Bear with me -- I'm goin' somewhere with this!
I have long been struck by the broad range of prices of phono cartridges -- and, as with most things in life, by and large, I believe, and have accepted, that one gets what one pays for.
(borrowed image)
My own first "hifi" (collected ca. 1975) included an ancient (1958 or so) VM record changer, which I upgraded with a Pickering MM (actually, I guess, MI) cartridge -- if memory serves, it was a P/AT-1. As I recall, it was $9.95 (ca. 1975) from my father's TV parts distributor.
I learned a lot about hifi over the next few years (college days) and discovered Grado MI cartridges ca. 1977. Even way back then, Grado had a wide array of cartridges, from an entry level conical (FTC, if memory serves --- EDIT: actually, I think it was the FCR(?)), which was also about $9.95 to the G-1 (which, I think, was $150, even way back then).
Ca. 1979, I passed a Philips tt I had used for a while to my parents -- outfitting it with Grado's 'entry-level' elliptical, the FTE+. This was a $13 cartridge in those days (!) and, I would opine, had most of the Grado sound (which, full disclosure, I liked -- and still do). I like(d) the FTE+ to the point that... I still have it.
Grado stylus pull3 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
Skipping over the next four-ish decades (since nothing much happened in the interim, anyway ), let's look at 2019. Whether because of, or in spite of, the "vinyl" resurgence, cheap phono cartridges never quite went away. Audio-Technica, bless their hearts (and for whatever reason) have continued to make (or have made) and sell cheap MM cartridges. Further, there seems to be a cult evolving around these cheap cartridges (to wit, the AT3600L and all of its morphs and permutations). There are scads of comments on these ($13 from China versions, especially) Elsewhere. I guess part of the mystique centers on the use of carbon fiber cantilevers in these extremely modest phono cartridges.
I'll also mention that there are even polished coprolite alternatives for those folks who want to stay cheap, but cannot quite bring themselves to go with alibaba (or whatever) route Here's one, e.g. LP Gear CARBON FIDELITY CF6500LE cartridge
So -- there's no point to this post, really (imagine that?!) -- except an attempt to catalyze some discussion about inexpensive/high value phono cartridges. You know, true doorway products that might be worthy upgrades (no fuss, no muss, no bother) for vinyl newbies.
See, e.g., Panasonic/Technics CES 2019 Press Conference video announcing two new Turntables from Technics
Thoughts? Comments? Favorites?
Thanks for your attention & consideration.
I have long been struck by the broad range of prices of phono cartridges -- and, as with most things in life, by and large, I believe, and have accepted, that one gets what one pays for.
(borrowed image)
My own first "hifi" (collected ca. 1975) included an ancient (1958 or so) VM record changer, which I upgraded with a Pickering MM (actually, I guess, MI) cartridge -- if memory serves, it was a P/AT-1. As I recall, it was $9.95 (ca. 1975) from my father's TV parts distributor.
I learned a lot about hifi over the next few years (college days) and discovered Grado MI cartridges ca. 1977. Even way back then, Grado had a wide array of cartridges, from an entry level conical (FTC, if memory serves --- EDIT: actually, I think it was the FCR(?)), which was also about $9.95 to the G-1 (which, I think, was $150, even way back then).
Ca. 1979, I passed a Philips tt I had used for a while to my parents -- outfitting it with Grado's 'entry-level' elliptical, the FTE+. This was a $13 cartridge in those days (!) and, I would opine, had most of the Grado sound (which, full disclosure, I liked -- and still do). I like(d) the FTE+ to the point that... I still have it.
Grado stylus pull3 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
Skipping over the next four-ish decades (since nothing much happened in the interim, anyway ), let's look at 2019. Whether because of, or in spite of, the "vinyl" resurgence, cheap phono cartridges never quite went away. Audio-Technica, bless their hearts (and for whatever reason) have continued to make (or have made) and sell cheap MM cartridges. Further, there seems to be a cult evolving around these cheap cartridges (to wit, the AT3600L and all of its morphs and permutations). There are scads of comments on these ($13 from China versions, especially) Elsewhere. I guess part of the mystique centers on the use of carbon fiber cantilevers in these extremely modest phono cartridges.
I'll also mention that there are even polished coprolite alternatives for those folks who want to stay cheap, but cannot quite bring themselves to go with alibaba (or whatever) route Here's one, e.g. LP Gear CARBON FIDELITY CF6500LE cartridge
So -- there's no point to this post, really (imagine that?!) -- except an attempt to catalyze some discussion about inexpensive/high value phono cartridges. You know, true doorway products that might be worthy upgrades (no fuss, no muss, no bother) for vinyl newbies.
See, e.g., Panasonic/Technics CES 2019 Press Conference video announcing two new Turntables from Technics
Thoughts? Comments? Favorites?
Thanks for your attention & consideration.
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