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Stanton 681eee Upgrade from D400

Zack Sainz

Zack Sainz

Active Member
Hey all!

I have upgrade fever!

Currently I have an AR XA with a Stanton 681eee playing through an amazing Scott 299B and recapped KLH 5s. I’ve modified the AR XA’s arm, SL1200 wand and silver wire (I still need to change the springs and add weight to the t-bar).

Right now it sounds pretty great! However I think there might be some more juice to squeeze. (I know some people may think why change what sounds good? Answer, dragons need to be chased.)

I was given a D400 stylus by a fellow aker, Nat. Such a wonderful guy!

I’ve read lots about compatible styli and it seems like quite a few selections from VOM are not available, and haven’t been available for a few months, so it seems like Jico is the next best bet.

I know a lot of Pickering XV-15 styli work, as I have one. Do I stay on the Pickering track or derail and go to Stanton?

What I should do to improve like:

A New Hope to Empire Strikes Back.

or

Jameson to Red Breast.

or

Zeiss to Leica. (Fighting words for photographers, I know)

D400 to ...


Thanks so much!

I hope you all are staying safe and listening to music!
 
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Can not comment on the D400.
Can say that 681EEE w Vividline stylus is quite nice - ads a little to the top end which my factory damaged ears appreciate.
 
The Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE are available again. Check eBay as I see one. Check TVOM as well as I see Gary has stock. It is a bonded elliptical that many including myself like. TVOM also has nude 4606-DEM and 4606-DEX which are for the XV-15 but fit 680/681 perfectly.
 
johnjhazel said:
The Pfanstiehl 4822-DEE should be available shortly. Check eBay as I see one. Check TVOM as well as I see Gary has stock. It is a bonded elliptical that many including myself like. TVOM also has nude 4606-DEM and 4606-DEX which are for the XV-15 but fit 680/681 perfectly.
Click to expand...
Amazing!!! Thank you so much!

DEE over DEM or DEX?
 
Bob in WI said:
Can not comment on the D400.
Can say that 681EEE w Vividline stylus is quite nice - ads a little to the top end which my factory damaged ears appreciate.
Click to expand...

I do appreciate a good top end! So it adds a nice little sparkle, warm with a touch of sparkle or just sparkle?
 
Did you polish the vertical bearings in the tone arm and add Sapphire Jewel bearings?

That is a must do on the XA Arm.

nashou
 
Nashou66 said:
Did you polish the vertical bearings in the tone arm and add Sapphire Jewel bearings?

That is a must do on the XA Arm.

nashou
Click to expand...
Not yet, I’ve read that it makes quite a difference! The new tone arm and silver wire were quite an improvement, I was pleasantly surprised!

I don’t know where to get the sapphire jewel bearings. I would love to do this too! Can you recommend where I can find some?

Thanks for the reminder! Very much appreciated!!
 
Zack Sainz said:
Not yet, I’ve read that it makes quite a difference! The new tone arm and silver wire were quite an improvement, I was pleasantly surprised!

I don’t know where to get the sapphire jewel bearings. I would love to do this too! Can you recommend where I can find some?

Thanks for the reminder! Very much appreciated!!
Click to expand...

SwissJewel.com
V2.00 is what you want.

Nashou
 
johnjhazel said:
The 4822-DEE is a bonded 0.3 x 0.7 no matter what the label states. The 4606-DEM and 4606-DEX are nude 0.35 x 0.7. Personally, I would go for the nude 4606-DEX.
Click to expand...

Need a new stylus for my 681eee, plugged one of my xv15s in until I’m sure of where & what to buy.

Appears to be a huge variation in price range(s) for 4822-DEE (at least claimed as such)? From $40 to $150 depending on the vendor, makes one wonder....maybe I’m missing something.


VR
Andy
 
adnick said:
Need a new stylus for my 681eee, plugged one of my xv15s in until I’m sure of where & what to buy.

