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Replacement Stylus for a Legacy Stanton Cart

T

Tomstoys2

New Member
Hi,
I'm looking at resurrecting my Sanyo Plus Q25. The cartridge that was on it when I last used it was a Stanton. The Stylus is missing. Does anyone know how to identify what model it is and if they even make replacement Stylus for it, or if it's even worth putting a new one on? If not, can anyone recommend a good Cart?
Thanks,
Tom
 

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needlestein said:
It's difficult to know exactly which stylus that is without the model number being identified. Stanton made a number of different cartridges that look identical to that but the immediate problem for you is that original Stanton styli are getting to be in very, very limited supply and are usually expensive unless you get lucky.

Secondly, Stanton made moving iron and moving magnet cartridges using that exact same body, so you don't even know if you need a moving magnet or a moving iron stylus. There are ways to test, I've heard. The moving magnet body contains no magnet because the magnet is in the stylus only. The moving iron bodies contain a magnet that should attract the needle of a compass.

But, the best news for you is that the Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE stylus works in both moving magnet and moving iron bodies! It's a very decent stylus and is available for about $40 at the auction site. There are definitely better styli available for more money. If your stylus turns out to be moving iron, a great stylus for it that is very inexpensive is the EVG 4606-DEX aka PM4052DE.
Click to expand...

Thank you needlestein, It may be easier for me to just pick up a new Shure M97xE. I can get one through my company at close to cost.
 
Looks very much like a 680/681 to me. In which case you have a very nice moving iron cart, a lot better imo then the Shure. As needlestein said original Stanton styli are pretty much non existent, but you can still find styli for the Pickering XV15 cart, which is identical to the 680/681 line. Voice of Music(voiceofmusic.com) still carries 2 original ellipticals and one conical. The $50 606-DEM is perhaps the best, but the other 2 are fine also. The also carry many aftermarket styli(including the one recommended above for $32) but I'm not of fan of those. You can also find assorted NOS styli for the cart on the auction site.
 
Pretty sure that's a 680 or 681 body, probably a "proprietary" one that was offered as standard equipment on a new turntable. That particular Stanton label seems to be what they used for those.

Now, the difference between a 680 or 681 is in the stylus that was originally fitted. The bodies themselves are the same. That means that any stylus for either of these models, and there were many, will fit and will work.

As needlestein said, Stanton made several cartridges that used the same metal housing, so they look the same, but were electrically quite different. The 680 and 681 were of a moving iron design where the magnet was inside the body and the 881 and 981 were moving magnet, having the magnet located in the stylus assembly.

So, there's a way to tell which is which. That's to take something like a staple, straighten it out and carefully insert it into the opening at the front of the cartridge. If the staple finds and sticks to a magnet, you have a 680 or 681. If the staple doesn't find a magnet, you have an 881 or 981 (or you missed the magnet ;)).

John
 
In my experience the 881/981 always had those designations on the cart, while the 681 didn't. Just "Stanton". There may be some that prove me wrong, but I haven't seen them.
 
sberger said:
In my experience the 881/981 always had those designations on the cart, while the 681 didn't. Just "Stanton". There may be some that prove me wrong, but I haven't seen them.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's true but, with proprietary cartridges, all bets are off. ;)

John
 
The 680 and 681 have identical bodies but the 681 came with a better stylus and were "calibrated", which means that the 681 bodies tested better than the 680s. Grado does the same thing with their Prestige cartridges, picking the top 10%, according to tests, and marketing them as a more premium body & stylus. Nothing wrong with that although I doubt the differences are always audible. The Stanton 681 even came with a graph of its tested frequency response.
 
boreas said:
Pretty sure that's a 680 or 681 body, probably a "proprietary" one that was offered as standard equipment on a new turntable. That particular Stanton label seems to be what they used for those.

Now, the difference between a 680 or 681 is in the stylus that was originally fitted. The bodies themselves are the same. That means that any stylus for either of these models, and there were many, will fit and will work.

As needlestein said, Stanton made several cartridges that used the same metal housing, so they look the same, but were electrically quite different. The 680 and 681 were of a moving iron design where the magnet was inside the body and the 881 and 981 were moving magnet, having the magnet located in the stylus assembly.

So, there's a way to tell which is which. That's to take something like a staple, straighten it out and carefully insert it into the opening at the front of the cartridge. If the staple finds and sticks to a magnet, you have a 680 or 681. If the staple doesn't find a magnet, you have an 881 or 981 (or you missed the magnet ;)).

John
Click to expand...

Thanks John!
It's a 680 or 681. staple stuck as soon as I inserted it.
 
Thank you everyone for you help. I just ordered a Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE from Gary at The Voice of Music. I'll post an update when I get everything up an running.
Tom
 
needlestein said:
That's a good stylus. If you ordered it from Gary, his code for that stylus is the 4822-EEE-P. (P for Pfanstiehl, I guess--but people might think it's an indication of P Mount--fat chance: this stylus is not compliant enough enough for P Mount use). If you ordered a 4822-DEE, it's an EVG. The EVG is also good, but the 4822-DEEE is much, much better. However, the EVG 4606-DEX which is the Pickering style stylus but fully compatible with your 681 cartridge is every bit as good and 1/2 the price.

Forgot to mention along the way, another couple of excellent low-priced styli for that cartridge are discussed here:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/stanton-681eee-vs-stanton-681se.694435/page-2
Click to expand...
Per Gary's suggestion I ordered the 4822-EEE-P.
Thanks again for your help.
 
Stylus arrived on Saturday, it sounds awesome! I spent all day going through my old vinyl. I think it's been 25 years since I played them and revisiting music from my youth. Pretty funny seeing my obsession with Kansas, Styx, Supertramp, the Kinks and Sammy Hagar just to name a few. Thank you all for your help!
So cool showing my teenage kids vinyl.
Tom
 
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