Stanton 890SA stylus

One last question. If I buy one of the generic headshell from the auction site, should I also buy a headshell weight to mount it? When it was on the original headshell, at 2.5g it was almost as far forward as it could go.

NOS stylus should be here Monday.
 
That's what I thought. Hopefully I don't need to track it higher than 2.5-2.75 grams, that's all the play room I have left.
 
No it is not. That's not factually correct. I have two 890SA and they are not 680 in disguise. Not the two I have anyway. I'm not sure how that myth got started, perhaps by Stanton's own slapdash materials, just as for some reason there was a rumor going that the XV-15/625E was moving magnet. No way, no how. Nyet, Nada, Niemals, Nein!

Quatsch!

Not to mention, the seller of those styli is selling the 890E, which is for the 890FS, which is known to be moving magnet and to which I can confirm. The seller is saying they work in the 680 bodies so that he can sell more of them. I have a feeling he's sitting on a boatload of them just wants to get rid of them. He got me to buy one even though I already had plenty just to check his claim. He said his 890E were of the last batch and so had smaller magnets that didn't cause hum. But to me, what causes the hum is the gauss, so even if the magnets are smaller, the magnetic flux should still be the same.

Guess what? It hummed. It's a very low hum, but it's there, and it's annoying. It sounds like a ground hum. In sum, the guy doesn't know what he's talking about--but he's got some nice styli for excellent prices. Just don't believe his sales balderdash.

its not that I don't believe that you have hum in your system its the fact that I have tried the N890E on a 680 or 681 body so many times with excellent results and near zero hum that I post those statements in my ads. And besides that I have verified feedback from many satisfied customers also confirming that the combo works. And yes, I do know what I'm talking about. There may be cases where there is interference nearby or a ground loop causing hum but in my reference system and my bedroom system there isn't with the above mentioned combo.
 
In the official specs from Stanton, the 890 is closer to the moving-iron 680/681 series than it is to the 881S:

680/681: 1300 ohms resistance, 930 mH inductance
890SA: 1300 ohms resistance, 970 mH inductance
881 MkII S: 900 ohms resistance, 510 mH inductance

Some of you are confused. The inductance and resistance of the coils is closer to the 680/681 series yes, but that has nothing to do with the operating principal being moving magnet vs. moving iron. If you want to verify carefully place a small metal screwdriver tip into the opening of a 680 or 681 and it will be attracted to the magnet inside. If you do the same with any of the 890's or 881 nothing will happen because the magnet is in the stylus at the rear of the cantilever.

On a side note: Yes a Pickering XV15 625E is a moving iron cartridge. The reports of it being MM threw me off as well until I checked it myself. But my N890E stylus does work in it and other XV15 carts as well because the magnet in the stylus is composed of a ferrous material that reacts with the magnet in the body.
 
I'm finally (after all these months) listening to the 890SA with the N890E stylus and it sounds fantastic! Thanks for the suggestion needlestein. A bit bass heavy, but fun. I need to work on the alignment a bit I think (damn hands), but it sounds good so far at 2.5g.
 
You’re welcome! It’s a nice stylus in the right cartridge. Good luck with the bass. Maybe try some positive SRA. You may want to try 3g. It might sound counterintuitive, but your highs could fill in and tame that bass a bit, but don’t expect miracles. Stanton cartridges are never bass shy.

I'll give 3g a try tonight. Is it just me, or are Stanton's kind hard to square due to the plastic pieces moving when tightening them down. Thought I had it square, but checked before I left for work and it's angled slightly to the side.
 
Got it better aligned today, and tracking at 3g. Bass is tamed a bit, and sounds a lot better. I like the sound a lot better than the Nagaoka, but my AT440 still wins out by a bit (esp in the inner groves - obviously).
 
And it hums.
only one complaint of hum on my N890E needles (from you) after dozens sold. maybe up to 100 sold actually. I thought it might hum with the early short body 680/681's and xv/15's that had 2 coils instead of 4 but it didn't. same amount of standard noise floor as a moving iron stylus. verified over and over by myself and with positive comments from buyers. Try on a different setup with different headshell and wires. Maybe a different cartridge too. something isn't right if there is noticeable hum.
 
Well, it probably wouldn't be ruler flat. Stanton was adhering to "purist" principles when delivering advice like this. I can stick a D81 in mine and see what happens. I wish I had FR software, but oh well. All I have is my ears.

I have tried the 890E in an 881 body and it sounds awesome--not really sure if it's better than in the proper body or not. There are some threads here on AK by others who have tried this, and with very positive reactions. The DJ bodies are usually amped up to create higher output which results in higher impedance and, as I understand it, a loss of high frequency response which would not make a true 881S owner happy. The "amping up" also includes larger magnets in the stylus, which slows down reaction time, so an 890E stylus in an 880/881 body will still, of course, not deliver the same kind of experience (particularly at the same tracking force) as a light tracking, short cantilevered, D81 Stereohedron stylus. They're just not in the same league or intended for the same purpose.

However, note that the 890AL DJ cartridge is exactly the same internally as the 880/881.

( * Bumping thread back to life * )

I've just now been playing my Stanton 881S cart with a "D890" Stanton stylus that I recently remembered I got quite a while ago. It sounds pretty good, but certainly different from the D81S. In fact, I found that the overall spectrum sounded better if I bumped up the Treble on my amp by one or two marks (I always keep tone controls flat, except for rare circumstances). The big difference on Stevie Wonder "Inner Visions" and on 'Frederick Fennell/Cleveland Symph Winds: Holst, Handel, and Bach' is that it is like the bass drum is in the living room with me! Hee, hee, hee. Another difference is that with it's very stout cantilever, one wouldn't be afraid of playing a rather beat up record that might rip the bejeebus out of a poor little (and expensive) D81S.
 
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