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Found my long lost turntable! Now about the cartridge?

BilboBaggins

BilboBaggins

Addicted Member
Friday nights, my grandson stays the night with me. Last night, he was asking me if maybe I could try to find his Mom's original Pokemon cards, that was maybe in storage under the stairs. So i decided to crawl in there and see if I could find them. I was unsuccessful, but I did find a box labeled turntable. I was sure I hadn't sold my original turntable from the early 80s, but I hadn't yet found it. This box was at the very back, in the corner, past a myriad of spider webs and other like critters. I brought it out into the light and found that the box truly did hold my Yamaha P-350 belt drive turntable. It was very dirty with nicotine and tar stains, but it was complete with an undamaged stylus. I remembered that I put on a very nice Stanton cartridge, but couldn't remember what. In the 80s, after I bought my NAD 7240, I rediscovered all my old vinyl sounded at least as good as CDs of that time.

I took off the head shell and examined the cartridge. All it says is EE-2850 inscribed on the side, with a sticker written 189 on the front where the stylus fits. When I do a web search, nothing comes back when I put in Stanton EE-2850, or any variation. Does anyone know what I have?

Please forgive the poor quality phone pictures, but it was the fastest way to post this. Is this cartridge a keeper?image.jpgimage.jpg image.jpg
 
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It's difficult to tell from that photo, but it's probably a Stanton 680/681 or Pickering XV-15. The "EE2850" may be a serial or batch number.

Could also be a Stanton 880/881 or Pickering XSV* series.
 
I'll try to get better pictures tomorrow afternoon. I agree, it does look like a 681. It surprises me that there are no identifying labels, but perhaps they came off over time. I don't think I've use the turntable much since the mid to late 80's, and I'm certain I stored some spare styli as I figured they would become unobtanium over time. Even the belt was in perfect condition! If only I could find those spare styli. A new quest.
 
Would the EE in the serial number indicate that the cartridge was originally equipped with a D6800-EE stylus? That would definitely identify it as a 681 then.
 
BilboBaggins said:
I'll try to get better pictures tomorrow afternoon. I agree, it does look like a 681. It surprises me that there are no identifying labels, but perhaps they came off over time. I don't think I've use the turntable much since the mid to late 80's, and I'm certain I stored some spare styli as I figured they would become unobtanium over time. Even the belt was in perfect condition! If only I could find those spare styli. A new quest.
Click to expand...

Just clean the stylus and enjoy! :)
 
The 681 is the calibration 680 so it probably came with a 681 and getting a nice 6800 stylus will put you squarely in the Stanton 680 EE camp. All good. Can't get a calibration stylus as those were matched up with a cartridge. Finding a good D6800-EE would be a bit of work. Save that brush, the aftermaket brushes use boar bristles by comparison.
 
Nice!

I'll probably move the cartridge into my keeper turntables. I even have a spare head shell for the Yamaha PX-3.
 
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