Thank you for doing all these comparisons! These videos serve as a wonderful archive of information for those of us who’ll never hear these carts in person.
The first cart sounded slightly distorted like it was overloading the preamp or the rubber in it was starting to fail. Impressive feat accumulating all the early stereo magnetic carts. I feel like some of the early ceramic carts should be compared...Most of the high end Magnavox and Zenith consoles of the era that could hold their own against any comparably priced component system of the day had ceramic cartridges and sounded very good (I've got a 1963 Zenith model 7500 with the Zenith 2G ceramic cart and 7K31 amp and it'll give a modern system a run for it's money) ...Granted you have to have a ceramic specific preamp or a period tube amp designed to work with a ceramic cart to properly enjoy one.
@@bertroost1675 It's no different from a magnetic cartridge. The number of plays a stylus is rated for depends on what it's made of. IIRC Diamond is rated for around 1000 plays, ruby and sapphire slightly less, and osmium slightly less than sapphire. Generally it's not a bad idea when more than %80 of a rated life has been used to periodically check sylus condition with a microscope or jewlers loupe to make sure it hasn't chipped or worn unevenly.
The Pickering is distorting audibly. Is the stylus worn? The M3D sounds absolutely majestic. Edit: the Empire distorts too on the loudest parts. You can hear it in headphones.
The M3D is the first moving magnet stereo cartridge. The Elacs were variable reluctance or moving Iron cartridges. They have a fixed permanet magnet within the cartridge body.
The Shure, ADC and Pickering styli are original. Empire does not have any label that identifies it as original but it definitely is not newer than the cartridge.
Of the first four I liked the ADC best and its curves show why. In subsequent years I think the Shure Brothers bested everybody with their M55E and V15 cartridges. V15 type III was the last one I owned. I never found anything else as good. Vinyl really sucks though for oh so many reasons! Mostly sought music on reel to reel tape back then. So much better but inconvenient.
I like the ADC, it would be nice if you could add a GRADO FC in there or the original, and for the critics maybe a Sonotone Ceramic 8TA. I believe the cut is The Seahawks Overture, from the Seahawks Album by Erich Wolfgang. A GREAT album.
Thank you! I was wondering as well. It really felt like the music was screaming “I’m a movie! Watch me!” 😉 I have a feeling that John might have been heavily inspired by tracks such as this.
I have a ADC QLM 30 Mk iii cart, it only sounds good when I'm playing softer music, on classic rock it doesn't sound as good as my Empire 400tc which sounds amazing on classic rock. However, I also have a Empire EXL 20, that cart sounds better with classical music than does the ADC, but I can't find a stylus for it. From my very limited knowledge based only on what I own, the Empire is better than the ADC by a long shot, even the EXL 20 sounds better...at least on my turntable, maybe on someone else's turntable things might change. I'm using a Rotel 1000RP turntable that I now use with a Hudson HiFi acrylic mat that made the music richer, fuller sounding with a bit deeper bass, and clearer highs, no static noise either, a much superior mat to my cork or the original rubber mat. Not sure how good that turntable is, but I did ask on a turntable forum a year ago as to whether or not I should replace my 50 plus year old turntable with the much raved about Fluance RT85, and it was a resounding vote to keep my Rotel, not sure why, I'm still on a limb about that though, mostly because my Rotel is 50 plus years old. I did an AI search on both carts the Fluance RT85 comes with, and an Audio Tech VM540ML cart, and AI said that the Empire 400tc is the better cart for vintage music, even had wider frequency response and a wider soundstage, strange after all these years I would thought the new ones would have improved a lot due to technology improving, I guess not.
Your tracking the stanton to high it only needs 3.5 grams the red stylus version needs 4.5 to 5 grams also the pickups work better with a high mass tonearm
At the recommended VTF of 3.5 grams, the 371A will ony play records recorded at low levels. In order to track the high modulated recording of the Sea Hawk score, it was necessary to increase the VTF to 5 grams; anything lower resulted in unacceptable distortion.
I have 2 different Stanton cartridges, not the model playing in this video. Both cartridges sound really bad with sibilance after the 1/3rd to 1/2 point on a record. Totally unforgivable. Is it any surprise in recent years that the Stanton company finally folded? The Shure V15 Type 3 and Audio Technia AT440MLa are my best cartridges. Cartridge prices now days are crazy expensive for anything in the upper medium quality range.
