I Think I Need a Conical Stylus for a Shure V15 or Stanton 681

Danimal1969

The Tall Guy
Ok, I’m showing my ignorance here. Be warned.


Somehow the world of styrene 45’s passed me by. I was totally unaware of this deviation from “regular” vinyl pressings. The a couple days ago I picked up some 45’s and actually found one pretty nice gem. I was informed that it was styrene and I shouldn’t play it on my “normal” turntable. I dismissed the advice because I am quite happy with my main table and a Van Den Hul cart. But I gave google a chance too and found so much info that I now confused.

If I understand correctly, a conical stylus is what styrene records like and most others will ruin the pressing in short order. I happen to have an old Shure V15 type IV and a Stanton 681. Can somebody tell me what conical stylus I should be looking at for either of these? I guess as a bonus it will be a good stylus for albums of lesser condition as well.

I welcome any opinions here...
 
Funny thing about styrene, a nice clean NOS copy can actually sound better than vinyl. However, it does tend to show signs of wear faster.
I use conicals with my 45's mainly because it lessens the snap crackle pop factor.

Kinda depends on how often you plan on playing a styrene 45.
Gotta remember that 45's were basically made for the kid market and most received considerable abuse....and often still sound just fine.

Truth is I don't worry very much about wear from playing.....and believe me I've got a lot more invested in my 45 collection than most have invested in their system.

As far as your original question, I do really like the Stanton 681/680, but imo the short cantilevers cause considerable problems with warped records....so I don't use them with 45's.
And I have no experience using a V15 mk4 with 45's.

Pretty much standard in the 45 world is the Shure M44G or 7....although I'm currently using a Shure M75 with a conical.
Might be switching to a Grado though. Maybe run a 1 mil "mono" stylus or the cheaper of the DJ styli they make in one of the random Grado carts I have around.
 
He can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think @needlestein recommended an inexpensive TEI branded conical that sells on ebay for the 68x.

I think ellipticals are generally OK for styrene 45s, but I do remember several people saying that certain exotic styli can damage them in one play. I think Kent T. was one of them, and I tend to believe what he has to say.
 
I have a D6807A stylus for my Stanton which apparently is a “spherical”. I guess I didn’t realize it meant the same as conical. Anybody use that for styrene?
 
I have a D6807A stylus for my Stanton which apparently is a “spherical”. I guess I didn’t realize it meant the same as conical. Anybody use that for styrene?

That should work just fine.
As I said above, the only reason I don't use the Stanton 680/81 on 45's is because in my experience they're not great with warps.
 
I appreciate the feedback. I don’t have a ton of 45’s but I figured I could set up my spare table to play them and/or albums in lesser condition.
 
I have played mint styrene 45's for over fifty years with elipticals, Shibata, fine lines, Van Den Hul etc and have never damaged or worn one. I suppose the possibility is there if the cartridge is not aligned properly
or the tracking force is too high.
 
Yes Stanton 680/681 and Pickering XV-15 are all interchangable. If you go to KAB there is a cross reference for all Stanton stylus that fit 680/681 bodies.Unfortunatly they don't have one for Pickering or between the two
 
I have played mint styrene 45's for over fifty years with elipticals, Shibata, fine lines, Van Den Hul etc and have never damaged or worn one. I suppose the possibility is there if the cartridge is not aligned properly
or the tracking force is too high.

The only issue I ever had in my experience (as long as yours, and also in a professional capacity, dubbing music to tape carts for radio stations in the last century) was in playing a 60s era Columbia pressed styrene 45 with a properly set up Shure V15V-MR. "Little bits" of the material curled around the stylus while playing. Of course it ruined the record. However, as I said, it's been my only experience like that.

I've never had any issues with Shibata, Stereohedron, hyper-ellipticals, or fine lines. Still, if it was an irreplaceable record, I would stick with a conical, or broad (0.4 X 0.7 mil) elliptical. YMMV, batteries not included.

jDiamantis
 
The Stanton 681 would be your easiest of the two to get a conical for, the Jico D6807A would be a recommended option tracked around 2 grams.
 
what is the difference between conical and spherical?

merchandising.jpg
 
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