Estate sale finds- Questions about Acutex, adcom and JVC carts

[marcmorin]

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.

Joe produced carts for various markets other than the US, and used names that were different than used here, and I'm not sure of all the varius names used. The cart mentioned in the article "amber the tribute" I believe found their way to South America and Italy. Then there was the RS-l and RS-ll carts, but those bodies predate yours, and had blue bodies. And the SPL-1 and ll were Tan Body carts. Yours is a "Signature" body. Just not sure what it was named. The date would make it an 8mz body.

I would love to look at the stylus and cantilever under scope.

 

[ecdarby]

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

The new flats should be here tomorrow for the Grados... I can't wait to hear all of these. Unless it's been done before for this line of carts, I think I can throw together some reasonable sound samples for each one and post them here. Has your experience been similar to Treker's where the carts sounded good without break in, or did you notice a significant difference after some playtime had elapsed?

So strange, I guess when I was growing up, I just never really had the chance to hear a real turntable with the proper setup. I remember the ones I heard as sounding truly horrific and I couldn't fathom why people chose to listen to music on these things for so many decades.

But over the last couple of years of getting into turntables and vinyl, it's been the first thing to come along to really excite me about listening to music again, probably since I was a teenager. The convenience of digital is nice, but it is so far removed from the tactile nature of 'playing' music on a physical medium like this.

I feel like a kid on Christmas eve that knows he has something really cool waiting for him under the tree, but there is still a day before he can touch it.

 

[ecdarby]

Joe produced carts for various markets other than the US, and used names that were different than used here, and I'm not sure of all the varius names used. The cart mentioned in the article "amber the tribute" I believe found their way to South America and Italy. Then there was the RS-l and RS-ll carts, but those bodies predate yours, and had blue bodies. And the SPL-1 and ll were Tan Body carts. Yours is a "Signature" body. Just not sure what it was named. The date would make it an 8mz body.

I would love to look at the stylus and cantilever under scope.

No worries, I appreciate you taking the time to help me out with it. I sent some pics to Grado late last night and they responded this morning id'ing it as 8MX actually. I'm trying to figure out what the differences are now. Does Grado publish much info in the way of specs around their diamonds? I don't seem to find much about them other than just the stylus and cart names, and 'this one is better than that one'.

 

[marcmorin]

No worries, I appreciate you taking the time to help me out with it. I sent some pics to Grado late last night and they responded this morning id'ing it as 8MX actually. I'm trying to figure out what the differences are now. Does Grado publish much info in the way of specs around their diamonds? I don't seem to find much about them other than just the stylus and cart names, and 'this one is better than that one'.

The was the Signature 8, 8M, 8MR, 8MX, 8MZ, 8MZ-v. ( early to later production) not sure how one dated from 1990 would be an 8MX. But If John says so, go with that. The styli, and cantilevers went through changes across that time frame also. The (-v ) was a slight change to the stylus and not body.

 

[ecdarby]

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.

If any of you guys has ever found yourself paying a king's ransom for nos styli for these acutex carts, wishing there was a slightly less expensive Jico Shibata or SAS alternative, now would be a great time to write Jico and share your experiences with them.

 

[ecdarby]

Here's the link to their contact us page:

https://stylus.export-japan.com/contact_us.php

 

[ecdarby]

The was the Signature 8, 8M, 8MR, 8MX, 8MZ, 8MZ-v. ( early to later production) not sure how one dated from 1990 would be an 8MX. But If John says so, go with that. The styli, and cantilevers went through changes across that time frame also. The (-v ) was a slight change to the stylus and not body.

I did ask the question specifically in reference to the stylus, stating that you had helped me identify the body. So, he could have meant the stylus was an 8MX but didn't specify.

 

[marcmorin]

I did ask the question specifically in reference to the stylus, stating that you had helped me identify the body. So, he could have meant the stylus was an 8MX but didn't specify.

OK, makes sense. Still suspecting the lettering you found on the stylus is foriegn market nomenclature. And, from what I remember, "amber the tribute" was the one that got all the "press". Should be a nude mount stone of "twin tip" cut.


http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=427641&page=2

Post #23 should be what your stone looks like, but reduced in overall size some.