Hi Paul, I have the Stanton 681 and had bad sibilance and replaced the stylus with a cheaper one and got the same result. I inspected the old one with a digital microscope and found it to be gummed up. I cleaned the gum with metho and a cotton tip carefully and it then played perfectly on 1.2 grams tracking weight. The replacement styli choice is everything for the old Stantons.
@@andrewstewart8704, Hi Andrew, The 2 Stanton's I have are: 681EEE and 7804DQ. I do not know much about this brand other than what I said in my comments 3 weeks ago. I have used rubbing alcohol with wire brush and 1/4" nylon or other soft brush to clean my styluses for the last 50 years with good results. Looking at the stylus stem on these cartridges, I would think that they should be a non-issue with regard to sibilance. I even looked at these needles under magnification which showed no signs of needle wear. Could be that the suspension part of the stylus has gone stiff with age? I'm not very inclined to put money into questionable cartridges. The cartridges I have used over the years are: Vintage Shure and Audio Technica. These have not suffered me with sibilance. What other cartridges have you used with favorable listening results?
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Thank you for doing all these comparisons! These videos serve as a wonderful archive of information for those of us who’ll never hear these carts in person.
👍 Thank you so much!!!
I have an M3D and in use here, it’s more a novelty. But it works well on early stereo records.
I like the Empire 88
The first cart sounded slightly distorted like it was overloading the preamp or the rubber in it was starting to fail. Impressive feat accumulating all the early stereo magnetic carts. I feel like some of the early ceramic carts should be compared...Most of the high end Magnavox and Zenith consoles of the era that could hold their own against any comparably priced component system of the day had ceramic cartridges and sounded very good (I've got a 1963 Zenith model 7500 with the Zenith 2G ceramic cart and 7K31 amp and it'll give a modern system a run for it's money) ...Granted you have to have a ceramic specific preamp or a period tube amp designed to work with a ceramic cart to properly enjoy one.
How often do you need to change out the stylus for a ceramic cartridge?
@@bertroost1675 It's no different from a magnetic cartridge. The number of plays a stylus is rated for depends on what it's made of. IIRC Diamond is rated for around 1000 plays, ruby and sapphire slightly less, and osmium slightly less than sapphire.
Generally it's not a bad idea when more than %80 of a rated life has been used to periodically check sylus condition with a microscope or jewlers loupe to make sure it hasn't chipped or worn unevenly.
@@bertroost1675 it depends on how clean you keep your records : if you keep them very clean 3 or 4 years is about right
@@larryshaver3568 For a ceramic? I thought they needed to be replaced every 30 to 40 hours?
Does a person set the tracking weight with the brush down or with the brush out of the way?
For Stanton, add an extra gram with the brush down. For Shure, add an extra 1/2 gram with the brush down.
The Pickering is distorting audibly. Is the stylus worn? The M3D sounds absolutely majestic.
Edit: the Empire distorts too on the loudest parts. You can hear it in headphones.
Do you know what the world's first stereo cartridge was? Shure M3D or Elac STS-200?
The M3D is the first moving magnet stereo cartridge. The Elacs were variable reluctance or moving Iron cartridges. They have a fixed permanet magnet within the cartridge body.
I liked ADC and STANTON cartridges the most...1950's and 1960's cartridges..wow!
Does each cartridge has an original stylus of an aftermarket? This is also a challange. Love the ADC
The Shure, ADC and Pickering styli are original. Empire does not have any label that identifies it as original but it definitely is not newer than the cartridge.
Of the first four I liked the ADC best and its curves show why. In subsequent years I think the Shure Brothers bested everybody with their M55E and V15 cartridges. V15 type III was the last one I owned. I never found anything else as good. Vinyl really sucks though for oh so many reasons! Mostly sought music on reel to reel tape back then. So much better but inconvenient.
Shure sounded nice
I like the ADC, it would be nice if you could add a GRADO FC in there or the original, and for the critics maybe a Sonotone Ceramic 8TA. I believe the cut is The Seahawks Overture, from the Seahawks Album by Erich Wolfgang. A GREAT album.
el shure y su hermoso sonido!
