- Pickering XV-15 (and Stanton 680/681) carts are moving iron carts.
- Pickering XSV-3000/4000/5000 (and Stanton 881S/981S) are moving magnet.
Cannot interchange moving iron with moving magnet.
(If you search the archives, there is a post from someone claiming to have been a Stanton salesman in the 1970s, and the poster referred to the XV-15/625e as a moving magnet cart. This has been proven to be a false statement, the best we can surmise is that the person who posted that was simply mistaken.)
There were a few generations of the XV-15 cart. Introduced in 1969, the 1st gen was two coils, and around 1971, the next generation, the 4 coil model was introduced. You can tell the difference if you lay them side by side. The 1st gen was a bit smaller, had a larger plastic protrusion out of the rear, and the mounting ears had a shallower angle than the final generation. But within each generation, the carts are all the same. All the stylii for the XV-15 series carts are interchangeable, even between the generations. There were white ones, grey ones, mirror-finish gold ones, and a sparkly gold one. All the same cart, just different colors. Some were labeled with just XV-15, while others had XV-15/625e, XV-15/1200, etc. Just depended on how they were marketing them to their dealers.
The sparkly gold XV-15/625e was marketed to dealers with a few different stylii. The D6E stylus, the D8E stylus, and of course the D625 stylus. An authentic Pickering D625 stylus has a longer, downward arcing extended cantilever, great for handling really badly warped LPs with ease. It’s a great cart/stylus combo.
The Pickering stylii had the model number printed on top of the black plastic mount right where the brush clips on, Stanton had their stylii model numbers printed on the sides. Both are easy to see.
Noteworthy XV-15 stylii are:
D350 conical
D400 elliptical
D625 elliptical
D750 elliptical
D1200 elliptical
D1800 elliptical
The last two in the list are pretty rare.
The brush is for sweeping dust away ahead of when the stylii gets to the groove, and also helps damp extraneous vibrations, similar to the Shure V15 III brush. It’s recommended to use the brush, and there are special considerations to be aware of and followed when balancing and applying tracking force and anti-skate with the brush in place. The original ’Dustamatic’ brush was rumored to be made from camel hair, and the bristles are quite soft and flexible. Aftermarket ones are synthetic and quite stiff. I personally would not use one of the aftermarket brushes.
Stanton 680/681 is also the same cart as the Pickering XV-15, stylii from one brand fits the other. Stanton referred to their brush as the ‘Longhair’, almost profiling their retail customers who bought the 681EEE carts in the late 1970’s
I have several Pickering XV-15 carts, all with NOS stylii. D350 conical for playing my college record collection and thrift store finds. The conical stylus shape helps minimize picking up record wear noise and stuff. I also have the D625, and the D1200. The D1200 is equivalent to a Stanton 680/681EE. I also have a bunch of Stantons; 681EEE, 681EEES, and 881SMKII.
XV-15 and 680/681 carts with original factory stylii are amazing and will track anything. The suspensions were so ahead of their time. Aftermarket stylii are readily available, and will work, but are not really the same as the originals, not in the same league unfortunately. To get the most out of these fantastic carts, I suggest looking for NOS stylii on eBay.
