ADC PSX-40 on SL-10?

[revox-b77]

I have really been liking the sound of my ADC XLM Mk iii on my TT and I have been trying to find a p mount version for my Technics SL-10. I really like the ADC sound. How does the PSX 40 compare to the XLM Mk iii? Is the stylus upgradeable or is the .2x.7 nude the top of the line?
Thanks

 

[wualta]

On a close listen, I don't think it's quite as good, but then it didn't cost quite as much. For less critical listening, they're in the same ballpark, though the Mk III can track better. As far as I know, the 40 was the top of the line.

 

[SaSi]

You will adore the sound of the Ortofon OMP40 on the SL-10. Even the 30. Try them.

 

[revox-b77]

SaSi,
Thanks for the reply...
Is the OMP40 an improvement over the sound of the Technics 310mc? For the price we are looking at here I could have the original cart recantilevered and tipped.
Thanks

 

[revox-b77]

Wualta,
Is there a ADC p-mount body that will accept the XT series of styli?

 

[SA-708]

There is an ADC p-mount XT series; I have a RXM-II stylus on a used body and it sounds pretty good. The PSX-40 is no slouch either, but I'm a sucker for the induced magnet moving iron sound.

I have over 50 p-mount cartridges, and my Technics 310MC is a clear step better than all of the others. I plan on getting mine retipped soon, but will have them keep the boron cantilever.

 

[wualta]

This is a very interesting discussion, at any time but especially in light of my recent audition of the Soundsmith Zephyr Mk II, which is a moving-iron cartridge with a non-user-replaceable boron [rod] stylus assembly.

As SA-708 said, there are, or rather, briefly were ADC p-mount bodies-- Integra XTs, no less-- that were designed to take our XT styli. SA-708 and I wrote about them last November here. The length of their stay in the marketplace is still a mystery, but it couldn't have been long. The great advantage of getting an XT body is that one can then mount any of the top Integra, Mk II or Mk III (Improved or not) styli on one's SL-10.

 

[revox-b77]

That was an interesting read....Integra XT... Thanks wualta

 

[revox-b77]

Looking around I see several cartridges listed as xt-1; xt-2 and xt-3.
These are obviously 1/2" mount cartridges as I can see the ears. There is one I found that does appear to be a p-mount xt-1. We will see what happens with that one. Did these cartridges come as p & 1/2" mount or are the others labled incorrectly by the stylus in them? What type of cartridge body is in the integra headshell?

 

[wualta]

Looking around I see several cartridges listed as xt-1; xt-2 and xt-3. These are obviously 1/2" mount cartridges as I can see the ears. ... are the others labled incorrectly by the stylus in them?

Exactly correct. The stylus 'n' cartridge biz these days, with a few notable exceptions, can be categorized as "whatever the market will bear". In other words, sellers frequently don't know as much as you do about what they're selling, and you've come across a good example.

Not that it matters much in this case, as I'll explain.

What type of cartridge body is in the integra headshell?

It's an oddball. I've jokingly called it the "Mk II½". Mechanically it's the same as any other XLM-style ADC body. Electrically, it's in between the top Mk II and top Mk III bodies. Which puts it so close to both that its styli can be used for both. In a way, the Integra styli are the universal ADC styli.

So we can let the online sellers call a non-Integra body an "XT" body if they want, as long as it measures between 625 ohms and 820 ohms. Integra bodies measure 780 ohms. Tolerance is ±10%.


Geek note: Muddying the waters a bit are the black ADC ST Pre-Mount bodies. These are bodies with conventional mounting ears that came already mounted on an ADC straight-arm headshell, and can be removed from that headshell. They're not labeled Integra, on the packaging, manuals or anywhere else, but the bodies are electrically Integra bodies.

What th--?

Then, to confuse you even more, ADC turned around and made Integra ST integrated-headshell bodies. Same bodies but non-removable, and labeled Integra.

So it's conceivable, though not bloody likely, that a seller could be offering an Integra XT stylus on a crypto-Integra ST body, and it would be an exact match, though of course not the p-mount you were originally after, which is called an Integra despite there being no integrated headshell. No headshell at all, since p-mounts don't have 'em. Whew.
.

 

[SA-708]

Did these cartridges come as p & 1/2" mount or are the others labled incorrectly by the stylus in them?

When I bought my good XT cartridge body, it was listed on eBay as the model number on the blue RadioShack/ADC cobranded cantilever-free stylus assembly that was on the cartridge, not as an XT. With the lack of a model number on these ADC cartridge bodies, they get listed on eBay based on whatever model number is on the stylus. It seems that the XT replacement styli were more common than the p-mount XT cartridge bodies, so a good number of used 1/2" mount ADC cartridges have been sold as an XT cartridge just because they wearing an XT stylus, which has muddied the water over the years as to what an ADC XT actually should be.

When I first looked at the photo in the auction listing, I thought "It can't be that model, or the plastic on the cartridge would be blue to match the stylus assembly." Then I took a second look and thought "That isn't a normal ADC cartridge body, that's a p-mount adaptor with a screw in the side" and immediately bid on the thing, still uncertain of what I was buying.

 

[wualta]

That's exactly what it's like out there.
In the Great Turntable Extinction Disaster, many companies that made these "phono" things died off, and all the brochures and dealer info sheets got scattered to the wind. So think of the "vintage" phono landscape as resembling something out of the old Mel Gibson Mad Max movies. A frontier realm, lawless and dangerous. We're slowly picking through the debris, putting together the clues, gnawing on the bones of a doomed civilization. Or something.

 

[boreas]

Mad Max: Beyond Vinyldome

So think of the vintage phono landscape as resembling something out of the old Mel Gibson Mad Max movies. A frontier realm, lawless and dangerous. We're slowly picking through the debris, putting together the clues, gnawing on the bones of a doomed civilization. Or something.

I can see it now! Trading a tanker full of water for a NOS ZLM and a Hank Ballard and the Midnighters 45!

 

[revox-b77]

Well,
I hope someday to be the "Master of Barter Town!"
But in the mean time a really cool cartridge on my new SL-10 would be great too. Re-Tiping the 310 with a boron cantilever is a bit out of my price range at the moment.
The search continues!

 

[revox-b77]

Well, The body on the bay just sold....but not to me. I gave up just shy of 60. It was listed as Used, Untested, All sales final and Not Returnable. I really hope whoever got it ends up with a working cartridge. I am sure there is another one out there somewhere. Now to find it.

 

[wualta]

Once the owners hanging on to these things see the XTs getting good prices on eBay, the smell of money will draw them out. We haven't seen the last of these.