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Mystery Pickering cartridge id

Telefnknu47

Telefnknu47

New Member
Hey all! So I was gifted a 1979 Pioneer pl 300 and it has a Pickering cartridge that I cannot seem to ID via the intertoobs. I was thinking about replacing it with a cheap at95e, but I am super curious about the Pickering and if it’s worth keeping. Any clue what it is?
 

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I think you are right. Found a photo that’s similar on a post on vinyl engine. Seems like a good cartridge so I ordered a replacement d 625 stylus from LP. We shall see.......
 
Looks like it's mounted with welded "ears" and the typical Stanton/Pickering rubber blocks, right? In which case it's not a IV (Micro IV, Phase IV, System IV... their marketing department got creative with that one), which has a plastic slide-in mount. I think it's an XV-15. The black color is a little unusual.

The stylus you ordered is for an XV-15, by the way.
 
bang4buck said:
Looks like it's mounted with welded "ears" and the typical Stanton/Pickering rubber blocks, right? In which case it's not a IV (Micro IV, Phase IV, System IV... their marketing department got creative with that one), which has a plastic slide-in mount. I think it's an XV-15. The black color is a little unusual.

The stylus you ordered is for an XV-15, by the way.
Click to expand...

It looks like a Pickering XV-15 to me, too. It may have a generic stylus on it, some of which are better than others. A Pickering XV-15 and a Stanton 680/681 can use the same needles, something to keep in mind when shopping for replacement needles. They are essentially the same cartridge. They are great cartridges.
 
The black paint threw me too. But I saw several pics online of V15 micro IV with metal ears, with original box.
 
Definitely not a Micro IV. The Micro IV has a different VTA than an XV-15/680/681. It would be angled more parallel to the record surface, basically equivalent to the Stanton 600. A Micro IV stylus would technically fit into this one, but will not play correctly.

I am not terribly familiar with much of Pickering's line. I wonder if they did both MI and MM like Stanton did? Could this be more like an 881?

Edit: I went down the Pickering rabbit hole, and yes, they did make some black bodies that were moving magnet. The XSV‐3000 and XSV‐4000 look similar to this, but show their model number on the side label in the pictures I've seen. The original stylus was also black. If this happens to be MM, a moving iron XV-15 compatible stylus won't work. But this body may very well not be MM. Both Stanton and Pickering were often vague about which bodies were which. If the little tag falls off, you sometimes can't tell without testing.

Hope that stylus works and sounds good. Those were great cartridges in their day!
 
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I'm inclined to agree that it is a XV-15 although the black is a bit different.
 
Multiplex said:
Hope that stylus works and sounds good. Those were great cartridges in their day!
Click to expand...

. . . .

I'm still living in the day when the Pickering V-15/Stanton 500, Pickering XV-15/Stanton 680/81, and Pickering XSV-3000/Stanton 881 are great cartridges. They are frequently what are playing on either my Dual 1229 or my ELAC Miracord 50H, unless I'm spending time with one of my similar vintage Shures, or a couple of other carts I have.

;) ;) ;) :)
 
I just set up the turntable and it is playing very well with the 625 stylus. I am having a little issue with tracking force though- anything under 2 grams causes the tone arm to skate back towards the outside.

And I would like to say thank you for being such an awesome group of people!
 
bang4buck said:
Looks like it's mounted with welded "ears" and the typical Stanton/Pickering rubber blocks, right? In which case it's not a IV (Micro IV, Phase IV, System IV... their marketing department got creative with that one), which has a plastic slide-in mount. I think it's an XV-15. The black color is a little unusual.

The stylus you ordered is for an XV-15, by the way.
Click to expand...

I agree, this is a late model Pickering XV 15, aka Stanton 680/681 (Pickering's sister brand), and they can use each other's stylus options. Welcome to AK, you are among friends.
 
Telefnknu47 said:
I just set up the turntable and it is playing very well with the 625 stylus. I am having a little issue with tracking force though- anything under 2 grams causes the tone arm to skate back towards the outside.

And I would like to say thank you for being such an awesome group of people!
Click to expand...


1) Is the turntable level?

2) Did you balance the tonearm with the needle on the cartridge?

3) Your picture doesn't show a brush on the needle. I'm going to assume you are not using a brush on the needle (instructions are slightly different with the brush).

4) After balancing the tonearm set the vertical tracking force to 1.25 grams (about 75% up from the bottom of the VTF range LPgear says that needle calls for).

5) Set the turntable's antiskate value to 1.25.

See how it plays now. If you get sibilance (distorted highs), gradually increase the VTF (and the antiskate number) by small fractions of a gram to see if it will go away.

If the tonearm still skates across the record, look at the needle. Is the cantilever bent or twisted. Anyway, report back with details, and someone will have more suggestions/questions/solutions.
 
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