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Cartridge for Technics SL 5

C

CenzoBass

New Member
Hi,
I just bought a Technics SL 5, with the original cartridge (EPC-24 I believe) which needs to be replaced. I searched for cartridges and found the following :
- AT85ep which replaces the AT92ecd which is no longer manufactured (€39):
- Bliss HyperElliptic P-Mount - €150 (https://www.turntableneedles.com/BC...idge-with-Hyper-Elliptical-Stylus_p_4081.html)
- LPGear (AT) - T4P REFERENCE SERIES VL - €165 : https://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATSER05L.html
- Ortofon 320 cartridge €200 on LPGear (https://www.lpgear.com/product/ORSER320.html)
- Grado BLUE3 Prestige P-Mount T4P Phono Cartridge – $160
I wonder if the AT85ep is ok or if it's worth making the effort to buy a more expensive cartridge? Do you have an opinion on the cartridges listed below?

Thanks for your help!
 
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Why do you think the cartridge is bad? There are still quite a few good styluses for that cart and I was surprised by even the basic replacement stylus I got from LPGear. Beyond that you can even add a JICO SAS that has good reviews

Many excellent TP4 cartridges, IMO, are long since discontinued, but can still be great, and the fact that they sometimes get overlooked makes for some good bargains
 
I put an AT85 on something and was quite dissapointed with it. I have used the AT92 in the past but the 85 just didn't sound good. If you can find a stylus for the original I think that might be the better way to go.
 
There should be no difference between the 85 and older 92 other than the quality of the stylus mounted to it. Bodies should be identical.
 
Electone said:
There should be no difference between the 85 and older 92 other than the quality of the stylus mounted to it. Bodies should be identical.
Click to expand...
there is a laundry list of other now-extinct AT P mounts that use the same body, just different nails. Not sure if the one I got was bad or not but it just did not sound good. I found an old Shure P mount I had laying around and stuck that on instead, big improvement. It was a turntable a friend of mine had gotten with a broken AT P mount.
 
Thank you all for your answers.
I note the option of keeping the original cartridge by just changing the needle - I can try that.
For the AT cells, has anyone else had a bad experience with the AT85 cell?
In another thread, I also noted the ADC PSX-10 cartridge. What do you think about it? Is it suitable for the Technics SL-5 turntable? (sorry I'm quite a beginner)
 
I bought a new AT85EP for a Sony PS LX57 linear tracker that I got for free. The 85ep sounds just fine on that turntable. The Sony is not in my main system but comes out to play on occasion just for fun.
Later, I purchased an AT81CP for a friend who needed a new cartridge to be able to play records on an old Technics player that I gave a year or so ago.
Before I gave him the 81, I compared the two. The 85 has an elliptical tip, the 81 has a conical tip. Both sounded fine on that linear tracking Sony and both was a pleasure to listen to. Budget cartridges for sure, but they both made “musical” music to emerge from my speakers.
Hope you get great sound out of that SL-5 regardless of what you buy.
 
Thank you DoyleVan for your feed-back. For the moment I've just bought an elliptical version of the stylus EPC-24 (match with the original cartridge). I'm just wanting for the package to arrive :-). Maybe I'll try the AT85EP to compare.
 
CenzoBass said:
Hi,
I just bought a Technics SL 5, with the original cartridge (EPC-24 I believe) which needs to be replaced. I searched for cartridges and found the following :
- AT85ep which replaces the AT92ecd which is no longer manufactured (€39):
- Bliss HyperElliptic P-Mount - €150 (https://www.turntableneedles.com/BC...idge-with-Hyper-Elliptical-Stylus_p_4081.html)
- LPGear (AT) - T4P REFERENCE SERIES VL - €165 : https://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATSER05L.html
- Ortofon 320 cartridge €200 on LPGear (https://www.lpgear.com/product/ORSER320.html)
- Grado BLUE3 Prestige P-Mount T4P Phono Cartridge – $160
I wonder if the AT85ep is ok or if it's worth making the effort to buy a more expensive cartridge? Do you have an opinion on the cartridges listed below?

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Sorry to be late to the party.
EPC-24 is an EXCELLENT cartridge that trully deserves a new stylus. The good thing about these Technics charts family (EP-22, 23,24...) is that you can interchange stylus. As a fact, I am currently using an ellipitical EPS-202ED in my SL-1 EP-24. Sounds fantastic.
This cart is one of the least known Technics gems around.
Forget about a new cart and save your money for buying more records!!
 
Last edited:
i have at85ep , not bad at all
but if you buy lptune or any other website's at3472se will be better
i Recommended https://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/

www.stereoneedles.com Magnetic Cartridge,Phono Cartridge,Phonograph Cartridge,Turntable Cartridge,Phono Needle,Stereo Needle,Turntable Needle,Record Player Needle

Contemporary & Classic Phono Cartridges & Genuine Original Styli,ADC,AKG,Audio-Technica,Bang & Olufsen, B&O, B & O,Grado,Ortofon,Osawa,Pickering,Shure,Stanton
www.stereoneedles.com
don't buy anything at lptune or lpgear
they just won't reply any time
 
NachoTemino said:
Sorry to be late to the party.
EPC-24 is an EXCELLENT cartridge that trully deserves a new stylus. The good thing about these Technics charts family (EP-22, 23,24...) is that you can interchange stylus. As a fact, I am currently using an ellipitical EPS-202ED in my SL-1 EP-24. Sounds fantastic.
This cart is one of the least unknown Technics gems around.
Forget about a new cart and save your money for buying more records!!
Click to expand...

Great notes! I got a P23 and P24 from some old turntables I bought and didn't expect much without having looked them up. But when I played them they sounded great. I haven't tried too nice of a stylus yet, but I'm planning to find one in the future
 
Thank you for your advices. I know have several options :-). As I said before, I finally ordered an EPS 24 CS / ES (Elliptical). I'm waiting the stylus to arrive. I'll let you know. I choose for DaCapo website. Do you know this website?
 
CenzoBass said:
Thank you for your advices. I know have several options :). As I said before, I finally ordered an EPS 24 CS / ES (Elliptical). I'm waiting the stylus to arrive. I'll let you know. I choose for DaCapo website. Do you know this website?
Click to expand...
i think it's great too,i also plan to buy some stylus in this website
 
Hi, just to give some feed-back. i received the Elliptical stylus from Da Capo website; I must admit I'm quite disappointed withe the stylus, but I think I still have to break it in and see if it goes better. On the other hand, I was very satisfied with the service of the Da capo site - good price, clear info, qucik sending, well-packed. Again thank you for the advices.
 
All styli are not created equal. Who makes the replacement stylus matters a great deal! Out of the box, it should sound quite good, and get better over the next 10 hours of play. Don’t know who made your stylus from Dacapo….
 
HamboneF18 said:
All styli are not created equal. Who makes the replacement stylus matters a great deal! Out of the box, it should sound quite good, and get better over the next 10 hours of play. Don’t know who made your stylus from Dacapo….
Click to expand...
The stylus comes from Tonar
 
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