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Pickering XSP-3003 Up and playing

gary7

gary7

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I picked up a XSP-3003 P-mount on a cheap TT I bought a year or so ago. The tip of the stylus was gone. It has laid around since. I happened to go into a local record store that is about on it's last leg, It used to be one of the better shops here, but I knew they still had a few stylus available, looking to replace the one on a AT91E I had. I talked her into looking at what stock she had left. Low and behold, there was a Pfanstiehl packaged *608-DEV. An actual Pickering made D3000 stylus. :jawdrop: It was marked $54.95. No telling how long it has been there. So i bought it and another for another AT cart I have for a grand total of $60. Got it home and did a preliminary set up. Sounds very nice. Will do some more listening and tweaking over the next few days. Anyone out there running this cart and stylus, what is your opinion of it?
 
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You were very lucky that day. The XSP-3003 is simply the p-mount version of the famous standard-mount XSV-3000 and uses the same stylus, so anyone who's got a 3000 or one of the variants should be able to tell you that it's a purty dang good MM cartridge. I have a 3000 myself plus a few of the variants and think highly of them.
 
After a few days of listening to a few record, the thing that struck me was clarity of the vocals and the "air" around them. On Lyle Lovett's "Pontiac", his voice was dead center and never wavered, not a hint of stress. And this is on a not near high end Onkyo CP-1012F. Wow! :music:
 
wualta said:
You were very lucky that day. The XSP-3003 is simply the p-mount version of the famous standard-mount XSV-3000 and uses the same stylus, so anyone who's got a 3000 or one of the variants should be able to tell you that it's a purty dang good MM cartridge. I have a 3000 myself plus a few of the variants and think highly of them.
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Hi Wualta,

I just want to clarify, can you confirm the XSP-3003 is an MM cartridge? I can't seem to find any official info on it. A customer bought a D140 stylus because the JICO web store states it is a replacement for the XSP-3003, but my info says the D140 is an IM stylus. So either the web store info is wrong, our catalog info is wrong, or the XSP-3003 is an IM cartridge and the customer has inaccurate info regarding their cartridge model.

Just looking for some clarification. Thanks in advance.

-Seth
 
noisemodule said:
...I just want to clarify, can you confirm the XSP-3003 is an MM cartridge? -Seth
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Yep, moving magnet, or, as Pickering/Stanton liked to call their moving-magnet models back then, "samarium-cobalt". Here's the spec sheet:
Pickering XSP-3003 & 4004 spec sheet.jpg
A D140 shows up in the mfr.-published lists of moving-iron styli (ie, for the XV-15 series), and as we know from experience, moving-iron styli make zero or close-to-zero sound in a moving-magnet body.
XV-15 basic specs.jpg
 
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wualta said:
Yep, moving magnet, or, as Pickering/Stanton liked to call it back then, "samarium-cobalt". Here's the spec sheet:
View attachment 1007849
A D140 shows up in the mfr.-published lists of moving-iron styli (ie, for the XV-15 series), and as we know from experience, moving-iron styli make zero or close-to-zero sound in a moving-magnet body.
View attachment 1007850
Click to expand...

Thank you, this information is much appreciated! I think its safe to say the JICO web site is in error. :rolleyes: The D140 should definitely not be listed as a replacement for the XSP-3003.
 
noisemodule said:
Thank you, this information is much appreciated!
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You are most welcome. The more accurate vendors' websites are, the closer we all are to global harmony. Or something like it.
noisemodule said:
The D140 should definitely not be listed as a replacement for the XSP-3003.
Click to expand...
And with a recommended tracking force of 4.0g, it probably shouldn't be listed as a replacement stylus for any p-mount cartridge, except that handful produced for DJ use, eg, the Pickering TL-150DJ and the Stanton L680EL.
 
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