Estate sale finds- Questions about Acutex, adcom and JVC carts
- Thread starter ecdarby
- Start date
Treker
Super Member
I personally only have one Acutex cart, the M310IIe, which I like very much, even with only a generic elliptical stylus. It looks like you have the M310IIIe, which is a different cartridge body than mine. However, from what I understand, all of the Acutex "tri-pole induced magnetism" design carts have a similar sound, which if my cart is a representative example of the breed, is very good indeed.
marcmorin
RIP 1953-2020
If you have a digital ohm meter, it won't affect the coils. Since it has the (JG) on the coil cover, that is not a Grado Labs product. That is a Joseph Grado Signature product. 475ohm range, and it's an 8MZ. 70 ohm range then it is an MCZ/TLZ/XTZ. Should be something hand written in the bottom of the stylus assembly. Praying for you it says XTZ. $750.00 cart in its day.
Only the current production (woody) Reference-1 surpasses it.
ecdarby
AK Member
Eh, no such luck. I pulled the stylus and couldn't see anything hand written inside the cart or on the stylus, but did notice there is white paint on the cantilever if that's significant. My Fluke tells me that both sides are 493 ohms, give or take a tenth of an ohm. Almost had the Grado Signature Trifecta. Cant win them all.
ecdarby
AK Member
Nice! Just pulled the trigger on the Beatles vinyl remasters, Showed up a couple of days ago. Haven't even had a chance to break the seal on it yet. I may spend this evening just trying some of these carts out. What about break in time, I know it can be a significant 50-100 hours with some carts. Did yours sound good straight out of the box or did it take a while?
marcmorin
RIP 1953-2020
Eh, no such luck. I pulled the stylus and couldn't see anything hand written inside the cart or on the stylus, but did notice there is white paint on the cantilever if that's significant. My Fluke tells me that both sides are 493 ohms, give or take a tenth of an ohm. Almost had the Grado Signature Trifecta. Cant win them all.
OK, but the body is Signature 8MZ. Nothing on the bottom flat part of the stylus assembly? White on the cantilever is an unknown to me.
ecdarby
AK Member
Here are some more detailed pics of the cart with the stylus pulled.
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ecdarby
AK Member
Couple more
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ecdarby
AK Member
Pics of the headphones, comparison of the drivers.
On the 200's, there is a little ring inside of the wire mesh on the backside of the cups that reads 'Joseph Grado Signature Products', which is all but impossible to photograph. I don't know if this is a part of the transducer assembly, but it's not present on the 1000's. Otherwise the drivers are identical in both the diaphragm and wiring in the back, which leads me to believe they are the same drivers in different housings.
Are there any known tell tale signs that prove one way or the other or would the other drivers be noticeably different in later 200's?
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Treker
Super Member
Mine sounded pretty good right out of the box, but I expect it may improve with some additional playing time. Good luck with yours. You will have to let us know what you think.
ecdarby
AK Member
Will do... Decided to hold off for just a bit before I delve into them. Against all temptation, I also decided to keep the HP1000's new old stock and put them back into the box, and order some new ear pads for the SR200's. Once the pads get here, I'll set up a headphone system on my coffee table where I have easy access to swap at will, without annoying the family... and some badass headphones to listen to them through.
Really, really interested in hearing the 310/ 312/ 315/ 320/ 415. I just want to be able to do it under the best possible circumstances so I can tell whether I hear the differences.
Again, everyone's experience, wisdom and guidance is appreciated in the utmost.
Really, really interested in hearing the 310/ 312/ 315/ 320/ 415. I just want to be able to do it under the best possible circumstances so I can tell whether I hear the differences.
Again, everyone's experience, wisdom and guidance is appreciated in the utmost.
ecdarby
AK Member
I've got so many cartridges here that I think that I should start at the bottom and work my way up. I want to be blown away with every successive step, not completely let down after every step, after only the first one or two. 
So, I've been lurking on this site for years before I ever started posting. And I've seen the whole "Raul likes it" thing come up many times. I thought it was just some weird inside joke you guys had or something.
