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Mystery cart & stylus: ADC QLM 30 MK III?

vanquishfist

vanquishfist

Loudness Off
I was going thru some old parts and I found this cartridge and stylus. All the cart says on it is ADC on the back, and the stylus ADC on the bottom and QLM 30 MK III on the front. I can tell just by looking that the needle is shot.

I didn't find anything on the site for ADC so I was just wondering if anyone has heard of this and if it's any good and worth fixing and using, THANKS.
 
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Well it's pretty much a bottom feeder if it is that particular model. I know the stylus is, Ok for playing beat up LP"s. Is there a patent number on the top of the body and what color is the body. It may just be a better ADC cartridge with a QLM30 stylus.
 
As Stanton681EEES says, it's a very low end cartridge, with a conical stylus tracking at a weight of 3-5g, which is H-E-A-V-Y! (Sorry for shouting lol) You can check the specs on the cartridge database at http://www.cartridgedb.com/ .

The Stanfield stylus catalogue says that you can actually improve the cartridge by fitting the better elliptical stylii from the QLM36/III, or even the (getting better as you read it) VLM/III, XLM/III or ZLM, the last two of which are seriously good cartridges, tracking at around 1g for the ZLM. Well it doesn't actually say it :D, but it groups them together as cartridges which have stylii which fit any in the group. That's what I'd do, if I was you - you can get yourself a VLM (OK), XLM (very good) or ZLM (excellent). You may have trouble finding the stylii, but places like garage-a-records.com, soundring.com (they have free worldwide shipping), lpgear.com, or turntableneedles.com should have them.

-Don
 
The cart is dark grey but the only letters on it are ADC and made in usa, no writing on top.

Also, is putting a better stylus on going to make it a good cart, or a great cart, cause I don't need to fix it, I'll only put anything into it if it would make it great cart. There's no use fixing it if I can get a better sounding cart for the same or less money than it would to improve this one.

On the other hand, I could find enjoyment with it through other means...:uzi:
 
vanquishfist said:
The cart is dark grey but the only letters on it are ADC and made in usa, no writing on top.

Also, is putting a better stylus on going to make it a good cart, or a great cart, cause I don't need to fix it, I'll only put anything into it if it would make it great cart. There's no use fixing it if I can get a better sounding cart for the same or less money than it would to improve this one.

On the other hand, I could find enjoyment with it through other means...:uzi:
Click to expand...

Jumping out of a plane, for instance! You go first....

Certainly, the bettter stylii will improve the sound, and also result in lower record wear, due to the much lower tracking weights (1 gram versus 4!). The ADC ZLM was certainly a great cartridge - sort of like ADC's version of a Shure V15 Type IV or Stanton 881S. Certainly better than Shure M97xE or Stanton 681EEE, to take those company's top cartridges at present. And just putting the stylus from one of those cartridges onto your cartridge should give similar sound to the original cartridge, due to the moving iron nature of the cartridges. Most of the cost is due to the stylus cost.

The same doesn't hold true for all cartridge brands though. Putting a Shure V15VxMR stylus on a M97xE body won't give you exactly the same sound as the V15VxMR, because the magnets within the body are completely different. It will have some improvement, though, due to the better stylus shape and much lower moving weight....:D Whether the cost is worth it, only you can say. You can always try one of the cheaper stylii first (eg VLM), which shouldn't break the bank, and if you like the improvements, then buy a ZLM stylus next time the stylus wears out.

-Don
 
Well, I looked at my options and found I can get a generic ZLM/Super XLM/II for 40.00, ADC brand QLM36MKIII for 39.95 on garage-a-records.com, or on soundring.com the QLM36/III, XLM/III, ZLM are all 41.97. I think all of them on soundring are ADC brand but I'm not sure. I'm leaning towards the ZLM on soundring because the prices are all the same, but if you have anymore imput let me know.

Also, the models have newer names and some say improved, the only difference I saw was a piece of clear plastic on the front of the ones that say improved. Just wondering if any of this would affect anything.
 
ETI_5000 said:
As Stanton681EEES says, it's a very low end cartridge, with a conical stylus tracking at a weight of 3-5g, which is H-E-A-V-Y! (Sorry for shouting lol) You can check the specs on the cartridge database at http://www.cartridgedb.com/ .

The Stanfield stylus catalogue says that you can actually improve the cartridge by fitting the better elliptical stylii from the QLM36/III, or even the (getting better as you read it) VLM/III, XLM/III or ZLM, the last two of which are seriously good cartridges, tracking at around 1g for the ZLM. Well it doesn't actually say it :D, but it groups them together as cartridges which have stylii which fit any in the group. That's what I'd do, if I was you - you can get yourself a VLM (OK), XLM (very good) or ZLM (excellent). You may have trouble finding the stylii, but places like garage-a-records.com, soundring.com (they have free worldwide shipping), lpgear.com, or turntableneedles.com should have them.

-Don
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. I'm acquiring a Pioneer PL-300, and it looks like it's going to come with a QLM 30 MK III, so I just ordered a ADC QLM 36 MKIII from Garage 'A Records. I'll see how that sounds, but I may upgrade later to the VLM, XLM, or ZLM.
 
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