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Stanton 681?

sunvalleylaw said:
Well, that was a couple years ago anyway. Was thinking I would move on. Maybe try the new replacements I already have, and then get looking at a NOS or re-tipped something. Who is reputable for re-tipping now? Is suspension addressed as well?
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Joseph Long. He goes by cartridge_retip-5 on the bay. He's done several for me.
 
Another vote for Joseph. He just re-tipped an 880s with an FGS diamond in the original CL and it sounds WOW.
 
the ebay seller mentioned above is "cartridge_retipping-5", not "cartridge_retip-5". i just found him, :)
 
Okay, I'm back with a couple more questions - I got my hands on a Black Diamond stylus for this cartridge, so I will soon be giving it a try.

First is about setup. I plan to use the brush on mine (mostly to improve the compliance match for the tonearm), but keep reading about having to add an extra gram of tracking force and anti-skate.

If I balance the arm with the brush on the cartridge, do I still add the extra gram of tracking force/AS compared to without? I use a digital scale to set VTF, so if I wanted to start with a VTF of 1.25-1.5g, I'm actually settling it to 2.25-2.5g via the scale with AS to match?

Second is about the different versions of this cartridge - the original stylus that came on my 681 is the conical with a higher VTF than the elliptical versions.

While I'm thinking of having it inspected, I'm guessing it uses a thicker cantilever than the elliptical/Stereohedron versions of the cart use. What kind of cantilever came on the EEE/EE-S versions of the 681? Was it standard aluminum, or something fancier like titanium or beryllium?
 
Yes, you set the tracking force with the scale 1 gr heavier than you actually want. This is because the brush weighs one gram, and is held up by the brush hairs in use, subtracting 1 gr from the effective weight of the tone arm. You need to increase the anti-skate higher because the brush itself adds to the skating moment -- it sticks out even farther than the stylus after all.

There are three or four different versions of the stylus. Conical, elliptical, hyper-elliptical, and stereohedron, all of which have difference tracking characteristics. Add to that the differences in compliance (essentially flexibility of the rubber suspension in the stylus holder) and you can have quite a few different tracking weights.

Don't know what the original cantilever looked like or was made of, but someone else will surely chime in with that information. What counts is low effective tip mass, and for that a high compliance boron or telescoped beryllium would be best. However, I don't think anyone is making beryllium cantilevers any more, so yours will be aluminum, telescoped aluminum, or boron.
 
Tim D said:
Just received another Stanton 680EL with D6800EL stylus cheap from the big auction site. I didn't have much hope for the stylus. It came dirty and with unknown use and hours on it. I'm playing it now and it sounds great! This is the second one that I've come into - same stylus and body. I'm a happy camper.

So, about those "Black Diamond" stylus's, I looked at MrStylus.com and with VAT and shipping overseas it jacks up the price quite a bit. Are there any sources for them in the good ole' USA?
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I'd like to know that too!
 
I use a tiny piece of Scotch tape to hold the brush up when using a digital scale. If you want one gram VTF set the weight for two grams with the brush up on the digital scale. Then take the tape off.
 
I 've owned a V15 type 3 and Grace F9e and a Stanton 881s,and the 881 is wonderful and the Grace is slightly better. The Shure has both image and high end tracking issues.
My fav is the 881s.
 
Semi old thread here, but I've been running a Stanton 680 equivalent, the L727 for P-mount, with a Vivid Line stylus on a Technics Sl-DL1 that I picked up and it really sounds great. I'd been running it on an old NAD turntable 5040 (to be fair, not a great turntable) and it sounded good, but it really sounds substantially better on the Technics. I can't compare it to the original stylus(es), but I'm pretty darned happy with this one right now.
 
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