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Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ.

Does your TT have a removable headshell or carrier? If so ...

consider having separate cartridges. Constantly swapping styli wears the stylus hole in the cartridge out, and the stylus tube. Get a complete cartridge / headshell for mono LPs and another for 78s. They each have different needs and one cartridge won't meet both properly.

For mono LPs why not find a stereo one you like the sound of and contact the Expert Stylus Company in the UK They will retip virtually anything with a an 11 thou elliptical stylus for mono LPs. It's very good.

KAB sell Stanton styli with Mono LP tips, made for them by Expert, but I'd go for a better cartridge and get it retipped yourself. Expert retipped a Pickering 380 for me and it sounded better than the original and I get all my 78 styli from them.

78s need higher playing weights than mono LPs and a stiffer and more rugged cantilever is needed. I use retipped Shure M44 series carts, which is Expert's preferred 78 cartridge, the M78 tracks too lightly and always sounds anaemic to my ears. Expert supply the N44C improved which has the flip down stylus guard which is very useful when constantly swapping out cartridges.

The optimum tracking weight for 78s is normally 3-6 grams, depending on age and condition. Most post 1930 records will work with 3-4 grams.

An easy solution is a KAB Stanton 500, or the Grado LP and 78 cartridges, although I've not heard the Grado. I think the Ortofon is a light tracker, but I may be wrong.

There's no website -
Expert Stylus Company
PO Box 3
Ashtead
Surrey
KT21 2QD
United Kingdom

Tel: 0044 1372 276 604
Fax: 0044 1372 276 147

I hope this helps





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