Acutex 312 Stylus info?
- Thread starter janikphoto
- Start date
Balifly
Listening
Azden YM-P20E
Back in November, while I was waiting for my first Acutex 312 to arrive from Italy, I broke out an Azden (the manufacturer behind Acutex) YM-P20E p-mount and related the following:
I have a friend with a Technics SL-5 and I let him borrow a NIB Azden YM-P20E (black body, yellow stylus) I bought a couple of years ago but never installed. We had the Digitrac 300 SE playing the Quadradisc version of America's Holiday album and switched to the P20E. You know what happened next: two guys waving their Leinenkugels, shouting "Hey, that sounds great!"
It really did. But often CD-4 records (Quadradiscs) are cut at lower levels than their stereo counterparts.
What happened next was painful: discovering that not only my original yellow-stylus P20E but also a NOS P50E (blue stylus, which came with the gray body depicted above) could not play stereo discs cut at "normal" (for the 1980s) levels without gross mistracking on sibilants. On Quadradiscs, this is a wonderful cartridge. But I can't recommend it for stereo records cut at mid-'80s levels. Sibilants explode into puffs of aural confetti, even when the VTF is cranked to 2g. Remember, this is a cartridge that's supposed to track at 1.25g. Very disappointing indeed. Compare this experience with that of jkilla and his Acutex 412 STR in post #154 below. Meanwhile, my Empire 2000T played the same cut on the same LP cleanly at 1.0g VTF.
Dunno, maybe it's time to break out the rubber restorer liquids.
The folks who own the same body as the YM-P20E disguised as a gold-painted Empire 875 XLT with a red stylus and a tapered cantilever seem to love it, but those styli are extremely rare.
Back in November, while I was waiting for my first Acutex 312 to arrive from Italy, I broke out an Azden (the manufacturer behind Acutex) YM-P20E p-mount and related the following:
I have a friend with a Technics SL-5 and I let him borrow a NIB Azden YM-P20E (black body, yellow stylus) I bought a couple of years ago but never installed. We had the Digitrac 300 SE playing the Quadradisc version of America's Holiday album and switched to the P20E. You know what happened next: two guys waving their Leinenkugels, shouting "Hey, that sounds great!"
It really did. But often CD-4 records (Quadradiscs) are cut at lower levels than their stereo counterparts.
What happened next was painful: discovering that not only my original yellow-stylus P20E but also a NOS P50E (blue stylus, which came with the gray body depicted above) could not play stereo discs cut at "normal" (for the 1980s) levels without gross mistracking on sibilants. On Quadradiscs, this is a wonderful cartridge. But I can't recommend it for stereo records cut at mid-'80s levels. Sibilants explode into puffs of aural confetti, even when the VTF is cranked to 2g. Remember, this is a cartridge that's supposed to track at 1.25g. Very disappointing indeed. Compare this experience with that of jkilla and his Acutex 412 STR in post #154 below. Meanwhile, my Empire 2000T played the same cut on the same LP cleanly at 1.0g VTF.
Dunno, maybe it's time to break out the rubber restorer liquids.
The folks who own the same body as the YM-P20E disguised as a gold-painted Empire 875 XLT with a red stylus and a tapered cantilever seem to love it, but those styli are extremely rare.
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jkilla
Out of Touch
Hey wualta, I'm using a 245-de aftermarket stylus with my ym-p20e and I have to say the cantilever looks slimmer than photos I've seen of the original cantilever! That's not to say that the aftermarket is better, but not something I always see.
AZDEN YM-P20E (vanilla flavor) with P50E STYLUS
While you're waiting, you might want to try an overlooked Acutex, actually an Azden, the YM-P20E p-mount. Several NIBs on eBay now going for around $45 or $50 or so. I have a friend with a Technics SL-5 and I let him borrow a NIB P20E I bought a couple of years ago but never installed. We had the Digitrac 300SE playing the Quadradisc version of America's Holiday album and switched to the P20E. You know what happened next: two guys waving their Leinenkugels, shouting "Hey, that sounds great!"
Moral: get some Orange Shandy and grab a P20E and you will have a good time, even if there's something about that '70s group America that makes you cringe.