De los 4 cartuchos, Shure fue el único que estuvo en producción durante más de 12 años.
The M3D and specially the ADC-1 are the winners in my opinion
What is that track? It sounds like John Williams.
It's the main theme from "The Sea Hawk" (1940) starring Errol Flynn written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold.
Thank you!
I was wondering as well. It really felt like the music was screaming “I’m a movie! Watch me!” 😉
I have a feeling that John might have been heavily inspired by tracks such as this.
The Stanton was definitely the best..
I have a ADC QLM 30 Mk iii cart, it only sounds good when I'm playing softer music, on classic rock it doesn't sound as good as my Empire 400tc which sounds amazing on classic rock. However, I also have a Empire EXL 20, that cart sounds better with classical music than does the ADC, but I can't find a stylus for it. From my very limited knowledge based only on what I own, the Empire is better than the ADC by a long shot, even the EXL 20 sounds better...at least on my turntable, maybe on someone else's turntable things might change.
I'm using a Rotel 1000RP turntable that I now use with a Hudson HiFi acrylic mat that made the music richer, fuller sounding with a bit deeper bass, and clearer highs, no static noise either, a much superior mat to my cork or the original rubber mat. Not sure how good that turntable is, but I did ask on a turntable forum a year ago as to whether or not I should replace my 50 plus year old turntable with the much raved about Fluance RT85, and it was a resounding vote to keep my Rotel, not sure why, I'm still on a limb about that though, mostly because my Rotel is 50 plus years old.
I did an AI search on both carts the Fluance RT85 comes with, and an Audio Tech VM540ML cart, and AI said that the Empire 400tc is the better cart for vintage music, even had wider frequency response and a wider soundstage, strange after all these years I would thought the new ones would have improved a lot due to technology improving, I guess not.
I wonder if JICO has replacement styluses/styli, LOL!! tio Jimmy from 😊 bucolic 😅 downtown Schnecksville, PA, sun 🌞 and fun 🎉capital of the world!!
Your tracking the stanton to high it only needs 3.5 grams the red stylus version needs 4.5 to 5 grams also the pickups work better with a high mass tonearm
At the recommended VTF of 3.5 grams, the 371A will ony play records recorded at low levels. In order to track the high modulated recording of the Sea Hawk score, it was necessary to increase the VTF to 5 grams; anything lower resulted in unacceptable distortion.
Good to know thanks
Учитывая что все головки делались из Шура, то результат предсказуем!!!🤗
the Shure M3D and the Empire sounded much better as did the ADC
I have 2 different Stanton cartridges, not the model playing in this video. Both cartridges sound really bad with sibilance after the 1/3rd to 1/2 point on a record. Totally unforgivable. Is it any surprise in recent years that the Stanton company finally folded? The Shure V15 Type 3 and Audio Technia AT440MLa are my best cartridges. Cartridge prices now days are crazy expensive for anything in the upper medium quality range.
Hi Paul, I have the Stanton 681 and had bad sibilance and replaced the stylus with a cheaper one and got the same result. I inspected the old one with a digital microscope and found it to be gummed up. I cleaned the gum with metho and a cotton tip carefully and it then played perfectly on 1.2 grams tracking weight. The replacement styli choice is everything for the old Stantons.
@@andrewstewart8704, Hi Andrew, The 2 Stanton's I have are: 681EEE and 7804DQ. I do not know much about this brand other than what I said in my comments 3 weeks ago. I have used rubbing alcohol with wire brush and 1/4" nylon or other soft brush to clean my styluses for the last 50 years with good results. Looking at the stylus stem on these cartridges, I would think that they should be a non-issue with regard to sibilance. I even looked at these needles under magnification which showed no signs of needle wear. Could be that the suspension part of the stylus has gone stiff with age? I'm not very inclined to put money into questionable cartridges. The cartridges I have used over the years are: Vintage Shure and Audio Technica. These have not suffered me with sibilance. What other cartridges have you used with favorable listening results?
@@paulturner3553 The 681EEE is the one that I have. I always wanted to try the Sure v15 out.
@@andrewstewart8704, I have the Shure V15 Type 3 and 4. The 3 is the better of the two.
I prefer ADC-1.
the pickering sounded awful