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Cartridge for old/worn/45s or mono records

gerlando

gerlando

Prog Rocker
Hello guys,
I’m looking for a cartridge for listening to some old/worn/45s or mono records from the 60s, as the original Beatles or Stones.

deck is a Gyrodec/Nima.

current cartridge is a AT-VM95ML.

Do you think a conical stylus (VM95C) could helps to reduce the background noise without need of changing the cartridge body?

thank you very much.
Mauro
 
The usual logic is to use a stylus profile that will read deeper in the groove as most worn records will have been worn by realtively "large" profile styli that read high in the groove. In which case, it rather depends on what profile caused the majority of the wear, but in most cases that would mean using a more expensive cart fitted with one of the "micro" profile styli.
 
Vinny said:
The usual logic is to use a stylus profile that will read deeper in the groove as most worn records will have been worn by realtively "large" profile styli that read high in the groove. In which case, it rather depends on what profile caused the majority of the wear, but in most cases that would mean using a more expensive cart fitted with one of the "micro" profile styli.
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Hi Vinny,
so, the AT-VM95ML I currently have should be good?
 
gerlando said:
Hi Vinny,
so, the AT-VM95ML I currently have should be good?
Click to expand...

If you have any of the worn records, rather than wondering about buying them, and are confident that they are at least reasonably clean, there is no reason not to spin one or two and give them a listen.

Large styli profiles not only ride/read high in the groove, but also do not clean the lower parts of the grooves as they play.
 
Use your current stylus for best sound.
However if you have any styrene 45s, keep them away from ML styli. The ML stylus will shred them.
 
gerlando said:
Hello guys,
I’m looking for a cartridge for listening to some old/worn/45s or mono records from the 60s, as the original Beatles or Stones.

deck is a Gyrodec/Nima.

current cartridge is a AT-VM95ML.

Do you think a conical stylus (VM95C) could helps to reduce the background noise without need of changing the cartridge body?

thank you very much.
Mauro
Click to expand...

That is a really good question Mauro!

I have the same issue, because I have over 1,000 7" singles, and not all of them are in great condition. I have a record cleaning machine, and I clean all of my records, but it is still advantageous to use a stylus with a different profile and to that end, I am using a Rega Carbon on a Rega RB202 mounted on a Stanton ST.150 direct drive, though I am lucky enough to have more than one turntable. The Carbon has a spherical stylus, so I guess in your case, VM95C would help. Certainly I find the the Carbon gets the best out of old records without accentuating noise.
 
Agree that it's a good question - I've asked similar in the past on a hi-fi forum and was told to just buy better copies of the records! :confused: (I can only assume the poster was minted or had no interest in old/rare/obscure records..)

Probably not much help to the OP but I find a Stanton 500 really useful at tracking vinyl that's led a hard life.
 
Gerlando,

Just a thought but as the AT 95 ML shares the same cartridge body as a 95 E why not just put a 95 E stylus in instead.I think the last 95 E stylus I got was £ 25.

Loving my 95 ML BTW.....
 
I think conical styluses are very good for old, worn or otherwise iffy records. It's worth noting that the Denon DL103 has a conical stylus and that was designed for broadcast, getting music out of whatever record was under it.
 
Mr Pig said:
I think conical styluses are very good for old, worn or otherwise iffy records. It's worth noting that the Denon DL103 has a conical stylus and that was designed for broadcast, getting music out of whatever record was under it.
Click to expand...

I have a 103 too (on the LP12). It would be interesting to compare the carbon to the 103 on an old 45! I wonder if the phono stage makes a difference too? I'm running the Carbon through a Rega Fono Mini A2D.
 
Hi Mauro.

As those (the 45s certainly) will almost all be mono records, have you thought about getting a mono cartridge?

A mono cartridge will retrieve more information from the record and be a lot less noisy.
 
wylton said:
It would be interesting to compare the carbon to the 103 on an old 45!
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My take is that the best way to listen to 45s is on a relatively Lo-Fi set up. My pile of 45s is out in the shed because they work ok-ish on the limited system out there but just sound crap in the house. 12" singles notwithstanding.

I think whether the 103 or Carbon would would be better would depend on the system. If you have a MM input, the Carbon will sound better ;0)
 
wd40addict said:
There seems to be a bit of love for the XP3 stylus too. DJ version of the VM tracking at 3g
Click to expand...

That looks like basically a Carbon/AT-1600L stylus for the VM body. Nice as it saves you swapping the cart over though it's a bit cheeky that it costs more than the entire 3600L cartridge!
 
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