Caveat: If you find a P20 or P50 body, be careful of the aftermarket 245-DEs-- they can have very low compliance and not work properly in a p-mount table. If, on the other hand, like me you have a properly-compliant stylus with a wrecked cantilever, know that these cartridges follow the ADC rule, with a slight twist. That is, you can simply pull a good canti out of a stiff-grommeted stylus and simply insert it in place of the wrecked one. There are two styles of grommet that I've seen: the usual one, the good one, is a piece of rubber rolled into a tube and shoved through a hole in a plate. The other is a small, shiny light-brown donut. Beware the donut. The twist comes when you realize there are no flat spots on the canti to locate it or keep it from rotating. So you'll have to eyeball the azimuth, but this isn't difficult. There's also nothing to stop the canti from pulling right out again from the drag created by the modulated groove, but so far so good on my setup. I also find that 1.25g is too low and 1.5g is good, though sometimes it needs 1.75g. Hmm...
We haven't compared the M312 III STR back to back with the P20E yet, but going strictly from audio/emotional memory (always dangerous), I'd say you'd find them very similar, and I'd give the edge to the P20E. Preamp: Hafler DH-110 modified. Power amp: Hafler XL280 modified. Speakers: Hafler's M5 pro-audio minimonitors plus a Yamaha YST-SW105 motional-feedback minisub.
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I'm running it at 1.5 and it sounds good, will probably bump it up to 1.6 ish to see how it goes
Sent from my SGH-T999V using Tapatalk
Wow. I didn't notice the difference. My original P20E is still out on loan, but when it comes back I'll compare its yellow stylus to the cobbled together canti-from-blue-245-DE-jammed-into-yellow-stylus.
We have to be careful comparing canti diameters between different makers. The thinner one could very well be lighter. But the larger one could have thinner walls and be lighter and stronger at the same time. The ability to track high-energy sibilants tells the tale, in my opinion.
[swaps in Acutex LPM 312 cart and listens to an LP nearly half the cart menagerie's had a crack at already] Dayumm, thass good..
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We have to be careful comparing canti diameters between different makers. The thinner one could very well be lighter. But the larger one could have thinner walls and be lighter and stronger at the same time. The ability to track high-energy sibilants tells the tale, in my opinion.
[swaps in Acutex LPM 312 cart and listens to an LP nearly half the cart menagerie's had a crack at already] Dayumm, thass good..
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boreas
"If it sounds good, it IS good." E.K.E.
The listing expires yesterday. I was planning to wait until he relisted it to see if he reduces the price.
You probably just ruined that!
John
Hee hee. I did it, y'see? I did it and I'd do it again, see?
I'm sure he'll/they'll be back with more pretty soon. [UPDATE: and it's back. I got the one I ordered with zero drama but no tracking; it took 11 days.] As you know, it's not one of those self-spawning listings that never really ends. Interestingly, he's now selling the LPM 412 STR for your giradischi at the same price. It's not a III or even a II, though. [updatelet: apparently there were no IIs and IIIs for the 400 series]
.
I'm sure he'll/they'll be back with more pretty soon. [UPDATE: and it's back. I got the one I ordered with zero drama but no tracking; it took 11 days.] As you know, it's not one of those self-spawning listings that never really ends. Interestingly, he's now selling the LPM 412 STR for your giradischi at the same price. It's not a III or even a II, though. [updatelet: apparently there were no IIs and IIIs for the 400 series]
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boreas
"If it sounds good, it IS good." E.K.E.
Yeah, or a little over EUR 5.00 more fro the 412 STR. I think jkilla bought one of those along with the 312 and, as I recall, wasn't totally sure he liked it. I could be wrong or he could have changed his mind. It would be interesting to know that.
Jkilla?
John
jkilla
Out of Touch
I bought a 415 STR and the same time I bought a 312.
The 415 was really tough to tame, it has a very fat wide cantilever compared to the 3xx series and the 420. The sibilance was crazy, despite switching several headshells, trying it on a very low mass tonearm instead of my main table's mid-mass arm, and all sorts of VTA adjustments.
