LP Gear CF3600LE review

[freQ(*)Oddio]

Low end cart review sorry about the long intro , First, this LP cart replaced a 80s Digitrac 280e made by Ortofon, that i liked and have replaced the stylus on a few times. A fellow AK friend pointed me to lp gear when i found out the Digitrac stylus were discontinued, and I could not find a replacement. I was ordering 2 stylus for $34 each so i would also have a spare, but at the last second changed to 1 Digitrac stylus , and 1 new CF3600 LE cart for the same price. Soooo the digitrac stylus does not come, and i file a missing order status with lp gear after 10 days, i am glad this happened, The new 3600 cart came and went on my table for fun while i waited for the "real one", and here is my review. I cant even listen to the old cart now. I have tried 2 times, and the best way to describe the old cart (that i have also aligned, and added a new stylus) with the old Digitrac the music is coming at you like a flat dead sound nice highs and lows BUT bad timing and low volume with midrange instruments , slow response, dead no pace , no excitement, the mids and vocals seem to hit the same time and fight with the lows a little, and thats the sound i was always used to dialing my hifi around. This new Cart is so dammm complex sounding with a actual thick sound stage , horns reach you at the right time, while the drums are hitting tight and clean, and vocals have their own space all in a stereo field with a black background, Cymbals are real , subtle sweet, and dynamic , like each speaker is its own stereo if you set in front of each at a time, i am so happy, this may be a throw away cart for some im sure, but it is making my vintage system sound its best, started playing all my favorites again. Thumb pics of each cart.

 

[jrtrent]

Thanks for the review. I haven't heard this model, but I have enjoyed all of the AT3600 variants I have heard, such as the AT3600L, the CN5625AL, and the stock, Denon-branded model that came with a DP-300F turntable. They don't goof up music's timing, provide decent dynamic contrasts, and have a pleasing tonal balance to my ears (much more so than the AT95E or AT440ML which always sound a bit bright/thin to me).

 

[cratz2]

I'm a fan, esp for the price. Plus what I really like is being able to swap from a conical to elliptical stylus in about 10 seconds and not have to adjust VTF or anti-skate.

My main table has an AT12Sa so I'm an AT fan, but the CF3600 (and regular 3600 and 5625) are a bit more full sounding without as lean of a balance compared to most AT cartridges.

 

[freQ(*)Oddio]

Thanks for the review. I haven't heard this model, but I have enjoyed all of the AT3600 variants I have heard, such as the AT3600L, the CN5625AL, and the stock, Denon-branded model that came with a DP-300F turntable. They don't goof up music's timing, provide decent dynamic contrasts, and have a pleasing tonal balance to my ears (much more so than the AT95E or AT440ML which always sound a bit bright/thin to me).

Thanks, the 2 carts you listed as sounding bright were on a future try list for another table. ill pass now, maybe the carbon fiber cantilever is part of the great response with this LP gear stylus.

 

[DavidTT]

Reviving an older thread to discuss the CF3600LE. I bought one recently for a turntable that I keep in the basement gym to listen to records while working out down there. Having recently been surprised by the good sound of an AT91 in a similar table situation, searches revealed the CF3600LE to be a great bargain, with a .3X.7 elliptical for $35 shipped.

I'm already a fan of the AT95e and it's variant possibilities. I used information from old threads here populated by a poster called NeoBop to experiment with AT95es, eventually building an AT95e-based potted and wood-bodied, .3X.7 tipped frankencart for a turntable in my office. It compares astoundingly well to my Clearaudio Virtuoso at a small fraction of the price. So, I thought it would be cool to buy another AT cheapie to try out. It sounded great in the basement system, but today I've got free time and swapped the CF3600LE into my Marantz TT15 in place of the Virtuoso that normally lives on that table. I'm only a couple LP-sides in, but this is a great sounding cartridge.

It sounds full, with tight bass and midrange, great tone, perhaps a fatter sound than a normal AT95, and with more detail than the AT91. Many believe the internals of the AT3600 and AT95e to be the same, so it's likely that the sound difference arrives from the plastic/carbon cantilever and slimmer stylus tip, but in any event it's really, really nice on a good table. Amazed is what I am right now. Another thing that makes these cheapies so fun is that there are numerous stylus options for these AT carts, from conical all the way to HE, Vivid Line and shibata. I may pick up another AT3600-style body on the cheap and experiment with potting and burying in wood body to see what it can become.

The more I learn about the sound potential of some of these incredibly affordable carts, the more I'm seriously tempted to sell my more expensive carts. Maybe it's just my mid-fi system playing into my older ears, but I enjoy the sound from these "lesser" carts immensely.

