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Opinions/Info on Stanton 681EEE

Blewpernt said:
Hi,

I know. I can’t tell from your posts if you are talking about the .2 x .7 or the .3 x .7. If the .2 x .7 is now tracking at 1.2g, I’d buy some. Is that the case?
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Forgive me for butting in, but I believe he is talking about the Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE(4822-DEE-P at Voice of Music). It would be interesting if someone bought both the EVG/Japan version and the Swiss version and compared them. I have some EVG/Japan for Pickering. The Pfanstiehl is a little more exciting to listen to.
 
Blewpernt said:
There used to be a lot of that here, but I can’t find any of it anymore. My recollection was that the EVG was bland, but that was the Japanese EVG. I’m not sure if the EVG is still Japanese or Swiss, in which case they might be the same thing. I did notice that the new Swiss EVG for the 881 tracks very well at 1.5g while the old Pfanstihl 4608-DEX tracked like crap until over 3g. So maybe the new EVG would track lighter.
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Now, EVG sells the same Swiss product as Pfansteihl. I think Gary owner of Voice of Music is the only source of EVG/Japan as he bought the last of them. . JICO dumped EVG at least 2 years ago. I just looked at my Pfanstiehl dealer list...they are down to one 608...the 608-DEX. EVG has no 608's. And the 825's for the 881 are gone from both EVG and Pfanstiehl lists. Gary still has two choices: https://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/cat...pe=MfgNameNeedles&MfgName=Stanton&Categories=
Many less popular models are being dropped.
 
Blewpernt said:
So I got my 4822-DEE(-P) from VOM and am pleased to report that it tracked very well indeed at just one gram in a generic 680 body. I could not detect any audible sibilance on a torture record that separates the men from the boys pretty well. That’s a solid performance for $30 in my book.

Furthermore, and importantly, it reached just over 35dB channel separation, which is spec and, for an aftermarket stylus with so many shortcuts to the suspension and budget considerations regarding the cantilever and diamond, phenomenal.

I can’t comment on how well it sonically compares in other aspects to say a D680 or 681EE or EEE at the moment as I don’t have time to sit down and compare. But what I heard from the Pfanstiehl was definitely impressive.

As to working as well in MM bodies, I did not observe that. To be sure, it worked though. I tried it in an old 981-LZS. I guess they’re all old. Anyway, it sounded decent enough and tracked well, but channel separation figures plummeted to less than 20dB. I can try it in a high output XSV-3000 cartridge and see if the separation figures remain low. I should say that it still sounded very good and without taking readings, I don’t think my ears would know it scored so low regarding separation.

I don’t have any other new aftermarket styli to compare it to, either right now. I tried a TEI for a Pickering V15 and measured separation figures were disappointing at only 10dB, though it still sounded very good. At only 10dB though, that’s kind of like mono but stereo imaging was still good when just using my ears. But that’s just a cheap heavy tracking conical. Nevertheless, the original D-AC-3 stylus achieved well over 30dB.
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I am glad that you are happy with it. Maybe the older Swiss needles were problematic, I honestly do not know because I did not start using them until about 2 years ago when JICO cut off EVG and EVG started selling the Swiss needles as does Pfanstiehl and some other companies. I really like my 4822-DEE. Great informative post.
 
SaSi said:
I'm sure Stanton681EEE will soon chime in to give you more details. For the time being, some preliminary info from me.

This has been my main cart back in 1980-90 when my only TT was a Dual 1009. The tonearm on that TT was advertised as "low mass" and it sure was by '60s standards but I guess not enough for that cart.

The "calibration standard" was perhaps a marketing hype. Anyway, my cart came in a nice wooden case with a small pillbox with screws, a small screwdriver and a serialized handwritten frequency response chart.

My original cart was a 681EEE-S and since I bought it I purchased quite a few replacement styluses. Perhaps a few too many, as upon close inspection with a microscope now they all seem fine. But good to have now, perhaps.

So, I have tried EE, EEE, EEE-S and EEEMkII needles on that cart. All are 6800 type.

It's not a bad cart at all, despite my personal less than perfect experience (which I attribute to the mismatch with the tonearm and possibly the wrong VTA as the Dual didn't have an adjustable VTA).

If you look at this chart at www.cartridgedb.com you will see (green numbers) that the cart requires an ultra low mass tonearm to match well. Certainly my Dual didn't qualify for that. The 681EEE has a lower compliance and probably the reason I got better performance when I mounted that styli to the cart on my Dual.

What is your TT by the way?
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"The "calibration standard" was perhaps a marketing hype" Not Hype! These were used as the standard for comparison for years in the recording industry. The "moving iron" has all the advantages of a moving coil without having to preamp your preamp. Very low mass and hyper elliptical stylus .0003 for the EEE sounds as good as many cartridge's costing into the thousands $ today. I started buying all I could find a couple of years ago and Have maybe 15. New replacement D6800 stylus can be purchased but they can also be re-tipped.
Stanton 681 EEE II-S Stereohedron stylus
 
2021-12-01 13.27.11.jpg
Picture of mine* with the EV PM4212DE NUDE DIAMOND NEEDLE I found from the info in this thread.

Really like the stylus so far!

(*Technically a Stanton 737E)
 
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Anytime you see a tracking spec. with the lower end below 1 gram, it is only in controlled laboratory conditions with a cartridge support with no horizontal or vertical friction, to allow the cartridge completely free movement. The requirements will never be met in the real world and so, practical tracking forces will always be 1 gram or above for satisfactory performance.

Also, the chief reason it is usually recommended that you set tracking force toward the higher end of the advertised range is because many tonearms will not support tracking toward the lower end of the range. Too much bearing friction, etc.

Doug
 
Blewpernt said:
Back in the day or now that they are old? I had plenty EEE that tracked 100 micron dynamic range at 315Hz at 1g back in the day, tested with the Ortofon test record. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a buzz. They probably would track even wider dynamic range but where’s a test record that has 110 microns on it? XSV/3000 too. They don’t all make it these days, though. Still 80 microns at 1g kills most, if not all, high end MC.
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Ah, back in the day when I used to fret about whether I was tracking a cartridge at 1 gram or 1.25 grams or 1.5 grams because I was so worried about record wear as were many people back then. 40 - 50 years later, I don't worry anymore since my records from back then are still fine.

BTW, my triple E will track at 1 gram but I usually set it at 1.25.

Doug
 
I didn't say the EEE can't track below 1.25 grams. Read my post again.

Perhaps I should have said it is rare for cartridges to be able to track at .7 grams in the real world, which is true.

Doug
 
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