Eventually I got it to play with almost no sibilance by cranking the VTF to the 2.5-2.75g range, which is way out of the recommended spec. I'll play it once in a while at this VTF and it does sound very nice. :screwy:
boreas
"If it sounds good, it IS good." E.K.E.
I don't think there was anything like a consensus but in that long Acutex thread on Lenco Heaven there were comments to the effect that the "400 Series" was something of a disappointment, much too bright/harsh as I recall. As a result, I've sort of decided to stay with the "300 Series" (and my little 210 II E).
John
John
jkilla
Out of Touch
I would categorize it as mistracking, it was especially apparent on my "sibilant torture test records" aka 80s pop music
I tried all sorts of tail up, tail down, (I have 4 or 5 mats which I have tried in various combinations and on their own), overhang combinations, two protractors and nothing would get rid of the sibilant SSSSSs other than ramping the VTF up to 2.6 grams or so. After that, it actually played rather nicely, a touch bright but no crazy sibilance
seminole54
AK Member
From my reading of the Lenco thread, almost all of the 400 series are tricky to set up. I think the 312 sounds just fine.
GerardG
KBO
Two months ago I bought an Acutex 412 from the Ebay vendor in question and really like it. I didn't find it particularly difficult to set up nor bright. Detailed, but not bright. Perhaps my setup experience was fool's or first time luck perhaps but if so that's ok.
Recently I won bidding on a "NOS" Saturn V head-shell for it that came Monday. Well, interestingly it came sans box but did have an Acutex cart body in it but no stylus. Well, if the shell is not NOS it looks new, and I guess the cart body is a bonus though finding a model number or stylus for it will prove to be a bear.
I tried the 412 in the Saturn shell and am more pleased than I was with it in a stock head-shell with 3g mass it needed to balance it. Bass is excellent and the mids and highs are detailed and the Saturn itself is a nifty design and looks way cool.
The last day of 312 listing I swallowed and bought one. I'm looking forward to getting it doing a head-to-head comparison between the two. The Saturn V shell should make comparison swapping simple.
Gerard
Recently I won bidding on a "NOS" Saturn V head-shell for it that came Monday. Well, interestingly it came sans box but did have an Acutex cart body in it but no stylus. Well, if the shell is not NOS it looks new, and I guess the cart body is a bonus though finding a model number or stylus for it will prove to be a bear.
I tried the 412 in the Saturn shell and am more pleased than I was with it in a stock head-shell with 3g mass it needed to balance it. Bass is excellent and the mids and highs are detailed and the Saturn itself is a nifty design and looks way cool.
The last day of 312 listing I swallowed and bought one. I'm looking forward to getting it doing a head-to-head comparison between the two. The Saturn V shell should make comparison swapping simple.
Gerard
boreas
"If it sounds good, it IS good." E.K.E.
Hi, Gerard -
I don't know whether that will prove true or not. You may find that you'll have to reset the overhang. That's definitely necessary when switching between a 200 Series cartridge and a 300 Series. The cartridge bodies, though different, are the same length but the stylus grips and the cantilevers are different lengths. You may find the same thing when comparing a 300 to a 400.
Also, I found that, though it sounded great at first, my 210 II E cartridge would work loose in the Saturn V headshell after a very brief period. The first clue was that the headshell would become very microphonic. If I ignored the situation, the cartridge would begin to distort noticeably. I tried securing the cartridge in the headshell with a bit of Blu Tack but it didn't work.
I never tried the 312 III STR because I couldn't see a reason for it to be any better. I've read of people who have solved this problem by gluing the cartridge in place but I didn't want to do that. I now have both my Acutex LPMs mounted in Technics "MK1" headshells, the ones with the sled. The extra 2 grams weight over that of the MK2 headshells is a help.
Hopefully, you won't have that problem but I thought a "heads up" might be in order.
John
seminole54
AK Member
Mine is also mounted in a "Mk1" headshell with even a an extra gram of Blutak on the top.
