Vintage Cartridges -- Ugh, not another sickness

Vinyl Asylum

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I've been mentioning off and on about a 4 year cartridge search. It's not really a search it's more of a sickness. "Oooo, I haven't tired this one yet." So far I've "tried out" for about 6 months each the following quick succession:
Grado Red
Rega Exact
Denon DL103R
Denon DL103D
AT OC9ML II
Benz Glider L2
Shelter 501II
These have all been bought and then resold (except one the DL103D) over a 4 year period. The only ones I didn't like were the Grado and the Rega. As you can see the others are all low output MCs. The MCs have all been pretty good. Out of that list I liked the DL103D the best. That was until I bought a stylis for a 20+ year old AT cart I've had since the mid 80's. Much as I hate to admit it I love the sound of this thing.
So, that got me thinking, if my "mid level" ATMK12sII sounds this good... then what's better?
Now, I'm checking for used carts everywhere I go. I'm trolling ebay and the like. It's a sickness I tell you. I bought a NOS AT13Ea for cheap on Ebay. I was looking for a AT15Sa and happened on this one for less than the cost of a replacement stylis. I've learned that the Audio Technica AT14Sa, AT15Sa and the AT20Sa are the "better" carts from this era. The "S" stands for Shibata sytlii. So, a 14Ea is an eliptical stylis cart.
I've also learned to my surprise that the Shibata was best for Quad records back in the day and that there are still a bunch of folks out there doing Quad LPs. You think we're nuts... these guys are scronging SQ LPs and gear. Wow! In fact, I found a forum like the VA for Quad folks and they were snarfing up AT15Sa carts everywhere they could find 'em.
Some folks here have commented in past threads that the Eliptical ATs are better than the Shibatas for non-Quad use. Hense my order today of the AT13Ea.
This hobby is full of so many odd little quirks that its insane. Vintage Carts sound good. Who knew? Maybe better than some really expensive current day carts. Again, who knew? Gee, if you can spend $45 on a NOS cart from 1986 and it sounds better to you then an $800 current day cartridge then who's the nutcase here?
I'm still hunting for that allusive AT15Sa (or AT15Ea if there is such a beast.) And, I'm recommending if you have some 20 year old carts you should remount those bad boys and give 'em a try. But be careful, it's a sickness.
Paul Green

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Topic - Vintage Cartridges -- Ugh, not another sickness - creativepart 16:33:54 09/21/06 (9)

I recently have gone back to... - BJordan 10:32:23 09/22/06 (2)

Re: I recently have gone back to... - Gulliver 13:28:24 09/22/06 (1)

cool... - BJordan 17:16:19 09/22/06 (0)

Re: Vintage Cartridges -- Ugh, not another sickness - Lew 07:13:12 09/22/06 (0)

Re: Vintage Cartridges -- Ugh, not another sickness - Munkie_NL 23:56:15 09/21/06 (2)

Re: Vintage Cartridges -- Ugh, not another sickness - mosin 21:11:08 09/22/06 (1)

How about the Audio Technica AT62E? - creativepart 12:37:13 09/23/06 (0)

Re: Vintage Cartridges -- Ugh, not another sickness - Detailman 17:49:30 09/21/06 (1)

The Dr is in.....and the Rx is to buy even more Vintage cartridges..... - tubesforever 21:08:09 09/21/06 (0)

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