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In Reply to: RE: I've got an M97xe posted by olddude55 on July 04, 2008 at 09:46:31
IMHO, it kicks a 440ML's cheap plastic ass all down the block.
As for the OP's Signet, it's very worthy of seeking out a stylus for.
My TK10ML is one of my "keepers", right next to the ADC TRX-2 and Grace F9 Ruby when run on my ADC LMF-1 low mass, carbon fiber arm.
I plan on setting up a NOS Magnepan Unitrac1 soon and trying all of my high compliance favorites out again on that arm too...
--
Al G.
Follow Ups:
Folks who think all AT carts are bright need to think again.
The mids are very smooth and accurate, at least to my ears, almost Shure-like.
I'm having tracking issues with the Grace, not just at the inner grooves. I think the Technics arm is maybe too massive.
I'd love to get my hands on a Unitrac. And a Kenwood KD-500 or 2055.
_
Everything's nice when you're covered in ice...
I don't think the AT's are all crap. I discovered that since the Signet is actually a selected high end AT cartridge. I said I picked up the Signet TK5Ea on ePay for 17.50 and the Micro Acoustics MA530MP for 26.98 they're both really good sounding carts. But I wasn't aware the TK5Ea was different than my TK5E. But what I did discover was the NOS AT 130 stylus I had but no cartridge to fit it on would work admirably with it. Also discovered some of my other lower grade AT cart stylus )like the RS 3500 stylus will fit nicely. SO it's kind of like having an ADC 25 was it? It came with 3 diff stylus. Conical, and 2 elliptical. Wish I still had my 10E MKII. I do have a 220XE, and 550 XE, plus the XLMs.I was very surprised how good the Signet TK5E really is. I had wanted a TK7E back in the early 80's (in a previous lifetime during incasaration in a doomed marriage, I finally got out after 13 years for Bad Behvior by the spouse. I got kids and house) But about the time I bought my original Maggies, the 5 foot model don't remember model MGIa's? Wife is in Phoenix for 3 weeks helping daughter with baby induced labor tomorrow so I'm dragging out the Maggies and setting them up with a nice Yamaha 135w/ch Power Amp. Between those and the original MA 2002e it had incredible transient response. Ran them thru a homemade preamp (Moore Preamp in Audio Amateur 1974), and a Marantz 250. I have a few AT that have nude stylus and a microline stylus they sound quite good. Not top end, but nothing to sneeze at. Even that really cheap conical one is great for sacrificail records. Thats what nice about having a cartridge you can put different stylus on for different records. Who amoung us doesn't have OLD beat up records we shouldn't play but Dang we just have to hear it. Yeah you can record it and then play that. But you need a vinyl fix. So the old Shures, AT's, even my ADC XLM I throw a cheap $6 stylus on and don't worry about it. Thats half the fun. I really enjoy it, and every once in a while you get a nice surprise.
...of vintage cartridges, housed in a fishing tacklebox.
I am not willing to shell out the bux to equip all of them with fresh, new styli but I do have a nice, 200x stereo microscope and have learned how to use it. I have also developed a "knack" for rehabilitating used, vintage cartridges found in the wild.
I often use an ultrasonic parts washer in conjunction with reagent grade water to give cartridges with detachable stylus assemblies a "bath". You would be amazed just how filthy the average stylus is allowed to become under "normal" use.
Anyway.
The Signet TK line is pretty nice. I find them much better balanced than their AT brethren. I have a TK5e, TK7e and the aforementioned flagship model, TK10ML. At the time of these models, AT and Signet were still separate companies (but owned by the same parent company). These models do not share anything with AT carts. The next generation did however.
While vintage cartridge hunting, don't overlook those old Empires. Some of those were manufactured by Benz! Keep and eye out for those old Pritchard designed Sonus carts too. Delicate, but worthy if found intact (or broken if you find a high end one and feel like a re-tip gamble/low price buy).
Dang, I think I might have a junk-yard eye...
--
Al G.
I've got an old Empire in my box, too. It was a freebie but it needs a stylus.
_
Everything's nice when you're covered in ice...
As my pal Mosin defines it, the "last ditch effort stuff". The product that was engineered/designed to compete with the looming digital "revolution" (and when Empire was about to go under) was outsourced to Benz.
Model numbers are escaping me at this point but 880LC rings a bell as does 5000EXI.
PM me with what you have and I will go digging and locate my folder of Empire reference material that I have filed somewhere and get back to you.
I gotta go move the doughnuts again now. I done went and blew my rest on the internet chatting about arcane old cartridges and now gotta go move a trainload of shiny new Hondas to Canada.
This might suck in about six hours. Coffee. Yeah, Coffee. I gotta go make some coffee...
--
Al G.
Got to move a trainload of Hondas? Are you working for the Railroad? Just curious as I work for railroad. The Empires I have probably are not the Benz types. I have a RM20, and the LTD400. Another old Cartridge I acquired years ago is a JVC X1-II, supposedly a very good cartridge but have no stylus for it. Also got a Satin M18 it too needs a stylus. Thought I had a Sonus but I do not. I have a Sumiko Blue Point which I never could get to sound right. It lost the diamond. Very disappointed.
DagW00d
...I broke mine too. What a relief.