 

[eriathomas]

Reviving an older thread to discuss the CF3600LE. I bought one recently for a turntable that I keep in the basement gym to listen to records while working out down there. Having recently been surprised by the good sound of an AT91 in a similar table situation, searches revealed the CF3600LE to be a great bargain, with a .3X.7 elliptical for $35 shipped.

I'm already a fan of the AT95e and it's variant possibilities. I used information from old threads here populated by a poster called NeoBop to experiment with AT95es, eventually building an AT95e-based potted and wood-bodied, .3X.7 tipped frankencart for a turntable in my office. It compares astoundingly well to my Clearaudio Virtuoso at a small fraction of the price. So, I thought it would be cool to buy another AT cheapie to try out. It sounded great in the basement system, but today I've got free time and swapped the CF3600LE into my Marantz TT15 in place of the Virtuoso that normally lives on that table. I'm only a couple LP-sides in, but this is a great sounding cartridge.

It sounds full, with tight bass and midrange, great tone, perhaps a fatter sound than a normal AT95, and with more detail than the AT91. Many believe the internals of the AT3600 and AT95e to be the same, so it's likely that the sound difference arrives from the plastic/carbon cantilever and slimmer stylus tip, but in any event it's really, really nice on a good table. Amazed is what I am right now. Another thing that makes these cheapies so fun is that there are numerous stylus options for these AT carts, from conical all the way to HE, Vivid Line and shibata. I may pick up another AT3600-style body on the cheap and experiment with potting and burying in wood body to see what it can become.

The more I learn about the sound potential of some of these incredibly affordable carts, the more I'm seriously tempted to sell my more expensive carts. Maybe it's just my mid-fi system playing into my older ears, but I enjoy the sound from these "lesser" carts immensely.

This makes me wonder how LPGear's CARBON FIDELITY CFN95SE stylus sounds on the AT95E body. I've been playing my AT95E more than my AT440MLb lately.

 

[jrtrent]

. . . It sounds full, with tight bass and midrange, great tone, perhaps a fatter sound than a normal AT95, and with more detail than the AT91. Many believe the internals of the AT3600 and AT95e to be the same, so it's likely that the sound difference arrives from the plastic/carbon cantilever and slimmer stylus tip, but in any event it's really, really nice on a good table. . . The more I learn about the sound potential of some of these incredibly affordable carts, the more I'm seriously tempted to sell my more expensive carts.

A decade ago, Stereo Times reviewed the AT95E and AT95SA and said, "The tragedy of cheap phono cartridges (and these two Audio Technicas available exclusively from LP Gear certainly qualify) is that they are likely to be used with cheap turntables and arms, and amplified by cheap phono stages, thus giving a false picture of their true capabilities." http://www.stereotimes.com/acc032307.shtml

I fell in love with cheap cartridges in 1984, when I first heard how good Linn's included-with-the-price Basik cartridge (an AT-derived cartridge with conical tip) sounded when mounted to an LP12 with Basik Plus tone arm (a combination I bought in 1985 after much scrimping and saving, displacing a Thorens TD 146 that, in comparison, was wholly inadequate). I used that same Basik cartridge with even greater satisfaction after upgrading to the Ittok arm. More recently, the $29 AT CN5625AL provided extremely satisfying listening on the LP12/Ittok, a Well Tempered Record Player, and my current Rega RP3 (and run into phono stages/preamps from Linn, Grado, and Audio by Van Alstine). Having worked at a high end hifi shop for several years, and continuing to expose myself to expensive cartridges at local dealers, I have to say that high-priced cartridges simply hold no appeal for me--there are plenty of great-sounding models priced around a hundred dollars and under that can keep me fully engaged musically for hours on end when mounted to a reasonably good turntable.

 

[Vinylmasters]

Low end cart review sorry about the long intro , First, this LP cart replaced a 80s Digitrac 280e made by Ortofon, that i liked and have replaced the stylus on a few times. A fellow AK friend pointed me to lp gear when i found out the Digitrac stylus were discontinued, and I could not find a replacement. I was ordering 2 stylus for $34 each so i would also have a spare, but at the last second changed to 1 Digitrac stylus , and 1 new CF3600 LE cart for the same price. Soooo the digitrac stylus does not come, and i file a missing order status with lp gear after 10 days, i am glad this happened, The new 3600 cart came and went on my table for fun while i waited for the "real one", and here is my review. I cant even listen to the old cart now. I have tried 2 times, and the best way to describe the old cart (that i have also aligned, and added a new stylus) with the old Digitrac the music is coming at you like a flat dead sound nice highs and lows BUT bad timing and low volume with midrange instruments , slow response, dead no pace , no excitement, the mids and vocals seem to hit the same time and fight with the lows a little, and thats the sound i was always used to dialing my hifi around. This new Cart is so dammm complex sounding with a actual thick sound stage , horns reach you at the right time, while the drums are hitting tight and clean, and vocals have their own space all in a stereo field with a black background, Cymbals are real , subtle sweet, and dynamic , like each speaker is its own stereo if you set in front of each at a time, i am so happy, this may be a throw away cart for some im sure, but it is making my vintage system sound its best, started playing all my favorites again. Thumb pics of each cart.

