Replacement Stylus for AT450

JDN1

Active Member
I have an AT450 cartridge, I believe it's the basic, non-exotic 3x7 elliptical stylus as it has the solid black dot inside the oval on the stylus. I really like the way it sounds but am interested in upgrading. I'm more interested in sound quality than price and am wondering if someone could make some recommendations of stylus that would sound even better in this cart.
 
AT had some good styli for this family but they are out of production. The 3472NE is a nude mount elliptical. the 3472LC is a Linear Contact (modified Shibata) and the 3472ML is a nude Microline. These can be found on eBay at times but there were many different names for these styli over the years so it can be a challenge to figure out what to look for. Otherwise, a VividLine aftermarket should be a step up from what you have now.
 
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Thanks You sound very knowledgeable. What are your recommendations for some other good Styli I could maybe purchase new? It seems like there are a lot of compatible styli for this that are currently made but I'm not sure.
AT had some good styli for this family but they are out of production. The 3472NE is a nude mount elliptical. the 3472LC is a Linear Contact (modified Shibata) and the 3472ML is a nude Microline. These can be found on eBay at times but there were many different names for these styli over the years so it can be a challenge to figure out what to look for. Otherwise, a VividLine aftermarket should be a step up from what you have now.
 
tw: Afaik, the ATN3472ML is bonded only - and according to LPGear it was a special production run, of which they were able to get the last batch. Hence probably that somewhat odd combination of a bonded ML on straight alu cantilever, which would seem very unusual for a regular AT needle - as I'm not aware that they would have ever offered a line-contact variant on anything less than a tapered alu cantilever...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini
 
Thanks You sound very knowledgeable. What are your recommendations for some other good Styli I could maybe purchase new? It seems like there are a lot of compatible styli for this that are currently made but I'm not sure.

Thank you. I have some experience but there are many here with much more knowledge than I have. Our friend Manfred / lini is one with knowledge that is almost encyclopaedic, and he amazes me every time.

As for current production styli for your cartridge, there are economy conicals and bonded ellipticals similar to what you already have. The better aftermarket styli would be the ATN3472VL ViVid line contact, which has a really nice profile, and the ATN3472SA Shibata which is advertised as better than the VL. The genuine AT 3472ML stylus is available on the LP Gear website. There is also a Pfanstiehl "hyperbolic" Shibata type stylus that is very economical but to my ears has some design flaws that limit its sonic performance somewhat, which is no surprise at this price point.

tw: Afaik, the ATN3472ML is bonded only - and according to LPGear it was a special production run, of which they were able to get the last batch. Hence probably that somewhat odd combination of a bonded ML on straight alu cantilever, which would seem very unusual for a regular AT needle - as I'm not aware that they would have ever offered a line-contact variant on anything less than a tapered alu cantilever...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

Thank you, lini. I was unaware that there were ever any bonded/posted ML needles so this one would be the first. Indeed very odd to have such a tip mounted to a straight aluminum cantilever. I would enjoy the opportunity to inspect an exemplar stylus but cannot justify as my budget for purchasing costly styli has already been blown.

Kind regards.
 
As for current production styli for your cartridge, there are economy conicals and bonded ellipticals similar to what you already have. The better aftermarket styli would be the ATN3472VL ViVid line contact, which has a really nice profile, and the ATN3472SA Shibata which is advertised as better than the VL. The genuine AT 3472ML stylus is available on the LP Gear website. There is also a Pfanstiehl "hyperbolic" Shibata type stylus that is very economical but to my ears has some design flaws that limit its sonic performance somewhat, which is no surprise at this price point.
/QUOTE

Thanks for the info, LP gear seems to have the AT 3472ML and the ATN3472SA Shibata for similar price, what are the sonic differences? ATN3472VL cheaper. Am open to any of the options. If you had to choose from any of these which is best? Does this cartridge show off the better styli?
 
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