Appears to be a huge variation in price range(s) for 4822-DEE (at least claimed as such)? From $40 to $150 depending on the vendor, makes one wonder....maybe I’m missing something.


VR
Andy
Click to expand...

Where do you see $150 ? $35 is reasonable. I know what they cost wholesale.
 
Zack Sainz said:
Sounds like a very good option!!
thanks so much!
Click to expand...

The nudes sold by The Voice of Music and elsewhere are not ground from conicals. They are made to the specs of a patent granted to the Bruce Diamond Corporation. They have a long vertical contact patch like a line contact or hyperelliptical. But the dimensions make them ellipticals.
 
johnjhazel said:
The 4822-DEE is a bonded 0.3 x 0.7 no matter what the label states.
Click to expand...

Gary's site describes them as 0.3 x 0.7 so I don't think there's any argument there.

The previous ones he was selling until his stock ran out last year were described as 0.2 x 0.7 though, and I haven't read anything on the forums from members disputing that spec. A lot of people liked that stylus. I have one and it sounds excellent in my 881S but i don't know if I could recommend it to a 681 owner. That's a moving iron cartridge and the 4822-DEE stylus contains a magnet instead of an iron slug which causes the output of my 681 to sound overdriven. I haven't heard one from the latest batch to compare but I understand they still contain the magnet and to reiterate, they're now spec'ed as 0.3 x 0.7 which seems more typical than the last batch.
 
I received a low hour D400 stylus mounted to a Pickering XV15, on the Garrard Zero 100 I got a couple of weeks ago. The entire table has less than 100 hours on it, per the original owner. It shows it.

So I compared the sound of the Pfanstiehl 4606-DEX (non-nude!) to the 400D. Both are bonded. I prefer the Pfanstiehl. It picks up more detail, but has the same house sound. The Pfanstiehl is also an MM stylus, WITH a magnet. A very weak magnet, I might add. So Pfanstiehl (Swiss manufacturer) pretty obviously took into account internal body magnet polarity and strength. The output of both are very close.

Pfanstiehl 4606-DEX (1200E)
19FA46B2-0B11-4285-BE2D-02028368AF97.jpeg

Pickering XV15 400 on the Garrard Zero 100:

5587E3B2-8585-442B-BF7F-CFC3BC71A480.jpeg
C7D3CCEE-4B54-4388-A341-F251ED0C6086.jpeg
41C51E04-CC1A-42BB-9153-3AF094B98930.jpeg
 
Studio_D said:
Gary's site describes them as 0.3 x 0.7 so I don't think there's any argument there.

The previous ones he was selling until his stock ran out last year were described as 0.2 x 0.7 though, and I haven't read anything on the forums from members disputing that spec. A lot of people liked that stylus. I have one and it sounds excellent in my 881S but i don't know if I could recommend it to a 681 owner. That's a moving iron cartridge and the 4822-DEE stylus contains a magnet instead of an iron slug which causes the output of my 681 to sound overdriven. I haven't heard one from the latest batch to compare but I understand they still contain the magnet and to reiterate, they're now spec'ed as 0.3 x 0.7 which seems more typical than the last batch.
Click to expand...

It's the label on the back of the package that probably still indicates 0.2 x 0.7. They have not been 0.2 x 0.7 for quite a number of years. Which in a way is good news because if one was happy with one purchased within the past few years, one will be just as happy with a new one. I have a 4822-DEE in my Pickering XV-15. To me, it sounds really good. What does 'overdriven' sound like ?
 
johnjhazel said:
Where do you see $150 ? $35 is reasonable. I know what they cost wholesale.
Click to expand...

Your correct today, don’t see the listing anymore for $149, but there are listing on Amazon and eBay for the same nomenclature stylus from $39 - $90, and the labels most often spec them at 0.2 x 0.7....

My concern was this: is the $39 stylus the same as the same nomenclature for twice the price? Your response confirms it is.....

VR
Andy
 
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