Fifty year old phono cartridges

Thank you Needlestein ! I am starting to get discouraged but maybe something will work out.

 

Keep at it! You're passionate about it and when you're passionate about something, the motivation is a given and a blessing.

I also want to mention in this thread that I was recently given the opportunity to repair this old Fairchild SM-1



I'm not entirely certain of the operating principle of this cartridge, whether it's MM, MI, or what. It has plenty of volume going into 47k ohms and is very dynamic and powerful, possibly due to its massive cantilever and heavy tracking force of 3-4g. But it really sounded excellent. The cartridge had, I guess, I poorly done retip, or it just broke from damage. The conical tip was still there, but it was loose and there was crunched metal all around it that I can't explain. But the crunched metal all flattened down out of the way with some powerful tweezers and the diamond was able to be secured with a trace amount of cement. I finished up the topside of the cantilever with a quantity of epoxy in case someone decided to hook this up to the slamming of their record changer.

This cartridge had a replacement stylus kit available that came with damping material, but finding one of those is probably harder than finding one of these cartridges. In any event, it causes one to ask what really has improved in the last sixty years of cartridges? I can see why an old cartridge that is this good has such a following.

You have to see the size of this cantilever compared to more familiar models of cartridges:



If I had dared to remove that cantilever and attempted to identify and duplicate the suspension material, I believe I could have made a new cantilever from a gas pipe and put a new diamond on it from one of my wife's old earrings.

 

Idea !! Maybe you could help me with my 508's (Pfanstiehl number for styli for the GE VR 1000 cartridge). My change is simple I just don't have the eyesight, tools, or steady hand for the job. Let me see if any of the manufacturers and distributors come up with some good news. I don't think much has changed since 1965 when all the majors came out with high compliance high trackability cartridges. (Compliance equals trackability of course. (Don't tell GE ! LOL)

John

 

I have been waiting for my salesperson at EVG to get back to me about a production run of 508's (for the GE VR 1000). How long does it take to ask a question ? I realize that they are switching or have switched from JICO to the mysterious Swiss manufacturer that makes styli for Pfanstiehl. This has resulted in the dearth of hyperelliptical styli from the EVG 'catalog'. My patience is wearing thin.

 

Well, I just encourage you to stick with it. I'm dealing with the same issues as I try to find a source of cantilevers made of various materials with nude tips and complex contour diamonds so that I can offer more options to my customers. These places must be very, very busy as my emails only seem to get answered on some sort of semi-randomized moon phase schedule. I pretty much give up all hope of getting a response and then one day, "BING!" there's an email from a manufacturer. It's very slow-going. Perhaps this promotes large orders because I'm never confident about when I will achieve contact again. Oh, to have a cantilever and jewel manufacturer in the USA. Probably never happen, though.

I don't have a problem with the switch to the Swiss manufacturer. They make good stuff. But I don't find the Swiss Ortofon STY 10 replacement to be as good as the Japanese Ortofon STY 10 replacement. It might sound as nice, but it's not as rugged or refined. I've already broken a couple in retipping attempts. They just kind of fall apart with one false move of the tweezers. The diamond tip goes flying right off the bushing. This issue probably won't affect most users, though, so it's kind of moot.

 

Needlestein,
I am glad that you like Pfanstiehl. Reading posts on the various forums, I was getting the impression that audiophiles preferred the Japanese sourced styli. Things are changing as JICO moves away from supplying distributors. I am pretty sure but not positive that Nagaoka supplies Tonar with some of their aftermarket styli. Things are changing...that is for sure.

 

It's always on an individual basis. Some of the Pfanstiehl Swiss styli are much better than the comparable EVG, and vice versa. And sometimes, they're the very same in different packages, which means not all Pfanstiehls are made in Switzerland or maybe not all EVG are made in Japan--even if the packaging indicates otherwise. Tough to tell. I think I've also seen plenty of Colombian-made Norhahr styli in both EVG and Pfanstiehl packages with no reference at all to South America. You never know what you're getting. That's why it's important for people to come onto the forums and share their most recent experiences with certain styli. Probably much of the information I put up two, three and four years ago doesn't even apply anymore.

