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Topic: question about turntable cartridges (Read 5155 times) previous topic - next topic
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question about turntable cartridges

I have a decent but old turntable (Hitachi HT-45). However, it has been in use for many years and has been treated pretty roughly. Anything I try to play on it sounds pretty bad, and I'm sure the stylus (and possibly cartridge) should have long since been replaced.

My question is, will I be able to put any modern cartridge onto this turntable? Will I need to align the azimuth or whatever? And if so, how would I go about doing that?

Also, if y'all have any good recommendations for cartridges (with stylus included) for under $100, I'd love to hear them.

question about turntable cartridges

Reply #1 –
Unless the stylus/cart mount is proprietary (which isn't likely from the pictures I'm seeing on google) then it should accept any 1/2" cartridge. Definitely avoid playing anything until you get a new cart and/or you get the existing cart inspected.

There are a ton of carts sold by Audio Technica and Ortofon that are the usual favorites. Out of them, the AT95e, AT120e, AT440ML and Ortofon 2M Red are generally recommended. The Shure M97xe is pretty well rated too.

The Vinyl Engine has a lot of good stuff on free protractors and how to use them:

http://www.vinylengine.com/protractor-user-guide.shtml

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-align...otractors.shtml

Once you do that and set the tracking force and antiskate accurately, you're pretty much set.

question about turntable cartridges

Reply #2 –
I jumped the gun a bit and went ahead and bought a Shure M97xE ($56 at amazon vs. $100+ MSRP)... only to find you recommended it anyway. Awesome.

I've avoided playing records on it recently, but unfortunately I did play quite a few on it before I came more knowledgeable. I hope I didn't mess them up too much...

Many thanks for the link, I was wondering where to get those protractor things.

Also, my turntable has a measuring ring by the counterweight, but it seems to spin freely. Would it be a good idea to just find roughly where the tonearm balances itself, set that as 0, and then determine the tracking weight using the numbers on the ring? And also, how would one determine the proper anti-skate value?

question about turntable cartridges

Reply #3 –
Quote from: slks on
I jumped the gun a bit and went ahead and bought a Shure M97xE ($56 at amazon vs. $100+ MSRP)... only to find you recommended it anyway. Awesome.
I wouldn't exactly call my namedrop of the M97xe a recommendation... a lot of people find it too warm and some people have tracking issues with it. And a lot of other people love it. It's to a large degree subjective.

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I've avoided playing records on it recently, but unfortunately I did play quite a few on it before I came more knowledgeable. I hope I didn't mess them up too much...
You can do fairly permanent damage to a record with a single play of a worn cartridge from what I understand. That said, I have not actually seen it happen with my own eyes myself.
 
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Many thanks for the link, I was wondering where to get those protractor things.
Note that you do need to verify that your printer prints out the protractor scaled correctly, etc. That shouldn't matter a huge deal for the grid-only protractors though.

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Also, my turntable has a measuring ring by the counterweight, but it seems to spin freely. Would it be a good idea to just find roughly where the tonearm balances itself, set that as 0, and then determine the tracking weight using the numbers on the ring? And also, how would one determine the proper anti-skate value?
That's how most people set the tracking force, except with the additional requirement that the balance occurs when the cartridge is balanced just above the record surface, and you disable antiskate while doing so. But the error in those counterweight markings is just ludicrous - probably something like 20% IIRC. It's usually a good idea to get a hold of a scale that can measure in tenths of a gram.

There aren't any particularly perfect ways of setting antiskate. Some people use a test record's torture tracks, but the skating force is actually somewhat proportional to the loudness of the track, so that will result in a slightly off value for normal music. The "theoretical" value to choose is very dependent on the tracking force, alignment, stylus profile etc and those are all somewhat unknown quantities. Even the best calibrated carts get uneven wear.

My guesstimate recommendation for an elliptical stylus is to set it to 1.5x the tracking force (antiskate adjustments are usually marked in grams) and lower it if you get excessive mistracking to the previous groove.
 

question about turntable cartridges

Reply #4 –
As a cartridge recommendation, I recommend the Denon DL-110. It might seem expensive since you bought a 60 dollar cartridge(the Denon is 140 USD). But, the DL-110 is (1) extremely neutral - near dead flat response (2) tracks superbly (3) has an elleptical nude diamond cut to the precision that is usually only expected of units costing several times more [and] (4) has a tip that is smaller than most, allowing it to read deeper into the groove, avoiding some of the surface damage on most used LPs.

The Denon is ideal for somewhat medium mass to high mass arms(which covers the vast majority of arms).

Also, I can't really figure out what a more expensive cartridge really offers over the DL-110 that is substantial.  Since the DL-110 is so incredibly flat in response and tracks so well, and has very low distortion(I have anlayzed/ measured this cartridge to verify); what can be offered by spending more? Coloration(which I personally do not want)?

-Chris