I'm totally new to Vinyl and need some specific advice by the end of the day!

[greenhill]

Hi Experts,

I'm stuck.

I have found piece of vintage equipment fairly localy, a Toshiba Turntable FS-2500MY
with original speakers.

It sounds (to my untrained ear!) pretty good for an old all in one.
It's a gift for an old friend for some sentimental reasons
BUT
I have been trying to find out if you can get any replacement stylus/needle/cartridges/pick-ups for it
(you can now see that I'm a novice!). It may need a new needle.
Does anyone know if there is a replacement, universal alternative, or other for it?

I'm going to pick the system up this evening!

Help.

 

[truck]

This place shows a stylus for the FS-2600, not sure if it will work. Does the headshell come off? Maybe you could take a picture of the cartridge or at least pull a name/number off it?
http://www.turntableneedles.com/TOSHIBA_c_24417.html

 

[greenhill]

Thanks, I don't know?
Should it just unplug?

 

[truck]

Behind the headshell looks like a black ring, does that turn? It may not, so don't force it.

 

[ETI_5000]

According to my Stanfield (Aussie brand) aftermarket stylus catalogue, the Toshiba FS2500 and FS2600 used the same stylus, which was a conical stylus, Toshiba number N6C, which tracked at 6 grams (very heavy!), and was for a Toshiba ceramic cartridge. Ceramic cartridges usually had fairly high tracking forces, as the ceramic material needed to be flexed to generate a voltage, so weren’t best for stylus or record life. The stylus photo in the catalogue shows that the stylus is held by a single screw (at the bottom of the cartridge, behind the diamond tip) which needs to be loosened to replace it.

So while it may be capable of reasonable sound quality, it’s not hi-fi sound – few of those all-in-one record players which came complete with speakers were.

It will be OK for cheap, easily-replaced records, but it’s better to go for a turntable with adjustable tracking force, which has an easily-replaced magnetic cartridge tracking at 3g or less, as records and styli will last longer. Many older records can’t be replaced with new ones, and aren’t always available on CD or other digital formats, so it’s best to use good quality magnetic cartridges which track at relatively low tracking forces like that.

Most quality turntables like that will need a separate hi-fi amplifier with a phono (short for phonograph or phonogram) input to amplify the magnetic cartridge output.