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Replace stylus or new cart ?


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I was wiping the dust off my turntable and managed to bend the stylus. Trued it up but it snapped off. Should I just replace the stylus or look at an opportunity to upgrade the cart? It’s a 2M red on a project debut carbon. Don’t wanna spend a bomb as I was pretty happy with the current setup. 

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19 minutes ago, Pipey said:

So this blue stylus fits on the red cartridge ? Is there any difference between the two ?

Tip shape or bonding style. Nude elliptical on the blue versus bonded elliptical on the red?

Net search will find it or someone might post exactly.

 

It's an upgrade and the best easy answer to your Q.

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7 minutes ago, russell66 said:

What would you consider spending?

What phono stage are you using? Does it have mc capability?

Also just to give me an idea of the system quality what speakers do you use?

I’d probably go to $300 or there abouts. I’m running a Yamaha RS 700 into some Whatmough c31 speakers. Phono is a Graham Slee ?? DIY type thing I bought from here. Sure it’s only for MM but 

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Given the budget and the fact you liked the Red anyway, it would probably make sense to give the Blue a go as it is a direct fit for the Red body and will likely keep a similar signature and give slight improvements to all areas.

Graham Slee make good Phono stages, put it up on the Forum and let someone identify it.

If it does do MC it would be worth experimenting later, perhaps starting with the Denon DL 103. (i think i saw one on ebay new for about $350 but that seemed cheap)

Did you just get C31 from Max, i was chasing them but someone just got there first?

Hope that helps a bit.

Cheers Russell

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2 hours ago, russell66 said:

Given the budget and the fact you liked the Red anyway, it would probably make sense to give the Blue a go as it is a direct fit for the Red body and will likely keep a similar signature and give slight improvements to all areas.

Graham Slee make good Phono stages, put it up on the Forum and let someone identify it.

If it does do MC it would be worth experimenting later, perhaps starting with the Denon DL 103. (i think i saw one on ebay new for about $350 but that seemed cheap)

Did you just get C31 from Max, i was chasing them but someone just got there first?

Hope that helps a bit.

Cheers Russell

Yeah that was me that got those speakers. Very impressed with them so far. I’ve bought a Blue Stylus from urban records in leederville. Just waiting on post now. 

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I just got a call from the record store that they are out of stock of the blue stylus. So They gave me a good deal on the whole cart. I’ve never changed one of these before. Any tips or tools that I should look at before attempting this ? 

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I agree with Batty - swap the cart.

 

However, if you wanted to change the cart, you will need a fine screwdriver (obvious) and an alignment protractor.  You can buy protractors from dealers, or download them from the internet for free.  It would be good to put the blue styli on the red cart and check what the alignment looks like with the protractor, so you will be able to compare when you change the cart bodies. 

Or better still, buy another headshell (same weight as your current one) to mount the blue cart on.  Then later you can get a red styli, so you will have the red to play damaged records and the blue to play your good records with, and it's easy to swap the headshells over when needed. 

 

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You could do a lot better by sourcing a Stanton L727/737/747 body, fitting into a Stanley Engineering wood body and sourcing a Jico, LPGEAR or Tonar stylus. The line contact types will give better performance.

 

Plenty of choices for styli as those were the P mount versions of the Stanton 680/681 and Pickering XV-15 carts. The wood body will further improve performance allowing a stiffer attachment of the tonearm and better damping of resonance.

 

This will absolutely kill the performance of your old red, being far closer to the Bronze than anything else.

 

EDIT: Ah, I see I was too late 

Edited by MattyW
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11 minutes ago, MattyW said:

You could do a lot better by sourcing a Stanton L727/737/747 body, fitting into a Stanley Engineering wood body and sourcing a Jico, LPGEAR or Tonar stylus. The line contact types will give better performance.

 

Plenty of choices for styli as those were the P mount versions of the Stanton 680/681 and Pickering XV-15 carts. The wood body will further improve performance allowing a stiffer attachment of the tonearm and better damping of resonance.

 

This will absolutely kill the performance of your old red, being far closer to the Bronze than anything else.

 

EDIT: Ah, I see I was too late 

Maybe not. Haven’t received the new blue yet ?

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Stanton 680 + genuine stylus: https://www.ebay.com/itm/382902178295

Wood body: https://www.ebay.com/itm/263979955726

 

Send the stylus off for a retip for best performance.  Will give a better result than Jico / LPGEAR  ;)

 

Or maybe pair this with shibata line contact: 

https://www.soundring.com.au/soundring-d861qd-shibata-stylus-for-stanton-681eee-s/

Edited by MattyW
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