Should I throw away this cartridge??

[Martin213]

Originally Posted by michael orme

HiFi Choice Magazine tested some budget Cartridges, a while back, The Audio Technica AT110, did well in the test, it has a slightly higher output than the other carts in AT's budget range, and was easy to setup. It will cost you £30 online today.

On a tight budget,i agree with you Michael.........But with a 1006 u have an upgrade path....You pays your money,you takes your choice

[Audiognome]

Originally Posted by BOONDI

Have you made sure that the cartridge alignment is correct and that you have the correct overhang for your arm/deck??

This can be a major source of distortion.....

You don't say what condition your vinyl is in. Is it all car boot or is it pristine "collectors edition" . If it's the later, then I would recommend a decent cart such as the Goldring 1006, Shure M97 xe, Stanton 681 EEE or the Pickering XV15 625E(Can be had on Ebay with 2 spare stylii for £67 and can be fitted with Stanton and Pickering fine line or stereohaedron stylii).....All good carts......

The distortion isn't really an issue, since I increased the stylus pressure to what it's supposed to be. More the fact that the sound is dull & lifeless, really. My vinyl collection varies in condition - most of mine were bought in the '80s and are pretty much immaculate. My wife's, on the other hand, look like they've had a few too many 'jazz woodbines' rolled on them ....:p

Goldring 1006 seems to be cropping up a lot ... maybe I should dig a little deeper than I had planned. Best price I've found so far is £62 from Mantra (with a trade-in), which doesn't seem too bad !

[Martin213]

IMHO You are making a wise choice,£62 is a very good price,and also it allows for a future upgrade.

Kindest Regards

Martin

[michael orme]

Originally Posted by Martin213

On a tight budget,i agree with you Michael.........But with a 1006 u have an upgrade path....You pays your money,you takes your choice

The Goldring you mention was one of the four cartridges tested at the same time as the AT. A Grado, and a cheap Rega were the other two, I have only heard the Rega, and then for a short listen. I don't take a HiFi magazine's word as absolute, of course. They used a Rega, (P3 I think) deck.
Mike Rhyl.

[Fred Shaw]

Calling Jimangus,

Jim, you have a couple of PMs.

Fred.

[henley]

Might be worth holding fire for a bit, I hear Ortofon have some new MM's coming soon.

BTW, the VMS series all shared the same body but the styli were, most certainly, different.

My first proper cartridge was an Ortofon VMS, with one of the better styli (a 30 I think?). It was a good cartridge, and definitely better than the Linn K9 that attempted to replace it when I got conned into a Kondek.

When I later got one of the better Goldring 1042 based MMs (a Reson) it got given to a friend who is still using it to this day.

[nortonl]

Don't bin it. I don't know what the 10 was like but my VMS20E MkII sounds better (to me) than either a Goldring 1042 or Music Maker III. I have compared all three today on the same deck.

The top end certainly doesn't sound rolled off - it's the only one of the above three that isn't.

Ortofon don't make the 10 stylus any more but the body is the same as the 20 and a proper Ortofon one costs £65.

Even if you get something else, keep the Ortofon in a drawer for a rainy day.

http://www.ortofon.com/html/profile....nical_data.asp D 20 E MK II STYLUS

[Audiognome]

Hi,

I've revived this thread as I finally got around to getting myself a Goldring 1006. (Many thanks to all who advised me). I've fitted it, checked overhang (using the stylus protractor from www.enjoythemusic.com (is this accurate enough?)), set stylus pressure, checked azimuth, etc, etc.

The results? Variable - one thing I've definitely noticed is a massive improvement at the bass end - far more deep bass & a much more natural & detailed sound. At the top end I'm not so sure - a bit of a darker sound all round than from CD, but maybe at the same time not as smooth as I'd hoped.

My other bugbear is Led Zepellin II. I can't seem to hear this album cleanly on any medium Shows up most obviously on the drum solo in "Moby Dick". My CD copy sounds pretty awful - significant distortion. My vinyl copy (which I should mention is very old) starts off much better - a much bigger, more natural sound. But, as Mr. Bonham starts to go ape towards the end, this sounds distorted also.

Any thoughts? I wondered about stylus pressure, as I don't have a balance - I'm just setting it using the vernier on the arm weight (having first zeroed it, by balancing the arm level). recommended pressure is 1.75g. I tried tweaking it up to 2.0 (max recommended) but this doesn't seem to make a lot of difference. Is this adjustment likely to be near-enough or is it possibly hopelessly inaccurate?

At the moment I'm spinning "Borderline Cases" by RDF (low-budget crusty dub from 1990), which sounds fantastic - clean & bright - better than I've ever heard it before.

Any idea why I'm getting such variable results - is it just the fact that some of my older vinyl has been ploughed mercilessly in the past, by a grotty stylus, I wonder, or is it that some LPs are just easier to track than others?

Any thoughts appreciated. I'm running the cart through a PhonoII, by the way.

Nigel.

[Little Mick]

Hi

As far as Moby Dick is concerned it sounds like that on my K40037 which I bought new and has always sounded like that, however it sounds far better on How the West Was Won via CD. In fact it reminds me of a (push pull) amp only working on one channel.

Regards

Stuart