Audio Technica AT150mlx cart discontinued-replacement stylus?

I did, prefer the MicroLine

 

Well, I did get a ATN150Sa stylus for my AT150MLX and loving it. Stefan's description is spot on, thanks.

 

Just the opposite here.

 

I recently observed that an $18 generic elliptical doesn't detect non-fill the way my ATN150Mlx stylus does. I was particularly bummed about this on one French LP that I bought new/sealed with no way of returning it. It had two nasty tearing sounds on track one side two. Played perfectly the other day with the cheap elliptical which is not at all a bad sounding stylus. This, on an Ortofon Concorde. It's good to have multiple carts/styli.

 

I'd like to ask you AT150MLX owners if any of you had ever used it with the Musical Fidelity V90 LPS phono stage. I would like to know if anyone had any capacitance issues. I can't find information about the V90 LPS capacitance anywhere and as I read if it is too high it wouldn't match this cartridge.

 

Another vote for the ATN150SA on the AT150MLX cartridge.

After lots of research (mostly here) and seeing that the SA stylus was getting harder to find, I decided to buy one. I put it on recently, and I only have a few hours on it, but so far it appears to be everything the microline was, but a little more forgiving in the surface noise department, and slightly fuller in the bass department.

Happy camper here!

 

I'm so confused -- first AT replaces their perfect 150MLX with the (objectively?) inferior shibata diamond and aluminium cantilever, and now looking at their site again, they've replaced it completely with their line of "VM" cartridges, the "flagship" of which tracks at 2.0g!! Comparing the specs of this new line versus the AT150MLX, everything is worse: bigger stylus, worse channel balance, aluminum cantilever, higher capacitance, and nearly twice the tracking force. Why did Audio-Technica rid themselves of their best product?? The AT150MLX sounds better to me than many of their MC carts even, and tracks like a champ. I don't see any reason that they should have changed anything.

Perhaps it's time to find a new company to buy cartridges from. I can't believe it's only been a year-and-a-half or so and they've phased out their best stylus and its replacement. What kind of reliability is that?

 

Interesting! So the AT website shows the ATN150Sa is now discontinued. So what is the official replacement stylus now for the AT150MLX?

ATN150Sa Replacement Stylus (DISCONTINUED) || Audio-Technica US

 

I totally agree on this. I think the MLX is much nicer than the SA, and now that's gone too? Haven't looked deeply into the new range, but I remember thinking the closest equivalent to the MLX was way more expensive...

 

I don't have a 150 series cart, but to me it looks like the VM750SH is supposed to be the new replacement for the AT150SA.

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Techni...e=UTF8&qid=1519148652&sr=1-1&keywords=vm750sh

I'd guess the VM740ML and VM760SLC should fit too, if you want a different stylus shape.

The VM series has lower compliance than the previous models it seems. AT needs to take a chill pill now and let people adapt to all these changes, or customers will flee to calmer waters.

 

I do love the AT sound, I got the AT150MLX which I love and use the atn100e for casual listening too. But the prices for the replacement needles and inferior compliance of the VM serie make me want to find another brand. Any recommendation for cheap excellent sounding stylus/cartridge?

 

Looks like the 150SA is still available in most places. How does the VM750 compare--on a 150MLX body?

Also, how long does a stylus last, usually? I've had mine for going on 5 years or so, and it still sounds great. Probably spin on average 5-6 record a week, sometimes twice that.

 

[bump] Anyone?

 

You should be fine with 5 years on a microline. Less than a record a day? Should have life left in it, assuming ideal circumstances.

 

Well, sometimes 4-5 records in a day, but then sometimes none for a few days. I think it averages to about 1 per day. At an average record length of 45 minutes over 5 and a half years that's 1,500 hours. I really really don't want to damage any records by using a worn stylus. About when should I replace it?

 

Anyone else here? From my experience, if a microline stylus is tracking ideally, the wear on it is very low. I would suggest keeping an ear out for any changes in fidelity - like increased sibilance or edgy treble, then replace.

 

This is what I did when I replaced mine some time back. The increased sibilance and overall lack of clarity in the highs(especially vocals) were a dead giveaway.

 

And after how many hours was that, approximately?

 

I’d love to know where I can get an at150mlx new for less then $400.....they don’t seem like hey are growing on trees

 

I went about a year and half but I play records every day. No idea how many hours but maybe a 2-3 record a day average.

 

By my calculation that's no more than 1250 hours, considerably less than is on mine. Maybe I should start saving for a replacement. LP gear has the 150sa for about $180

 

MicroRidge and MicroLine are definitely respected in the industry as superior to Shibata. For example, Namiki in Japan makes all of them, and Shibata is less expensive in their price list and less respected in their product descriptions. Shibata was invented much longer ago, is more sensitive to VTA and SRA, changes tip shape more dramatically as it wears, and has higher tip mass. The Shibata may indeed sound better in SOME systems to SOME listeners ears, but the majority of listeners will find that "better" also "sounds better".

And there is absolutely no doubt that boron (gold plated) is a better cantilever material than aluminum: stiffer and lighter. Both their density and modulus of elasticity are very much different, in favor of boron.

The ATN150MLX stylus is the favored replacement for an AT150MLX cartridge, if it can still be found, and if it is not too expensive. Again, ears and systems differ, but "better" is usually "better".

The only reason that I can think of to discontinue AT150MLX and ATN150MLX is soaring material costs (for boron) and more expensive manufacturing costs (for the MicroLine tip shape, boron tube, and gold plating). The AT150MLX was a masterpiece cartridge for Audio Technica, but I guess they figure they can achieve almost as good sound for a lot less cost, sell more, and make more money.

 

Except that its shibata replacement, the AT150SA, has itself been discontinued less than 2 years after its introduction.

 

And what's the current substitute?

 

Thanks again Warren for spreading the truth because Aluminum while not bad, is simply no match for Boron. Is it the actual material cost or is it simply that Namiki has decided to charge more? I don't know much about that end of the issue.

I've said this in other forums/posts, if you want Boron then let AT know you want Boron. Write them an email, letter, whatever. They will make excuses but you have to keep at it. If people keep buying their Aluminum substitutes then it's business as usual as far as they are concerned and Boron will definitely never come back, much to the detriment of your listening enjoyment.