Would you risk it?

[6and8]

Would you risk a decent cartridge on old 45s? I've got some old singles which have seen better days. I've given them a good clean with my trusty Knosti but there are signs of wear and tear and surface marks. Would it be risky to play them using my Nagaoka MP 200? Switching cartridges is not my strong point, I had someone put the Nag on for me. If it's not a good idea to play them with my Nag, instead of mucking about changing cartridges I'd rather find something relatively cheap and cheerful just to play the singles. Any suggestions as to TT / arm / cartridge?

 

[thescarletpronster]

Would you risk a decent cartridge on old 45s? I've got some old singles which have seen better days. I've given them a good clean with my trusty Knosti but there are signs of wear and tear and surface marks. Would it be risky to play them using my Nagaoka MP 200? Switching cartridges is not my strong point, I had someone put the Nag on for me. If it's not a good idea to play them with my Nag, instead of mucking about changing cartridges I'd rather find something relatively cheap and cheerful just to play the singles. Any suggestions as to TT / arm / cartridge?

If they look worn I'd be careful. They're not likely to sound that great if they're worn, and my last cartridge was damaged by a worn copy of King of the Rumbling Spires (which I'd cleaned). I was lucky, as I had just ordered an MP-200 to replace it, so I didn't lose out. If I'd played it a week later, on my new cartridge, I'd have been pretty cheesed off. I think it's a bit of a lottery - I'd played some somewhat worn records before without stylus damage, and you might well be lucky, but I'm not planning to take the same risk again.

 

[Al ears]

I might but it depends on how affluent you are. Save some money by simply spending out a bit on a replacement stylus. The stylus for a MP-100 can be had for about £41 and this should be a straight swap for your current cartridge, please double-check this. No need to swap cartridges or anything else. This will save you possibly trashing, though I very much doubt it, your nice MP-200.

Simples!

However, you're just a likely to damage a cartridge on old 33's so it really doesn't make much difference. Are all your LP's new?

Now if you had said 78's it might have been a bit more complicated. ;-)

 

[6and8]

Thanks, Al

Simple solutions always best. And you're right, not all my LPs are new. But I guess I was thinking that (generally) 45s have probably had to contend with more knackered styli and beer spillage than LPs.

But swap the stylus. As you say, simples...

 

[Al ears]

Thanks, Al

Simple solutions always best. And you're right, not all my LPs are new. But I guess I was thinking that (generally) 45s have probably had to contend with more knackered styli and beer spillage than LPs.

But swap the stylus. As you say, simples...

Double check you can do it with the cheaper stylus and this way you don't have to muck about with swapping out the whole cartridge.