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Pickering v15 stylus options

S

savemenow

Member
Hey all,

I just came into possession of this cartridge with a AC-2 stylus, which I believe is a conical stylus. It's part of a new (to me) 1019 from Dual. What are some other options for stylus replacement? Is the AC-2 any good, or, for that matter is the cartridge worth an upgraded stylus? Thanks in advance, Marty
 
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Right, try a forum search for "Stanton 500" and you should find lots of info. The V15 and 500 bodies are identical.
 
They are. Same guts with a different sticker. The stylus itself does look different though. There is also a P mount version of the 500, can't recall what it is, but it has a D71EE stylus that works well on things that can take a lighter tracking elliptical.
 
Interesting thread on the subject of Pickering and Stanton. I recently acquired a Stanton 500 MKII, with a headshell, that I needed. Wasn't too interested in the 500 MKII, it had a "DJ" stylus. I main interest was the spare headshell. After a little research, I found that a D71EE stylus (KABUSA) was a good HiFi stylus, if I wanted to use the 500. Compared to my Shure M97xE, it sounded nice. Now that I have discovered that Stanton/Pickering are really one, I would like to find a nice, low tracking (VTF), Pickering stylus for this Stanton cartridge. As I understand, the 500 and V15 are twins with different names. My question, would a Pickering stylus step-up the performance, compared to the D71EE. According to some, the D71EE is the only low tracking stylus for the 500 MKII ? Any recommendations ?
 
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The D71EE is probably the most available thing you're likely to get these days. I have a V15 myself and use either a Pickering D5E or the Stanton D71EE in it. They sound similar, with the Pickering having a little more top end but less midrange. Overall I think the Stanton sounds a little better but neither are bad. I'd be happy with either if I didn't happen to have both already.
 
Thanks, think I'll order a NOS, might sound better than the after market D71EE that I am now using.
 
There have been similar threads before I used to have a Pickering V15 and a Stanton 500e never thought to look into swapping the stylus on them back then
somebody linked or posted a pretty good chart as to what works with what
Maybe Google can find the chart?
 
frankxbe said:
There have been similar threads before I used to have a Pickering V15 and a Stanton 500e never thought to look into swapping the stylus on them back then
somebody linked or posted a pretty good chart as to what works with what
Maybe Google can find the chart?
Click to expand...

I did find a chart in this forum, basically, Stanton 500 series and Pickering V15 series are twins, with different labels. Beings that a 500 MK II was installed in a headshell I was looking for, I thought I'd give it a try. Got rid of the "DJ" stylus and put in a D71EE aftermarket. Sounds ok. But, if Pickering had something better, I'd try it.
 
Actually that weight with a conical won't cause any appreciable wear, especially on a more tired album. Sometimes with a really shot out album, the only fix is more weight.
 
gadget73 said:
Actually that weight with a conical won't cause any appreciable wear, especially on a more tired album. Sometimes with a really shot out album, the only fix is more weight.
Click to expand...
Well, maybe I will keep it, I cleaned the stylus and checked it under 200x scope, the diamond is clean and doesn't appear to be worn.
 
I have a Pickering/Pfanstiehl "D ATE 2" stylus on my Pickering V-15. This is a 0.4 x 0.8 elliptical stylus - it seems to track/sound best at 2.5gm VTF/3gm AS on my Dual 1019. These numbers are based on the stylus specs and Dual's anti-skating chart. It's a great combination - really dynamic, with lots of detail, but laid back at the same time, never fatiguing. The original 1960's package this stylus came in was included with my 1019, so this would likely be the equivalent of a NOS stylus nowadays. $22.95 was the price on the package - that wouldn't exactly have been pocket change.
 
kcblair said:
I did find a chart in this forum, basically, Stanton 500 series and Pickering V15 series are twins, with different labels. Beings that a 500 MK II was installed in a headshell I was looking for, I thought I'd give it a try. Got rid of the "DJ" stylus and put in a D71EE aftermarket. Sounds ok. But, if Pickering had something better, I'd try it.
Click to expand...

Also my experience. Got it from turntableneedles.com.
 
I don't know if anyone has found this but I find a consistent variation in overhang measurement from Stanton and Pickering stylus when used on a Stanton 500 cartridge.
I have 20 Stantons/Pickerings in the configuaration of .7,1.0, 2.7 and 3.0 conicals as well as .3 and .4 elipticals. The Pickerings are consisitently about .32 mm shorter.
I find this acceptable for use with the conicals but have a specific cartridge for the Pickering elipitcals. With this variation I don't find them to be exact drop ins.
 
Shouldn't be any issue to adjust overhang to the stylus tip though. Once you do that, as long as you're not going back and forth between the two brands it wouldn't be any issue.
 
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