GerardG
KBO
Hello John;
Ah, yes, thank you for that. An excellent heads up. Honestly I did not know the Saturn V could be adjusted and that was a concern of mine but an initial trial run of the shell and 412 cart became an evening of listening enjoyment so adjustment concerns vanished. By happenstance the shell must somehow be set for my Yamaha table. :scratch2:
A simple Google search of AK shows a few threads of overhang adjustment So it will be another case of looking, listening, reading, and if needed adjustment. But the Saturn shell should still be easier in so far as no wires to tweeze onto posts or risking broken wires etc.
I did notice that the cartridge body took little effort to place into the Saturn shell and I did visually check several times to see if the shell/cart body/stylus were separating. They did not, thankfully.
I find the words of wisdom and advise so useful here at Audio Karma. So many brethren "have been there and done that" it makes life so much easier. Again, thank you.
Gerard
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GerardG
KBO
Well my AK brethren, I just received today a second Acutex 312 cartridge. Yes, a second because in early December I ordered a 312 from an EBay vendor in Italy. I’d already purchased an Acutex 412 from the same vendor in early Fall, loved it, but wanted to try the 312 because many here seem to prefer the 3 series over the 4 series.
Anyway, my cartridge came at Christmas and I put it on a head shell, aligned it for my Yamaha YP-701 and almost cried. Sound came from one channel only. I tried it on a second TT with the same results. I even tried another head shell. Same outcome.
I immediately contacted the vendor, boxed the defective cartridge and awaited for return instructions. The vendor replied within hours and said they would send a replacement cartridge immediately and due to high return postage costs I keep the defective cartridge. I must give kudos to this vendor for such quick action and concern. They contacted me several times to make sure I was happy and to inform me of the exact shipping date. Communication was not easy as my Italian is non-existent and they must have been using an electronic translator to communicate with me. Some of their emails were very hard to decipher into useable language. But, in any case it worked out and they stood behind their product.
As for first impressions I can only say magnificent. Listening to the 312 and then the 412 I can say both have good base, excellent detail and what I can best describe as three-dimensional sound. Where they differ is the 312 is a little cooler in its presentation. Not to say the 412 is shrill or strident but that the 312 is somehow mellower. My first thought was it sounds a bit like a Shure V15- IV or an M95ED only with more detail.
One noticeable feature of these carts is how light they are. The Acutex 412 has a mass of 4.5g and the 312 checks in at 5.5g. That extra gram meant I could mount it on the stock Yamaha head shell without adding mass as I had to with the 412.
A bonus is I now have a second Acutex 312 stylus for future use. I’m set for a very long time now which is good because while I’ll continue to use my Piezo, Pickering, Empire, and Shure cartridges in rotation these Acutex are currently favourites and will be for some time, no doubt.
Gerard
Anyway, my cartridge came at Christmas and I put it on a head shell, aligned it for my Yamaha YP-701 and almost cried. Sound came from one channel only. I tried it on a second TT with the same results. I even tried another head shell. Same outcome.
I immediately contacted the vendor, boxed the defective cartridge and awaited for return instructions. The vendor replied within hours and said they would send a replacement cartridge immediately and due to high return postage costs I keep the defective cartridge. I must give kudos to this vendor for such quick action and concern. They contacted me several times to make sure I was happy and to inform me of the exact shipping date. Communication was not easy as my Italian is non-existent and they must have been using an electronic translator to communicate with me. Some of their emails were very hard to decipher into useable language. But, in any case it worked out and they stood behind their product.
As for first impressions I can only say magnificent. Listening to the 312 and then the 412 I can say both have good base, excellent detail and what I can best describe as three-dimensional sound. Where they differ is the 312 is a little cooler in its presentation. Not to say the 412 is shrill or strident but that the 312 is somehow mellower. My first thought was it sounds a bit like a Shure V15- IV or an M95ED only with more detail.
One noticeable feature of these carts is how light they are. The Acutex 412 has a mass of 4.5g and the 312 checks in at 5.5g. That extra gram meant I could mount it on the stock Yamaha head shell without adding mass as I had to with the 412.
A bonus is I now have a second Acutex 312 stylus for future use. I’m set for a very long time now which is good because while I’ll continue to use my Piezo, Pickering, Empire, and Shure cartridges in rotation these Acutex are currently favourites and will be for some time, no doubt.
Gerard
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