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Stanton 681EEE - Brush or no brush?

Treker

Treker

Super Member
I just picked up a Stanton 681EEE with original stylus in good condition, however it was missing the brush. Not a big deal really, as it sounds great without it, but I was just wondering, for those of you that have experience with this cartridge, do you think it sound better with or without the brush? Just curious is all.
 
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Treker said:
I just picked up a Stanton 681EEE with original stylus in good condition, however it was missing the brush. Not a big deal really, as it sounds great without it, but I was just wondering, for those of you that have experience with this cartridge, do you think it sound better with or without the brush? Just curious is all.
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A lot of it depends on the effective mass of the tonearm. The brush is pretty helpful on medium to heavy arms. My own experience has been that Stantons sound better with the brush on my SL-1600 MK2 but Pickerings sound better without it. I'm hesitant to draw any firm conclusions from this. In all cases I'm using NOS styli and the suspensions could be less than optimal on some or all of them.

John
 
I like mine with the brush, but only an OEM Stanton brush. The aftermarket ones are usually way too stiff and can chatter and make other strange noises.
 
Sounds the same until those microscopic dust particles coagulate on your stylis. So, brush. Oh, I use a whatchamacallit brush on every record before every play, and I still get dust.
 
hello guys ,I managed to buy a brand new 681eee MK3 and an original D680SX stereohedron stylus for the 680EL. Both have the stylus that you insert to clean the track . In the instructions there is no mention of how the stylus should be set with the nib. The weight with the nib increases and the arm of the SL1200 is at its limit. I have noticed that the antiskating suffers by not being able to set itself correctly. Can anyone help me with the setting, or do I carry on as I did for 30 years with the 680EL without using it? Thank you all! The 681 has a fantastic sound! i have a Technics Sl1200 and Thorens TD125MK2 with SME 3009 2 improved!
 
I have a brush on mine.
It is living on my Dual 1019
The only time I hear the brush is in the lead in.
 
Thats the first cart i bought back in the 70's still have it and do not use the brush never have. I must have had a reason but those were my party years and i dont remember
 
The brush will dampen arm movement on warped records, which is really it's main purpose. It also wipes surface dust, but the real purpose is to prevent a light arm from bouncing I think.

Vintage Stanton/Pickering brushes are better than new ones, the new ones are both too long and too stiff.
 
Quite a few years ago, when I was setting up my XUV/4500Q cartridge for CD-4. I discovered the brush affected the tracking, causing loss of consistent ultra sonic frequency tracking and thus, resulting in distortion. So, I removed it and everything was hunky dory and. I have since never used a brush on any of my Stanton/Pickering cartridges. Even if you can't near any effect with 2 channel records, obviously there is some influence caused by the brush.

Doug
 
HPMguy said:
The brush will dampen arm movement on warped records, which is really it's main purpose. It also wipes surface dust, but the real purpose is to prevent a light arm from bouncing I think.

Vintage Stanton/Pickering brushes are better than new ones, the new ones are both too long and too stiff.
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Both new brushes I've seen were uncut. The original is shorter and has a very steep angle of cut, 45° maybe. The new ones are like a paintbrush, with a cone shaped tip.

I don't think it's physically possible for the new brushes to function without trimming. They're so long they'll prevent the stylus from fully seating in the groove of the record. The grips are also not quite precise enough and the brush will often be in contact with the cartridge preventing freedom of movement.

If you have a real brush they can be fabulous. If you only have new ones run without or trim it back to match the original size.
 
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