I'm a p-mount guy (have that same Digitrac cart too with an original styli on it too and agree on the sound of them), but I have to try the carbon p-mount version of this for the newer style AT p-mount carts now too. Thanks for the review! I've long been a fan of the LP Gear styli.

https://www.lpgear.com/product/CFT4PSE.html

 

[muovimies]

I think AT really hit a home-run with the AT3400/3600 etc. families of cheap cartridges, both in design and execution. The fact that not only did they pretty much became the standard cartridge for cheap turntables, they later became a base for a lot more expensive modified versions (Clearaudio, Linn etc).

Btw. I'm under the impression atleast many of the Digitrac bodies sold somewhat recently for cheap had everything from channel balance issues to dead channels and a lot of people just got them for the styli. If your body is from that batch (or perhaps even if it isn't) it's possible the body has some issues. AFAIK Digitrac was a short-lived somewhat cheaper line of carts Ortofon made for a couple years sometime in the 80s, not sure of the full history but it seems they might've had a QC issue with that line and perhaps the pockets of NOS carts that turned up a few years ago might have been originally factory rejects ---- though having high quality styli strapped onto them speaks against that, so maybe it's just they tried to cut a corner in the wrong place and ended up with a lot of bad bodies and a design that simply didn't age well.

 

[DavidTT]

Listening more to the CF3600LE today. It's running through a Marantz TT15, upper-mid-range Pioneer AVR and Focal 726Vs. It sounds very good, good enough that I'm going to leave it alone for at least a few weeks instead of reinstalling the Virtuoso. The thing it brings is tone. Bass is strong and punchy. Balance with mids and highs is right for my ears. Compared to AT95e variants I've played around with, it brings better, tighter bass and overall tone, IMO. It reminds me of reviews I've read about Rega products that almost always say something like "the music made me want to tap my toes".

Now, I may certainly be enjoying the sound of this cart so much, in part, because it's so cheap. Placebo and related psychological factors certainly come into play when we listen. I will say though that I'm more surprised by this cart than I was when frankencarting AT95e carts. With no modifications and for $35, this thing is making me smile. Crazy.

 

[Vinylmasters]

I think AT really hit a home-run with the AT3400/3600 etc. families of cheap cartridges, both in design and execution. The fact that not only did they pretty much became the standard cartridge for cheap turntables, they later became a base for a lot more expensive modified versions (Clearaudio, Linn etc).

Btw. I'm under the impression atleast many of the Digitrac bodies sold somewhat recently for cheap had everything from channel balance issues to dead channels and a lot of people just got them for the styli. If your body is from that batch (or perhaps even if it isn't) it's possible the body has some issues. AFAIK Digitrac was a short-lived somewhat cheaper line of carts Ortofon made for a couple years sometime in the 80s, not sure of the full history but it seems they might've had a QC issue with that line and perhaps the pockets of NOS carts that turned up a few years ago might have been originally factory rejects ---- though having high quality styli strapped onto them speaks against that, so maybe it's just they tried to cut a corner in the wrong place and ended up with a lot of bad bodies and a design that simply didn't age well.

The styli work on the newer Ortofon carts, don't they?

 

[Vinylmasters]

Listening more to the CF3600LE today. It's running through a Marantz TT15, upper-mid-range Pioneer AVR and Focal 726Vs. It sounds very good, good enough that I'm going to leave it alone for at least a few weeks instead of reinstalling the Virtuoso. The thing it brings is tone. Bass is strong and punchy. Balance with mids and highs is right for my ears. Compared to AT95e variants I've played around with, it brings better, tighter bass and overall tone, IMO. It reminds me of reviews I've read about Rega products that almost always say something like "the music made me want to tap my toes".

Now, I may certainly be enjoying the sound of this cart so much, in part, because it's so cheap. Placebo and related psychological factors certainly come into play when we listen. I will say though that I'm more surprised by this cart than I was when frankencarting AT95e carts. With no modifications and for $35, this thing is making me smile. Crazy.

I did audio restorations for a number of years, and utilized a LOT of different carts and styli to make sure I got the best sound possible for my customers. Nothing made me SMiLE more than to find a cheap cart that sounded incredible. I actually did a couple masters for bands with one of those 'cheap 'Audio Techica AT92e p-mounts because it sounded so darn good. You never know until you clean that vinyl noise out..... Positively going to order that carbon stylus for my AT p-mounts though. How is yours with inner groove distortion?