***light bulb moment***
I just came across a bunch of threads on AG that explained it. As often as Ive seen that stated, I'm going to assume that his opinion is generally respected. So I saw one thread where he rated the Acutex LPM 315 STR as the best MM cart he had ever heard, neh, of all time... handed down by the gods themselves. Is that a generally held opinion of this cart, or an overstatement of its abilities? Is that the Tom Cruise (circa 1986) of the bunch/ of the MM world? Raul seemed to have some good things to say about it.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ranlg&1272832599
So, I've been lurking on this site for years before I ever started posting. And I've seen the whole "Raul likes it" thing come up many times. I thought it was just some weird inside joke you guys had or something.
***light bulb moment***
I just came across a bunch of threads on AG that explained it. As often as Ive seen that stated, I'm going to assume that his opinion is generally respected. So I saw one thread where he rated the Acutex LPM 315 STR as the best MM cart he had ever heard, neh, of all time... handed down by the gods themselves. Is that a generally held opinion of this cart, or an overstatement of its abilities? Is that the Tom Cruise (circa 1986) of the bunch/ of the MM world? Raul seemed to have some good things to say about it.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ranlg&1272832599
marcmorin
RIP 1953-2020
Pssssstttt.........Moving Iron. Oh, and I believe that other cart we've been discussing is included in that article. :thmbsp:
ecdarby
AK Member
Oh, good call on that. Was looking at the title of his article 'who needs... mc vs mm...' I'm sure the Grado is going to sound absolutely fantastic. I'm sure almost all of these will. I'm absolutely blown away by the magnitude of this find, in all respects.
Check this out, another little random find. I'm guessing the guy was a hifi dealer back in the day. I love little wooden cigar boxes for storing my nicknacks, doodads and whatchamacallits, and picked up a few from this sale. I just pulled one and opened it and found the business card in the pics here.
Check this out, another little random find. I'm guessing the guy was a hifi dealer back in the day. I love little wooden cigar boxes for storing my nicknacks, doodads and whatchamacallits, and picked up a few from this sale. I just pulled one and opened it and found the business card in the pics here.
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ecdarby
AK Member
Hey Marcmorin, hope you catch this...
So, I got curious about id'ing the stylus on this one again and pulled it. What I thought were just imperfections in the plastic at the bottom of the stylus, turned out to be letters half obscured by potting material. I very carefully cleaned this off and it revealed 'UL' with a giant U and a capital L about half as tall as the U. Does that mean anything to you? The U *may* be a V, but it looks very much more like a U.
I also just sent an email to Jico inquiring why they do not offer more than a conical replacement stylus for any of the Acutex carts. Will follow up if anything comes of it.
jkilla
Out of Touch
I've got so many cartridges here that I think that I should start at the bottom and work my way up. I want to be blown away with every successive step, not completely let down after every step, after only the first one or two.
So, I've been lurking on this site for years before I ever started posting. And I've seen the whole "Raul likes it" thing come up many times. I thought it was just some weird inside joke you guys had or something.
***light bulb moment***
I just came across a bunch of threads on AG that explained it. As often as Ive seen that stated, I'm going to assume that his opinion is generally respected. So I saw one thread where he rated the Acutex LPM 315 STR as the best MM cart he had ever heard, neh, of all time... handed down by the gods themselves. Is that a generally held opinion of this cart, or an overstatement of its abilities? Is that the Tom Cruise (circa 1986) of the bunch/ of the MM world? Raul seemed to have some good things to say about it.
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ranlg&1272832599
I think he's since revised his opinion but the 315 STR is still pretty damn good.
I've got a 312, 315, a Japan Piezo 320 (Same OEM as acutex I believe), and a 415 STR.
I find the 312 and 315 fairly close in performance, but the 315 does resolve detail just a little better. The sound has a real nice "kick" to it. Bass with authority, and a very nice 3D kind of sound. I've seen some cool brochures where they claim the shape of the stylus tip is able to "cut" through dust particles that it may encounter in the groove, and as a result, a reduction in clicks and pops while playing.
There's also a claim that the wide bodied acutex cartridges are supposedly better than the long nose carts . I haven't done a critical head-to-head comparison but I'd love to hear what your thoughts on it are once you get a chance to compare it all.
Too many carts of this calibre? A good problem to have
