Unknown cartridge-help identify

[gridleakrick]

A friend gave me this cartridge. It has no markings on it at all. Can anyone identify it and tell me what stylus it takes?
Rick

 

[tubewade]

AT CN5625 aka AT3600. Very common cartridge and styli available everywhere, both genuine AT and aftermarket.

 

[gridleakrick]

Thanks. That is just the info I needed.
How would this cartridge compare, performance wise, to a Sanyo MG-29--the so called "Red Ed"?
Rick

 

[tubewade]

Never used a Red Ed but I have used many AT3600s. The cart body is very good, the stylus as delivered from AT is a conical. This can be good or bad depending on your perspective. I like that cartridge very much for casual listening and for 45 single listening. The replacement conical stylus is very inexpensive. There are some companies making elliptical and even Shibata styli for these so depending on what you want the cartridge is capable of a lot more than it would first appear. If that were mine I would get a new genuine ATN3600L stylus for it and try it out. You may like it.

 

[wualta]

They're both good entry-level magnetic cartridges, but the AT3600 is far more upgradable. You can get a handful of advanced stylus shapes for it, though they're not exactly cheap. Take a look: http://www.turntableneedles.com/search.asp?keyword=AT3600&search.x=-546&search.y=-227 Pfanstiehl index is 211-Dsomething.
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[gridleakrick]

That turntableneedles.com web page is fascinating. A $117.95 Shibata stylus for a $22.50 cartridge. Who would have thought.
Rick

 

[wualta]

Exactly. Welcome to analog!