ARXA Cartridge Advice

[JDThomas]

Hey everyone,
I am a newbie to vinyl and stereo gear in general. Part of the wave of people waking up to how good it sounds compared to digital. Anyways, I recently purchased a Marantz 2230 receiver, a pair of A25 speakers, and a AR XA turntable. It came with the Shure M70EJ (Stylus) and 70 B (Cartridge). Does not sound half bad, but there is area for improvement I’m sure. I listen to classic rock, folk music, indie folk, indie rock, blues, bluegrass, and tribal music. I’m a bit all over the place.

Just wanted to ask others who have a similar set up for advice. Looking for 2 recommendations.

#1: A simple solid Cartridge and/of Stylus upgrade for this TT that won’t break the bank
#2: Best cartridge this TT can run.

I understand this is going to be very personal preference, but I don’t have the money to buy different carts to experiment. So, any recommendations are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks again for helping this newbie on his path of music.

Blessings,

 

[benricci]

It's a pretty 'meh' cartridge, if I'm being honest. I seem to remember it actually being Shure's bottom of the line back in the day.

That table deserves something better -- what is your budget?

I'm assuming you do not have a phono preamp capable of handling moving coil cartridges, so we'll likely be sticking to moving magnet recommendations, yes?

And lastly, it looks like you might have corrosion on your headshell leads. Could be worth picking up a new set while you're installing a new cartridge. You don't have to spend a ton on those.

 

[Panamafred]

Wow... you have got your self a nice set-up to get your feet wet with.

I've run mine with a Shure M91 (lots of affordable, great stylus options out there) a Grado Prestige and Shure V15 IV with original stylus.

All were pleasing but had there differences. I would look in to what types of stylus options exist for your current carts.


Also... when you have a few free hours have a look at all of the little tweaks that get done to the ARXA it is an endless rabbit hole.

 

[Mister Pig]

First things first, that headshell does not look close to being square in the tone arm, it looks strongly tilted to one side. That should be resolved.

The Audio Technica AT95 series of cartridges are quite affordable and worth looking at. There are several in that line from very inexpensive to moderately expensive. The one with an elliptical stylus would probably be the choice for bang for the buck.

Another cartridge that is quite nice are the Vessel series from LP Gear. They are produced by Excel to LP Gears specifications. Vessel cartridges are excellent.

 

[JDThomas]

It's a pretty 'meh' cartridge, if I'm being honest. I seem to remember it actually being Shure's bottom of the line back in the day.

That table deserves something better -- what is your budget?

I'm assuming you do not have a phono preamp capable of handling moving coil cartridges, so we'll likely be sticking to moving magnet recommendations, yes?

Hey Ben,
Right now my budget is around $100-$150. Next year I plan to spend more money on a cartridge, so I’m looking for a budget option and a “save my money for..” option. I’m not sure about the phono preamp. I have a Marantz 2230 receiver and that’s it so far. I didn’t know I needed an additional receiver for certain cartridges. Also, I need to take time learning about “moving coil carts” vs “moving magnet”. You certainly know more then I as this is been to me. Whatever you recommend would be appreciated. Both the budget and high end options.

 

[benricci]

Hey Ben,
Right now my budget is around $100-$150. Next year I plan to spend more money on a cartridge, so I’m looking for a budget option and a “save my money for..” option. I’m not sure about the phono preamp. I have a Marantz 2230 receiver and that’s it so far. I didn’t know I needed an additional receiver for certain cartridges. Also, I need to take time learning about “moving coil carts” vs “moving magnet”. You certainly know more then I as this is been to me. Whatever you recommend would be appreciated. Both the budget and high end options.

So your receiver handles moving magnet cartridges, which is totally cool. That's the standard setup.

I don't want to confuse things further for you, but moving coil cartridges do require a specific phono input to help amplify their low output, but that's a topic for another day (they're out of your budget for now, anyway, so nothing to worry about at the moment).

For $100-$150, there are two carts I recommend.

One is the Nagaoka MP110. It's great sounding all-around champ. One of the best in its price range for sure.

And if you can swing another $20 or so, I'd put forth the AT-VM95ML -- currently the entire Audio-Technica "VM95" lineup is really one of the best values around, and this particular cartridge has a great micro-line stylus on it that'll help eliminate any sibilance and inner-groove distortion. It tracks like a champ and sounds great across the entire frequency range. If I had $165 or so, it's probably what I'd buy.

The stylus on the AT cart will last you about 1000 hours so you should be good for a nice long time until it needs to be replaced.

 

[adnick]

You have many options that will sound good with your AR…as @Mister Pig suggested the AT is a good choice, and vintage selection is huge; the Stanton 681eee, or Pickering V15, Shure 44, or as @Panamafred said, the Shure 91, and many any more that are MM/MI and sound fantastic.

Then the sky is the limit

VR
Andy

 

[Grenadeslio]

As a save for option I really liked mine with a Grado Platinum wood body.

You could start with a Grado Black, see if you like the Grado house sound and realize the Platinum is several steps up in SQ.

only caveat is the wood body Grado cartridges only mount from the top so holes through the AR headshell would have to be made. I saw it as no big deal as most headshells have holes through them anyway lol.

 

[Blackdog61]

As a save for option I really liked mine with a Grado Platinum wood body.

You could start with a Grado Black, see if you like the Grado house sound and realize the Platinum is several steps up in SQ.

only caveat is the wood body Grado cartridges only mount from the top so holes through the AR headshell would have to be made. I saw it as no big deal as most headshells have holes through them anyway lol.

The Grado sound is one that I find very musical and I was hooked decades ago when I bought the cheapest one the dealer had.
I’d recommend doing the Technics arm wand swap with a rewire and using a more conventional headshell. Then mount a Grado Woody and forget about it.

 

[Crab33]

Others know that turntable better than me but it looks to have a heavy-ish arm. Is that right? If so, a cartridge with a stylus of low or medium compliance (stiff suspension) would be warranted.

Since you are new to this, you may want to take small steps towards achieving better sound quality. The easiest next step would be to replace that N70B spherical stylus with an elliptical one, such as this N70EJ:

https://lptunes.com/products/jico-replacement-shure-n-70ej-stylus

In fact, you cartridge is labelled as an M70EJ but it is fitted with the inferior N70B stylus.

If you want a nice alternative cartridge which won't break the bank, take a look at the AT-VM95 range, as has been suggested above. These cartridges are well liked and are fairly 'middle of the road' in terms of sound characteristics, so are widely appealing. While the AT-VM95ML with the marvellous MicroLine stylus is within reach if you push your budget a little, this might not be the best stylus for a newbie, as it is likely to require more precise set-up than a less exotic stylus. You could start with the AT-VM95E (bonded elliptical) or AT-VM95EN (nude elliptical). You could always upgrade the stylus later to a MicroLine or Shibata, if you felt the need.