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Cartridge advice for PL-L800

Nobbs66

Nobbs66

New Member
Recently bought a Pioneer PL-L800 with an unusable cartridge. I'm not looking to spend a whole lot at the moment($50-60 USD), and I could really use some advice.
 
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boreas said:
The PL-L800 came with a high output moving coil cartridge with a replaceable stylus, a PC4MC. Is that what you have?
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That's the one. I didn't realize that cart had a replaceable stylus, since I blindly assumed that MC cartridges couldn't have the stylus replaced.
 
Almost all of them can't. The replaceable styli tend to be petty spendy though. Frex, the original stylus is available here for about $170.00 and here for even more. There's an aftermarket copy here for a lot less but unfortunately it's still outside your budget.
 
boreas said:
Almost all of them can't. The replaceable styli tend to be petty spendy though. Frex, the original stylus is available here for about $170.00 and here for even more. There's an aftermarket copy here for a lot less but unfortunately it's still outside your budget.
Click to expand...
How much better would things sound if I went for the LP gear replacement stylus as opposed to getting a whole new cartridge?
 
Depends on the cartridge, I suppose. The PC4MC is a petty good cartridge and probably better than any new $80.00 cartridge but aftermarket styli can be a bit of a crap shoot. With respect to the LP Gear stylus, it's listed as a conical whereas the original is a 0.3 x 0.7 mil elliptical. Now, the PC3MC is a conical and LP Gear sells a replacement for that one too so if I were thinking about getting one of those, I'd email them for clarification. Either stylus from LP Gear is probably a good one. Japanese styli usually are.
 
turntable needles.com has pioneer stylus, may be worth a look. I picked a PL-L800 last week. It has the P-3 MC cartridge but I don't know the condition so until I scope it I won't use on my good vinyl. I did put a Denon DP-110 on it a few albums ago and I'm loving it. I'm kind of liking using an auto TT.
 
I have a PL-L800 with the original cartridge ,which has been retipped. I think it's a very nice sounding turntable and cartridge - the Pioneer linear tracking system with the linear motor is head and shoulders better than any of the other linears I've worked on, which usually have belts and gears and other parts driving the arm. It's also got a very low noise floor. I will most likely try the aftermarket conical stylus next time I have to renew the cartridge.
 
maxhifi said:
I have a PL-L800 with the original cartridge ,which has been retipped. I think it's a very nice sounding turntable and cartridge - the Pioneer linear tracking system with the linear motor is head and shoulders better than any of the other linears I've worked on, which usually have belts and gears and other parts driving the arm. It's also got a very low noise floor. I will most likely try the aftermarket conical stylus next time I have to renew the cartridge.
Click to expand...
I noticed that it had a really low noise floor last night. So far, I'm very happy with everything the I have it.
 
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