Cartridge question

Jcbluesman

Active Member
Well, I bought a n400 stylus for my Stanton 400v3, 20 bucks shipped, and it sounds better than the 15+ yr old one that was in there, go figure. Much louder too. Anyway, I put the new needle in and the right side wasn't there, nothing. I then removed the headshell, checked the connections, seemed fine by looking and moving, then gave the cart a couple of thumbs, reinstalled the shell and viola, sound out of the right side. What's up with that and should I be buying a replacement cart? I like the 400 Stanton but seeing they are oop, out of production, I'll have to make a switch, unless I can find a NOS one. I mainly buy goodwill, half price books reduced vinyl so not really looking for anything audiophile grade. I will eventually get another headshell set up for the records that I buy that are pristine and maybe collectible. Thanks
 
I wouldn't worry unless & until you hear something else odd. Looks like the 400v.3 is a DJ cart in the first place though, so it may benefit you to pick up even a low grade hifi cart.
 
If you are looking for cheap, but adequate (very broad term here) check out the AT3600 from ebay sellers typically from Hong Kong (or stateside for a few dollars more). No one has to feel greasy about this purchase, it's not something to be ashamed of :oops:. You don't have to read the whole thread.

You can get it solo for around $12 or with a head shell for around $20. And the stylus is upgradable should you ever choose that route.

It fits your needs well and is completely adequate at the price point and truthfully considerably above it. This is the same basic cartridge that many OEMs have been using in the sub $3-400 turntables for more than a few years.

I can speak from experience as I did purchase two of them and was completely satisfied with what they offered. A few dollars more gets you into a different stylus shape or cantilever material, but I did not go there nor did a make any comparisons as such.
 
Yeah, I rarely buy a ablum that costs more than a couple of bucks, unless a set, so I don't need a expensive stylus. I'm learning conical is more to my tastes, I'm hearing they are warmer sounding than elliptical, but I don't know if this is across the board. Anyway, my tonearm is a low mass arm, only up to 3 grams on the bias control, so the Stanton starting at 3 grams and up to 7 grams, really isn't a good match at all. I need a conical between 2 and 3 grams. Thanks
If you are looking for cheap, but adequate (very broad term here) check out the AT3600 from ebay sellers typically from Hong Kong (or stateside for a few dollars more). No one has to feel greasy about this purchase, it's not something to be ashamed of :oops:. You don't have to read the whole thread.

You can get it solo for around $12 or with a head shell for around $20. And the stylus is upgradable should you ever choose that route.

It fits your needs well and is completely adequate at the price point and truthfully considerably above it. This is the same basic cartridge that many OEMs have been using in the sub $3-400 turntables for more than a few years.

I can speak from experience as I did purchase two of them and was completely satisfied with what they offered. A few dollars more gets you into a different stylus shape or cantilever material, but I did not go there nor did a make any comparisons as such.
 
As ZB77 said above, I'd also not worry too much about that. It may have been a poor connection from the contacts in the head shell to the tonearm. Also ignore the marketing departments aim toward "DJs". The same could be said for a lot of other cartridges that have been somewhat displaced by "later and greater" models. The main thing is that you enjoy the sound that it reproduces, and some of us do prefer the older heavier tracking Pickerings to the newer, more critical offerings, especially for 1950s and '60s record playback.

Your tone arm really isn't very low mass. The headshell you have is actually on the heavier side and appropriate. You can increase the tracking force beyond 3 grams as you turn the dial past zero to one gram that would be four grams. Four grams on a .7 mil stylus is like 1.2 grams on a .2 mil.

Tiver is right about the AT3600, and it could be a good option to consider if you want, but it will present a bit brighter than the 400.
 
As ZB77 said above, I'd also not worry too much about that. It may have been a poor connection from the contacts in the head shell to the tonearm. Also ignore the marketing departments aim toward "DJs". The same could be said for a lot of other cartridges that have been somewhat displaced by "later and greater" models. The main thing is that you enjoy the sound that it reproduces, and some of us do prefer the older heavier tracking Pickerings to the newer, more critical offerings, especially for 1950s and '60s record playback.

