I used to work in the industry (When CD was not available and Philips Laservision was on Tomorrows World on TV) you used to be able to get styli in Diamond or Sapphire, and either "E" Elliptical or "S" Spherical.

To be honest, we didn't think the shape of the stylus made any difference to the sound.

I have had no problem obtaining an OM5 Stylus, someone on this forum suggested I could have used an OM10, OM20 or OM30 stylus, depending on how rich I felt?

Might I suggest that you try refitting the stylus? pull it off and re-install it again. Is it an original Ortofon replacement Stylus?

I would have thought that the shape of the stylus shouldn't affect the output of the cartridge. Also make sure that all the leads are tightly connected to the cartridge.

Hope this helps.

Tesler

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tesler! Excellent info. I'll look into the cost and performance of the 10, 20 and 30.

 

[John Duncan]

[quote user="Tesler"]someone on this forum suggested I could have used an OM10, OM20 or OM30 stylus, depending on how rich I felt[/quote]

I think it was me. A 10 would probably be fine, the others are getting to be silly money on that deck.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="robbiekins"]
The stylus was the stock Debut II jobber - an ortofon 5E. I wanted to replace it with the same model, but was told by a *big* national hi-fi chain that the 5E was no longer being made. I was also told that only one other stylus would fit the cartridge, and that was the ortofon 5.
[/quote]

I bought an Ortofon 5E for my Debut III last weekend, so you've been given some very poor advice... knowingly, by the sounds of it. I got mine from Superfi; see here: http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/668
Somewhat confusingly, it's captioned "Ortofon Stylus 5" but as you can see from the pic it is the 5E. I was also told I could upgrade to a more expensive stylus, such as the 10 - I presume this would hold true for your Debut II.