Pioneer PL-510A needle broke

[12charslong]

Hey!

I have had my Pioneer PL-510A for more than 10 years now. I put it on the other day and the arm started going everywhere. I looked closely and noticed the tiny needle fell off. I guess it was only a matter of time lol. My pioneer still has the original everything. Is there a needle/stylist replacement that will fit the original cartridge? My friend sent me this link but the people at the site couldn't confirm it was the right size.

Ortofon 5E Elliptical Stylus (Black)

The Ortofon 5E Stylus provides a balanced sound with distortion free playback. The Stylus is compatible with the OM 5E, Super OM 5, OMP 5E, OMB 5E, OMT 5E cartridges as well as the 3E, 10, 20, 30, 40, 78, and D 25 M.

musicredone.com

Thank you for your help! I try to support businesses that aren't amazon. Thanks

 

[Dan13105]

Welcome to Audiokarma. Can you post a picture of the cartridge that's on there currently? It's very common for a turntable to have a different cartridge than was original, so you need to verify what cartridge model it is to order the correct stylus

 

[12charslong]

Thanks . Here are some pics.

 

[12charslong]

Welcome to Audiokarma. Can you post a picture of the cartridge that's on there currently? It's very common for a turntable to have a different cartridge than was original, so you need to verify what cartridge model it is to order the correct stylus

Oops forgot to reply, I added pics above too. Thanks for the reply

 

[Dan13105]

That appears to be an ortofon OM 5e or 10 style cartridge body. The stylus you have listed should work according to the description they provided.

 

[Powertech]

It looks like an old style Ortofon OM cartridge for sure because of the colour (the body of the later ones is black not dark grey). The stylus looks like some kind of generic type as all of the genuine ones have their number on the left hand side, unless it is a very early one as there is no cut out above the stylus tip which the genuine ones have (you will see this if you look them up on any selling site).
Any OM stylus will fit - they are all still available as new. The OM5e and the OM10 are bonded eliptical and the OM20 is a nude eliptical (and much more expensive). Either the 5e or the 10 will be a good fit in any case. The 20 is significantly better and is a worthwhile upgrade if you can afford it. Be careful to set the tracking weight for whichever stylus you choose as they are different.

 

[12charslong]

It looks like an old style Ortofon OM cartridge for sure because of the colour (the body of the later ones is black not dark grey). The stylus looks like some kind of generic type as all of the genuine ones have their number on the left hand side, unless it is a very early one as there is no cut out above the stylus tip which the genuine ones have (you will see this if you look them up on any selling site).
Any OM stylus will fit - they are all still available as new. The OM5e and the OM10 are bonded eliptical and the OM20 is a nude eliptical (and much more expensive). Either the 5e or the 10 will be a good fit in any case. The 20 is significantly better and is a worthwhile upgrade if you can afford it. Be careful to set the tracking weight for whichever stylus you choose as they are different.

And @Dan13105 . Thanks for all the help! I'd like the OM20 but they are so expensive (215$). Do you have a preferred place that you buy from?

The record player was my parents. When I was young, I stole it from my dads basement and he barely noticed. That was 18 years ago lol. I asked my mom about the record player, she says she thinks it was her original player but mentioned you could just go to the record store and pick a new needle up. Sounds like they were common place and cheap. Can't believe how expensive they are.

 

[Powertech]

I'm in the U.K. so prices are in Pound Sterling.
The OM5e stylus is £43.00.
The OM10 stylus is £55.00.
The OM20 stylus is £159.00.

The best value is the OM10 and the best quality is the OM20 because it's a nude diamond, not bonded. They are all very good IMO.

 

[Govany]

The OM20 is a great cartridge but the pl-510 tonearm is a tad heavy for it's high compliance..the 2m blue has the same nude eliptical tip & might be a better match..you can get a new 2m blue cart & stylus for less than the stylus 20..another option would be the 2m red at almost half the price, it's not a bad sounding cart..

I have my pl-510a set up with an audio technica VM95EN..it's not my best sounding setup but darn close..for the money I don't think it can be beat

 

[12charslong]

The OM20 is a great cartridge but the pl-510 tonearm is a tad heavy for it's high compliance..the 2m blue has the same nude eliptical tip & might be a better match..you can get a new 2m blue cart & stylus for less than the stylus 20..another option would be the 2m red at almost half the price, it's not a bad sounding cart..

I have my pl-510a set up with an audio technica VM95EN..it's not my best sounding setup but darn close..for the money I don't think it can be beat

And @Powertech. Thank you for all the recommendations! I have lots to consider now

 

[Powertech]

The OM20 is a great cartridge but the pl-510 tonearm is a tad heavy for it's high compliance..the 2m blue has the same nude eliptical tip & might be a better match..you can get a new 2m blue cart & stylus for less than the stylus 20..another option would be the 2m red at almost half the price, it's not a bad sounding cart..

I have my pl-510a set up with an audio technica VM95EN..it's not my best sounding setup but darn close..for the money I don't think it can be beat

I would agree that the OM series is borderline compliance for the medium mass tonearm on the Pioneer. The 2M is a bit tall and quite heavy (7 gramme) and I don't think the Pioneer has VTA adjustment.
If the OP is going to go down the route of a cartridge change then I agree that the Audio Technica VM95 is a good place to start. maybe start with the VM95E and then work upwards - budget permitting.

 

[doctor fuse]

There is a 0.25x0.7 nude elliptical for $29 at The Voice of Music (no affiliation), which is a damn good price and it’s an independent US-based business. Personally I would give that a try (as much as I try to match compliance of arm and cartridge I have never experienced real problems with a non-ideal match; you could also add a blob of Blutac under the headshell to increase mass and lower compliance if you really want to be in the 8-12Hz ballpark).

Product Detail

 

[Govany]

I would agree that the OM series is borderline compliance for the medium mass tonearm on the Pioneer. The 2M is a bit tall and quite heavy (7 gramme) and I don't think the Pioneer has VTA adjustment.
If the OP is going to go down the route of a cartridge change then I agree that the Audio Technica VM95 is a good place to start. maybe start with the VM95E and then work upwards - budget permitting.

The pioneer pl-510a cartridge weight range is 4 to 10 grams, making the 2m a perfect match weight wise, it will work fine..
I agree the VM95E might be the best money spent, the more I listen the more I like my VM95EN

 

[Govany]

There is a 0.25x0.7 nude elliptical for $29 at The Voice of Music (no affiliation), which is a damn good price and it’s an independent US-based business. Personally I would give that a try (as much as I try to match compliance of arm and cartridge I have never experienced real problems with a non-ideal match; you could also add a blob of Blutac under the headshell to increase mass and lower compliance if you really want to be in the 8-12Hz ballpark).

Product Detail

This arm is already a little heavy for the OM cart, last thing it needs is more weight, If I was going to use an OM on this arm I would remove the brass weight from the top of the cart..