 

[DavidTT]

I did audio restorations for a number of years, and utilized a LOT of different carts and styli to make sure I got the best sound possible for my customers. Nothing made me SMiLE more than to find a cheap cart that sounded incredible. I actually did a couple masters for bands with one of those 'cheap 'Audio Techica AT92e p-mounts because it sounded so darn good. You never know until you clean that vinyl noise out..... Positively going to order that carbon stylus for my AT p-mounts though. How is yours with inner groove distortion?

I'm listening to Thriller with it right now and sibilance and IGD have not been noticeable to my ears. In fact, I'm paying attention to the last track on side 2 right now and no issues. Now, I'm not listening on the most resolving of systems, as noted above, but this cheapie makes great tone like I said. As a previous poster said, my happiness with this cart has me wondering mightily about both the plastic/carbon cantilevered styli available for the AT95/AT3400, along with HE and shibata tips for the CN5625/AT3600 bodies. Months and years of great sound and experimentation ahead!

 

[Guest127]

Thumbs up to affordable (CHEAP!) carts.I tried to enjoy the AT95 with several different styli,and ,try as I have,It just does't compare to the "lesser" AT3600. I have a couple of Onkyo carts (1400 TT),that produce a similar,very full and satisfying result. Don't know who makes that one.

 

[RedShift42]

I have been under the impression the AT3600 and AT95 carts use the same innards, but several posters here seem to be suggesting the 95 isn't as satisfying.
Is it just the stylus choice options in this price range?

 

[DavidTT]

I wish NeoBop and a couple of other frankencart builders were still on this forum. Needlestein should be able to chime in with great knowledge about the AT3600/CN5625 bodies relative to the AT3400/AT95 bodies. I've read lots of different things about whether they appear to use the same electricals inside. What I can say about the sound differences are that the AT91 and CF3600L sound fuller to me, with tone that I prefer, to the AT95e variants I've tried. They might not be as crystal clear, that "air" thing that hobbyists talk about.

Now, the former both use plastic/carbon cantilevers, compared to the aluminum cantilevers of the AT95e carts I've tried. I also have not listened to the CN5625, which uses an aluminum cantilever. I will likely buy a carbon cantilever AT95e stylus to try it out soon to see if it brings this tone I'm loving to the AT95e bodies. If so, wow would that be pleasant!

As far as the merits of the AT95e and variants I've tried, it sounds clean, almost colorless to my ears. In its base iteration, that clean sound can come across as being thin. In its best iteration that I have, the Clearaudio Virtuoso, it brings a very nice, almost transparent lack of coloration, well balanced, good all the way through the spectrum, with a thickness of sound that probably comes from the wood body. Same can be said for the AT95e frankencart I made. Others attest that the AT95e variants can be improved a ton by installing vivd line, HE or shibata styli, which I haven't tried yet, although I can say that the .3X.7 stylus makes the AT95e sound better than the stock stylus.

I'm listening to the CF3600LE again today and keep on thinking that surely I'll come to my senses and realize it isn't that good, but am surprised again and again that it sounds as "right" as any cart I own, including the Virtuoso, a 2M Blue, a heavily modified Grado blue and Shure m97xe.

 

[muovimies]

I'm listening to the CF3600LE again today and keep on thinking that surely I'll come to my senses and realize it isn't that good, but am surprised again and again that it sounds as "right" as any cart I own, including the Virtuoso, a 2M Blue, a heavily modified Grado blue and Shure m97xe.

Yes, that is the thing with those cheap ATs, they just get the fundamentals right. There are plenty of a lot "better" and more expensive cartridges which have impressive qualities to them but fail to achieve that same rightness.

 

[eriathomas]

Ordered one of these today. What tracking force are you all using? Seems odd they give you a range for optimal tracking for this.

 

[james73_2010]

The AT3600 has more than just the stock conical stylus available. There's 3rd party elliptical, hyperelliptical/VividLine and Shibata stylii that you can buy.

I still have a AT3601 cartridge in my possession and I probably last heard it play in 1990, but I couldn't part with it for some reason. Back then, I initially replaced it with an AT110E (a fine cartridge itself) but something made me hold onto the AT3601.I really need to get this cartridge back mounted.

Imagine how good it would sound if you had a nude-tipped Paratrace stylus on the AT3600....




James H

 

[DavidTT]

Ordered one of these today. What tracking force are you all using? Seems odd they give you a range for optimal tracking for this.

I have tracked the CF3600LE from 2.2g to 2.5g. I'm at 2.4 right now and it sounds as "right" as it did previously. Really, really great cartridge IMO, and not just for the price.