 

Needlestein,
Do you have any contact info for the Norhahr company ? I cannot find anything on the Internet but that means nothing as search areas are limited. I must say that I got a very polite email response from JICO. I respect and will buy from companies that treat people with respect before I will buy from some company that ignores emails.

 

I’ve found their website before and emailed them, but they didn’t respond (or their response went to junk mail. I don’t know). Let me see if I can find it again.

 

Got it. They make a lot of really cool stuff. There is no English at all on the website that I’ve found. You may have to speak Spanish to establish contact. I’m not really sure.

The URL is just Normarh.com. You have to wait for the slide show, but styli are definitely shown on their home page.

Home

 

Thank you !!

 

Yes, John deserves a lot of credit for keeping interest in this 1960 piece of audio history alive.
I LOVE mine. The Monkees never sounded so good.

 

Thank you for the kind words. However, I am nearing the end of my patience with the effort. I am getting no cooperation from styli distributors(other than Pfanstiehl) in finding out whether new styli can be produced for the VR 1000. There is a laundry list of problems with the original design that need to be addressed. I also do not appreciate people on the other side of the Atlantic complaining about my raising prices by $5 when they do not take into consideration the time it takes to find one good 508 type stylus out of 15 that is a good one. Never mind the wear and tear on my testing equipment. But yet their comrades sell the 508 type for $49.99 for an ancient Pfanstiehl or $100.00 for a rusty Astatic. Nuff said.

 

Last month I ordered a Shure replacement on ebay from the seller who sells Columbia sourced conical styli for Shure and Pickering/Stanton - probably the same source? Took a chance. It arrived not packaged well, (the manufacturer package was poor, not the shipping) and I don't care for the stylus sound. But then I don't usually do Shure so I'm not sure. Pun noticed. I ordered a Pfanstiehl for it - I know to expect ok and workable or pretty good.[/QUOTE]

 

The Colombian Stanton styli are excellent, but they are only conical versions. Excellent for what they are and completely faithful to the original in every detail.

 

I have tested 200 styli for the GE VR 1000. Sold the few good ones. Kept 3 EVG's and two Walco's for myself. It was quite an experience. Worst stylus design I have ever seen. If the rubber is too stiff, distortion and mistracking, skipping. If the rubber is too soft the cantilever collides with the pole pieces. I think I have sold more styli for the VR 1000 than anyone else in decades. I sold only the good ones. I hope that I made a few people happy. It is the end of an episode for me.

 

I recently dug a 40-odd year old & little used Ortofon VMS20E out of my loft complete with an unused spare stylus. It has been through countless heat-cold cycles but amazingly still plays perfectly & neither cantilevers show any sign of collapse. Considering its age, it also sounds surprisingly good on my latest SL1200G turntable. Respect to this old survivor!

 

I think one reason the rubber deteriorated on the 508 types is that the rubber bits are exposed. Rubber enclosed in a tube appears to survive.

 

Phxjohn certainly made many of us happy. Including me.....he introduced me to the VR1000 , which has become my favorite cart of all.

John is not only very very knowledgeable about styli he's also a great guy.

 

Agreed......bad design, but we have to make the best of it to enjoy the VR 1000.

 

A

Agreed 100%

 

And enjoyable it is !!!!!

 

Sure is!!

 

I sold my last good stylus for the GE VR 1000. I kept 5 good ones for myself. I have two GE VR 1000's mounted and in use. One on an AR 77-XB and one on a Garrard Lab 80 that works even as a changer. I do stack 7" 45's as I have a few of the LSR 9 spindles. I tested about 200 styli for the VR 1000 while selling the good ones. The reject rate was absurd. Most sounded grossly distorted and/or skipped repeatedly. The bad examples cannot be simply attributed to hardening of the rubber dampers. I had the last of one brand with very fresh flexible rubber and yet, they all sounded grossly distorted. The design is bad. GE cheaped out on the design of the stylus for the VR 1000 by using the same two damper with crank shaped cantilever arrangement from the previous VR-22. BUT, with a good stylus the VR 1000 sounds incredible. At this point, with what I know, I would not recommend buying a VR 1000 as you will not have an easy time finding a good stylus for it. Production of replacement styli ended decades ago. If I find another stash of some styli for the VR 1000 somewhere, I will not buy them. Not going through that headache again. But, I will let people know where they are available.