Fifty year old phono cartridges

You are correct. The guy in the video says it was made in Japan.

 

Interesting stuff there. My records that were(past tense with the Walco and EV styli) hard to track were indeed pop/rock. But contained very deep loud bass. Bass that is inaudible on my AR 6's but loud on my AR 3a's. One was a regular LP, the other a 12" single, cut very loud. With the EVG2751DE(elliptical and more compliant cantilever) they track fine. GE was foolish to outsource the styli. If they outsourced to one reliable vendor....that could work. A softer suspension that also allowed the stylus to remain in the proper position in relation to the pole pieces would have been more a matter of quality control than a redesign. (The GE VR 1000-5 had a 0.5 mil tip and a more compliant cantilever/suspension. Ironically, those 4 styli which I had tracked nothing). The design of the cantilever combined with an often too stiff suspension allows movement in no direction. I have had a few of those and they just skate across the record. If it were up to me, the cantilever would be anchored in soft rubber and the two dampeners would be soft rubber as well. You have helped solidify some thoughts that I had. I bought a Golden Classic and VR-225 or 227 depending on which stylus WAS in it. I only tried the VR-225 after installing a NOS stylus or two. I did not want to open everything that I have and render the styli useless as I would like to sell them someday. I have about 200 assorted NOS NIB styli for the GE stereo VR's. Anyway, the VR-225 sounds okay on mono. I do have one mono album.....Judy Garland. But, put a stereo record on and it is all distorted. I imagined customers thinking 'never again'. I did not project that to include dealers but it makes sense that they would bail too. Add to the facts that the styli that are out there have been out of production for sometime. My contacts at EVG and Pfanstiehl tell me that styli for GE magnetics have been out of production for at least a decade. The tooling no longer exists either. I am the holder of the EVG2751DE stock. I have no idea what the demand is. Probably almost nonexistent.

This is out of sequence, but HiFi/Stereo gave the GE VR 1000-5 a good review. How much of it is fact and how much of it is skewed by advertising dollars will never be known:
Stereo Review

The '-5' is the version that everyone suggests should have existed. It did. History seems to indicate that in the field, it did not live up to the test results. And it could be exactly what you indicated....outsourcing of styli. A very foolish move when betting on one cartridge.

Back to the London Decca's.....how about a VPI turntable with the VPI unipivot ? Any experience there ? I am surprised that none of the stereo rags have tested such a combo. It seems instead of taking one exotic component and seeing how it performs with a more pedestrian component, they always pair exotic with exotic. One stereo publication mentioned, ever so briefly, a Rega RB300 with a London Decca but gave no details. I am not ignoring your advice. I want to determine a way to use a London Decca without buying a whole bunch of other gear. My Ortofon Quintet has very low hours. The GE has been getting all of my use.

 

'EVG 606-DEX' is a perfect example of EVG using Pfan's alphanumeric scheme. EVG's own scheme would be 'PM4037DE'. Trivia but interesting to me. There must be a reason that EVG is using Pfan's scheme. Time will tell.

 

There is an auction on Ebay right now for a Walco 553-STD stylus for the GE VR 1000-7. I am watching it as I have about 60 of those. They are not nearly as good as the newer EVG2751DE's. I hope there is some demand for these. I guess I can leave them as part of my estate. LOL.

 

Retry link: (for GE VR 1000 test results) : Stereo Review

 

The EVG generics I've used required more tracking force than a Pickering original, were less rugged than the Pickering. The Jico is good, but also does not quite sound right on the Pickering, it's too bright sounding compared to the original. I love Jico's Shure styli a lot, on older Shures without Shure stylus support, they are great. Remember, I also need styli to be consistent from stylus to stylus sample, and suited for the application. Most generic makers make one stylus for the lowest common denominator of the family. And for me, the CBS test record tells the truth.

 

Some AT's are made in China - AT95E for example, but it's an OK entry level cart.

 

Look at this craziness! ..and you only get one stylus for the bid!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shure-Stereo-Dynetic-Stylus-N-44-7-New-Old-Stock-0007-Diamond-Stylus/112640283741?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

 

The only A-T cartridges that I know of which are made in China are the OEM cartridges like the AT3600, which only come installed in new turntables. Any A-T cartridge you can officially buy on the retail market is made in Japan, including the AT95E.

 

Like when I paid $142.50 for a EV275oD stylus for my GE VR 1000. Someone else really wanted it and I did not think anyone else would bid so high. Of course it did not play at all. Turns out that JICO has been making styli for EV/EVG since 1965. Maybe my EVG2751DE's are JICO's ! I'll never know.

 

BestBuy has the AT95E in the store on the shelf with "made in china" right on the box. I saw it there last week.

 

Cross reference of popular aftermarket styli. EVG/Pfans

http://www.russellind.com/client/download/top-137.pdf

 

That stinks.

 

I guess that is why it only costs $44.38 @ Amazon/LPGear. LOL.

 

I was mistaken and should clarify - That was only for a AT95E stylus - not the full cart. Made in China, $39.95.

 

Boy, I'll tell you, this problem with the VR-1000 has me crazy. Never had a cart problem like this in 40 years of playing around with this stuff. I think it might be that the mag input on my amp just doesnt like the Vr-1000, as dumb as that sounds. The Shure M7 in the same headshell works as it should with the wide stereo separation on the Turtles Greatest Hits LP. The VR1000 is combining the channels.

 

You want to check one more time ? With the stylus pointed at the floor and looking at the connections from the connection end of the cartridge(pins and clips):

Top left, right ground, green

Bottom left, left ground, blue or black

Top right, right hot, red

Bottom right, left hot, white

 

The terminal arrangements between the Shure and GE are NOT the same.

 

John,

Yes, youre correct and I know that too. My Vr-1000 has the Hot pins labeled 'L" and "R". The opposite side are the respective grounds. It should be EASY as pie to connect!
When I say I connected the Shure, it means that was the test....the Shure played correctly, so that proved that I'm connecting the correct wire in the headshell to the Left Hot, to the Right hot, and the two grounds. It proves the headshell is wired correctly.

So...what I am thinking is that the Magnetic phono inputs on the EICO ST-40 may not support the VR-1000 correctly, but yea, thats a stretch.

I guess I could try a tape input, then an external Preamp........but hell, i shouldnt have to. It should just work.

more testing tonight.

 

You have a short between the hots either inside of the cartridge or something inside the headshell manages to touch when the VR 1000 is mounted. Disconnect one channel inside the headshell and see if you still get output from both channels. That would indicate a short inside the headshell. Try one channel and then the other. If you want to. The amp should not care which cartridge you are using.

 

Did you try a different stylus during this ?

 

Did more testing, disco's one channel as you suggested, yes, got some of both channels, did some more wire swaps....no doubt....the cart has an internal short.

Once more connected the Shure M7...BANG, beautiful wide stereo on the Turtles.

just my rotten luck.

 

'
Yes, this exact issue happened with the original stylus and the NOS Walco replacement. I dont think this is stylus related.

 

Okay. Never know about those pole pieces. LOL.

 

Is there a dealer where they can try out the cartridge for you ? Do you have an extra headshell ?