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Need cartridge advice for Philips turntable

mtb_ww

mtb_ww

New Member
I recently inherited a Philips GA312 turntable and wanted to upgrade the discontinued Grado cartridge (currently installed). I reached out to Grado Labs for assistance. Grado service replied, "the GA312 is not compatible with Grado phono cartridges".

Since Grado is not an option, what cartridges would mate well with the Philips tonearm?. My current price range is up to $150. I plan to upgrade, when my kids are out of college. Thus, a cartridge that allows the user to upgrade the stylus is an attractive option.

Thanks. Your help is appreciated.
 
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AT 520 at 119 upgrade to the nude elliptical 530 at 179 or the microline 540 for 250 (all cartridge prices) and you could enjoy the bonded elliptical for less than budget and upgrade later on.
 
I'm not sure why a Grado cartridge wouldn't be compatible - that is, if the Philips can take standard half-inch mount cartridges, as I assume it can. Perhaps they know that their cartridges hum with this turntable, due to their unshielded design. It's a shame, as I understand the arm to be low-mass, so a Grado Prestige cartridge would work well in that respect. And the latest Prestige styli actually fit at least some of the older Grado cartridges.

For a low-mass arm, you should look for a cartridge with a high-compliance stylus. The automatic recommendation for this kind of cartridge would be something from the Ortofon OM range - the Super OM10 is very good and the stylus is upgradeable to the 20, 30 or 40. The Ortofon 2M range is another possibility - the 2M Red is within budget but it's not everybody's cup of tea and it might be worth pushing your budget to the 2M Blue, if you can. For the 2M range, it would first be worth investigating the fixing arrangements though.

Just referring to the previous response, the AT-VM500 series is also a possibility. The AT-VM540ML is very popular but I recently tried the AT-VM520EB, which is within your budget, and found it pretty awful - not a patch on its predecessor, the AT100E.
 
Been a long time since I owned a Philips 312 but as I recall it had a steel platter that caused issues with some induced magnet cartridges whose magnets came too close to the platter. Someone correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t Grados an induced magnet design?

Dave/Chairspud
 
The OM is a good choice if Ortofon will be supplying styli for a number of years more. There are a number of levels and you could even buy a cartridge used and put a 10 or 20 stylus on it an then upgrade to the 30/40 when the time comes.
 
I own a few 312s and 212s. Can't think of much in the way of new cartridges under $150. Maybe the Ortofon Super OM10 or 20. Stay away from Grados. A new old stock Audio Technica AT-450 is good.

In the vintage world, a used Shure M95ED works great. Also a Stanton 881s - sounds amazing, but tough to find under $150 in nice shape. Some of the P-mount designs like the ADC PSX 30 and 40 work very well. Avoid heavy cartridges with that arm.

When you can upgrade, look into an Ortofon 2M Bronze. About $400. Fantastic results with a 212 or 312..
 
Blue Shadow said:
The OM is a good choice if Ortofon will be supplying styli for a number of years more. There are a number of levels and you could even buy a cartridge used and put a 10 or 20 stylus on it an then upgrade to the 30/40 when the time comes.
Click to expand...
I don't think Ortofon will stop making the OM styli in the near future. The OM5E and OM10 are the stock cartridges on so many modern turntables that I imagine the OM styli will remain quite lucrative for some time yet.

I would go for the Super-OM10 or the ordinary OM20, but as the latter is no longer available new you'd need to buy the cartridge body and stylus separately.
 
Thanks for the advice and cartridge recommendations. Currently, I'm thinking of going with an AT or Ortofon, since either are widely available and are supported with replacement/upgrade stylus.
 
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