Your tone arm really isn't very low mass. The headshell you have is actually on the heavier side and appropriate. You can increase the tracking force beyond 3 grams as you turn the dial past zero to one gram that would be four grams. Four grams on a .7 mil stylus is like 1.2 grams on a .2 mil.

Tiver is right about the AT3600, and it could be a good option to consider if you want, but it will present a bit brighter than the 400.
Cool. Yeah, I don't want brighter for sure. Thanks. Yeah, I thought the bias dial has to, or should match the arm weight setting
 
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Tiver is right about the AT3600, and it could be a good option to consider if you want, but it will present a bit brighter than the 400.

I didn't hold onto them. They were just starter carts for a couple TTs. I did not find them particularly bright or forward, but I did not give them a long evaluation. IIRC, I thought they were fairly "full" and neutral while being perhaps only moderately articulate.....mumbo jumbo, blah, blah, blah. Hell, they are $12 and would have nothing to apologize for at three to four times the price.

I am not at all familiar with the mentioned Stanton
 
Cool. Yeah, I don't want brighter for sure. Thanks. Yeah, I thought the bias dial has to, or should match the arm weight setting

Under ideal conditions the bias dial ought to match the tracking force setting, but unfortunately it isn't really an exact setting. Further, the bias setting is much more important at very low tracking forces than at higher forces. In most cases I've found the bias forces to be too strong if you set the dials the same, and on one arm the bias had to be set to half of the VTF setting to get even stylus wear. There are a lot of previous threads on ways to set anti-skate and I won't go into that here. But let me say that I think bias is important, and a little is definitely preferable, but too much is worse than none at all. If you can't get quite as much as you think you ought to have, it really isn't the end of the world.
 
Under ideal conditions the bias dial ought to match the tracking force setting, but unfortunately it isn't really an exact setting. Further, the bias setting is much more important at very low tracking forces than at higher forces. In most cases I've found the bias forces to be too strong if you set the dials the same, and on one arm the bias had to be set to half of the VTF setting to get even stylus wear. There are a lot of previous threads on ways to set anti-skate and I won't go into that here. But let me say that I think bias is important, and a little is definitely preferable, but too much is worse than none at all. If you can't get quite as much as you think you ought to have, it really isn't the end of the world.
Cool. I'm going to raise it to four. I'm not going to go nuts with this, it is a starter TT, and I'm not spending a bunch on vinyl staying where I'm at is the thing to do. No need to upgrade at the moment, and now that I've got a decent setup I can now run across the good deals at garage sales and pick up a backup TT, receiver. I'm happy with my setup....for now, lol. No I like it. Thanks for all the help. I didn't know what a cart/ headshell really was besides that they were there.
 
If you’re not having issues running the Stanton on the low end, you probably don’t need to run it heavier as long as you’re using NOS styli. They’re set up to be able to run that heavy to keep from skipping in a club or when scratching. I ran a 500 for years at 2 grams (the stylus range was 2-5) with no problems until I bought an aftermarket replacement stylus. That needs 5 or it jumps all over the place.
 
Right now I'm roughly at 3 and 1/4 grams. I'm wondering if it is tracking right because I hear mostly crackling and pops out of the right speaker when I listening to my old record of the ink spots. I thought I would hear it through both sides. KABUSA kinda stated the stylus n400 was a Stanton, but at 20 bucks I would be inclined to believe it's for a Stanton replacement.
 
The packaging didn’t say? I think the N400 is still pretty available and it was never particularly expensive, so that’s not really a stretch to believe it was $20.

That’s not the sort of tracking problem I had with an aftermarket stylus. It literally jumped around in the groove. That sounds more like record damage, but others here can diagnose better than I can. But it’s not that hard to put some more weight on it and see if that changes.
 
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