I am a locomotive engineer for CSX Transportation and I do move trainloads of Hondas regularly. You?
--
Al G.
I work for Canadian Pacific in Bensenville/Franklin Park, IL. I used to be a Equipment Maintainer but after I got a piece of equipment hit twice they decided to make an example of me and busted me down 35% in pay and put me back on the bench. The railroad as you know is full of vindictive sob's . I worked Milwaukee to Chicago service area doing Hot Boxes, Fiber, AEI's, Radio Sites etc. Thats one of the busiest on the railroad beacause of the Amtrak Chicago Milwaukee scoots. I don't miss it. No more cringing everytime the phone rang 12 to 16 hours days did you say Hours of Service make me laugh. The rules only apply when you get caught doing something and they get caught then it's your fault. I'm sure you know what I mean. Those 6/24 work weeks sucked. I am much saner now. It's a brutal job. No place to hide when it's 100 degrees or when it's below zero and your working on stuff in the middle of nowhere with open exposure no trees etc. Yup don't miss it at all. DOn't even miss the money. You learn to adapt I remarried 19 years ago and we raised 6 kids my 3, her 3 so we always were very good with money and noone went for wanting.
Dagw00d
I worked in and out of Bensenville on the CSX/CP haulage rights trains for YEARS.
X501-X500 were the train numbers. We only had to deal with the scoots to Cragin, thank God. Busy little chunk of railroad there.
I swore off Chicago a few years ago and try to stay on the Toledo jobs now (if my seniority allows, it don't right now).
There are a few "rails" 'round here...
--
Al G.
I work for Canadian Pacific in Bensenville/Franklin Park, IL. I used to be a Equipment Maintainer but after I got a piece of equipment hit twice they decided to make an example of me and busted me down 35% in pay and put me back on the bench. The railroad as you know is full of vindictive SOB's, and I didn't drink so I didn't fall into their clique. I worked Milwaukee to Chicago service area doing Hot Boxes, Fiber, AEI's, Radio Sites etc. Thats one of the busiest on the railroad beacause of the Amtrak Chicago Milwaukee scoots. I don't miss it. No more cringing everytime the phone rang 12 to 16 hours days did you say Hours of Service make me laugh. The rules only apply when you get caught doing something and they get caught then it's your fault. I'm sure you know what I mean. Those 6/24 work weeks sucked. I am much saner now. It's a brutal job. No place to hide when it's 100 degrees or when it's below zero and your working on stuff in the middle of nowhere with open exposure no trees etc. Yup don't miss it at all. Don't even miss the money. You learn to adapt I remarried 19 years ago and we raised 6 kids my 3, her 3 so we always were very good with money and noone went for wanting.
Dagw00d
I have a few damaged MC cartridges I'm going to retip. An Accuphase AC2 (I broke it) and a DL103 I got for 25 damaged. I'm going to send them off to Soundsmith when I decide which level I want. I think I have a Sonus cartridge. My collection resides in plastic comparmental boxes. I have an old Empire 888p which is a pretty nice cartridge from the late 60's. 999SE without stylus. Some of the cartridges surprise me my old ADC XLM is a fine cartridge, however I'm disappointed with the Stanton 681, I thought it was a better cartridge then it seems to be. I really want to find a TK 10ML since I have the NOS replacement stylus for it.
DagW00d
I have gotten most of my cartridges from working in a record shop, part time, servicing record players, for the last ten years (and I have come to the realization that I have a "junkyard eye").The customer wants a new cartridge/working deck and most of the time cannot be talked out of buying a new cartridge. Even when I tell them that they are replacing a $300 cartridge (in the day) with a $60 one of lesser quality (I typically put a AT 95e on stuff or the Pfhansteil $20 one that is identical to the "Music Hall Tracker" depending on what the price limit is). Most of the time my suggestions of spending $100 on a replacement stylus instead fall on deaf ears. People are funny that way, they want shiny and new.
Other places that have landed me some nice vintage cartridge scores have been Electronic Sound, located in Grand Rapids, MI. and the sadly defunct, Sound Room in Grand Rapids.
Ebay can be good to you too if you land a "batch" or "grab bag" of bodies that contains what you want/need. That has worked out for me several times. I got three Shure V15 III bodies that way and at least a dozen GE VRII and Shure M3D carts too!
That TK10ML may be a bit elusive tho, being a flagship model and all...
Edit:
Do contact Sound-Smith about a retip on that AC-2, it's very worthy.
--
Al G.
I've got a M3D, and I'd like to get a GE VRII for my old Garrad arm or the Shure Transcription arm I have. Put that on my old Rek-O-Kut N33. Unfortunaely I don't just collexct cartridges.. I have about 40 turntables of various performance levels.
DagW00d
I think the AT440MLa is an excellent cartridge. It ain't that bright if you crank the VTA down and set the tracking at 1.7 grams VTF.
And it tracks, which to me is No. 1. I used a DL-103 for a while, and yeah that cart has good sound, but I couldn't get it to track inner grooves worth a damn no matter how I set it up.
I sure would love to have a 150MLx and might just get one some day.
And also FWIW, I'm an MM guy. They're easier to live with. No SUT and replaceable styli.
_
Everything's nice when you're covered in ice...
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