Cartridge Advice please

Marc, I'm a fan of Rega cartridges into Rega phonostages. What I don't know is how well a Rega cartridge would match your arm but I think others in this amazing resource, will probably be able to advise.

C.

???? ANAVRIN,....You can well just buy a new needle,to the pick-up house you already have on your tonearm.
Otherwise,AT 95E is a well known good entry level pick-up,where you can then later upgrade to AT 95SA.

The nice thing about this,is that it's the same pick-up house,so you just need to buy the needle when you upgrade to AT 95SA...if you already have AT 95E.

This AT 95SA,we think here in our group in Sweden beats Linns Adikt MM on the fingers, and this at half the price of what Linn Adikt costs.

But AT 95SA is probably a little "overkill" to your current turntable,so start with AT 95E.

Is it this turntable.?

www whathifi.com/audio-technica/lp3/review

/Peder ????

The AT95E is a nice upgrade on the AT91.  (Having said that I really like AT3600L - I prefer it to the AT91, even though they are fairly similar, with the latter being of slightly higher compliance - which is also available as the Rega Carbon.) Now that the much missed AT110E is no more, I think to do better than the AT95E you would be looking at spending more than £100 and then you'd be better off upgrading the deck anyway.

???? Richard,...Do you know how long AT 95E has been around,manufactured.?

It feels like it has always been there.

Ps: We seem to agree on AT 95E ????.

/Peder ????

Peder, I don't know the exact date it arrived on the market here in the UK, but the first reviews I saw were mid '80s.  So your feelings are not without some justification.  

There was a conical stylus version too - the AT93 (distinguished by a red plastic stylus assembly).  And of course, there was also the second iteration of the Linn Basik cartridge, with the yellow stylus assembly...

Hi Peder 

Yes, that’s the turntable in your what HiFi link, I’ve not heard of the AT95SA before, I’ll be sure to look it up, Cheers

???? Richard,....I remember Linn Basik,it was the "famous ????" Stefan Mether at Linn and Naim-store High Fidelity in Stockholm that demonstrated it to me.

It was when I would buy my first LP12,autumn 1983.
Stefan said,buy a cheaper pick-up (Linn Basik), and put the money on a better tonarm instead....Linn Ittok.
I did as Stefan said,after Linn Basik so it became Linn Asak,who was Linns MC-pick-up at the time.Perhaps you remember it,it had a red dot at the front above the needle.

I actually screwed on an AT 95E on my hairdresser's Thorens 150 turntable for 1 year ago,as well as the fit to adjust the turntable.
He's no High End guy,but has an incredible vinyl disc-collection.
It actually played perfectly okey,...but the most important thing,my hairdresser was incredibly satisfied.He didn't think that player could sound so good.

It was fun to hear that pick-up again.

Back to Linn Basik,here in Sweden at the time (1983),Stefan glued the needle in the pick-up house.
He said it played better,did the traders the same thing in England.?

Peder????

Anavrin posted:

Hi Peder 

Yes, that’s the turntable in your what HiFi link, I’ve not heard of the AT95SA before, I’ll be sure to look it up, Cheers

???? Anavrin,....It was a friend of mine who had heard and read about this pick-up,..AT 95SA.

This was for 2.5-3 years ago,they were not to be bought in Europe then,so we had to order from the USA.
If I remember correctly we paid approximately 200-210:-Euro per piece including shipping.

Now I know that there is a dealer in Sweden,I do not know how it looks in England..... because it is well where you live.?

We did a test with this pick-up AT 95SA,against an AT 95E 1 year ago at a Linn dealers shop.

Turntable was a Majik LP12,but with a better tonarm....Linn Akito 3.
The test was simple,it was just to change the needle in the pick-up house.
We were all agreed,Linn-the merchant and we other,...AT 95SA played significantly better.

And as I said,we also think it plays musically better than Linn's Adikt,which cost then for 2.5-3 years ago 430:-euro.
Linn Adikt is now costing in Sweden,490:- euro.

But I think as I have written before,and also Richard.
Start with AT 95E,it costs only in Sweden 47:-euro,then you can later only buy AT 95SA the needle if you want....it's easy to change the needle.

It will be a better synergy with your turntable.

/Peder ????

Hi Anavrin,I can recommend the AT95EX .My father has the Audio Technica AT-Lp5 TT and this cart comes as standard with the deck.He too uses the Rega Fono phono but I think it is the Mk2.I'm sure you have read the specs regarding the AT95EX  and it is a suitable upgrade from the E model.Although he has since upgraded to the AT VM530EN he still uses the original cart to play old or second hand purchases and it has a lovely tone to it.

regards Alan  

Peder posted:

Start with AT 95E,it costs only in Sweden 47:-euro,then you can later only buy AT 95SA the needle if you want....it's easy to change the needle.

It will be a better synergy with your turntable.

/Peder ????

And how will the synergy be when compared against a Rega cartridge with the OP's Rega Fono?

Christopher_M posted:

Peder posted:

Start with AT 95E,it costs only in Sweden 47:-euro,then you can later only buy AT 95SA the needle if you want....it's easy to change the needle.

It will be a better synergy with your turntable.

/Peder ????

And how will the synergy be when compared against a Rega cartridge with the OP's Rega Fono?

???? Christopher_M,...Maybe I used the wrong word in the speed,I mean that this pick-up (AT 95E) is better at the level of the turntable Anavrin has.

It will be a bit "overkill" to screw on an AT 95SA,then that pick-up will be more expensive than the entire turntable.
Now it became more right,and easier to understand ????.

/Peder ????

Thanks Peder. You and Richard and Alan are suggesting AT95e for the OP's record player. I am suggesting Rega (perhaps Bias) on his record player. What is the guy to do? Weigh the number of replies he gets in favour of one or the other, and then buy the option that gets the most?

Ultimately he needs to listen and make  a decision based on that. As you can sense, I am sure, I hate it when absolute solutions are presented in our hobby.

Cheers, Chris

Thanks for the help and suggestions 

I did a little digging and found an LP Gear CFN3600LE stylus being sold as an upgrade for the AT-LP3, sounds similar to the one Richard Dane said was the same as the Rega Carbon, the Rega Carbon stylus even looks like it’ll fit the AT91 Cartridge, which would only be £19 if it fits my cartridge, worth buying just for experimental purposes.

maybe a long shot but useful to know if it’s possible.

Think I just answered my own question, or at least YouTube did

https://youtu.be/yiVMY_qjU8g

One difficulty of matching components with the AT95E is the recommended 100pF - 200pF loading...

Allowing 100pF for a good (but still price compatible) arm and cable that leaves just 100pF for the phono amp.  No many price compatible amps are 100pF or below and many are more than 200pF.

Well I’ve bitten the bullet so to speak, I’ve purchased an AT95ex, I’ve just finished aligning it and I’ve set the weight mid range at 2g, all I can say is what an improvement over the AT91, better stereo separation, much more bass/mids, clearer highs and all round much more musical, very pleased with it.

Apart from maybe upgrading the drive belt at some point, I think this will be as far as I go with this turntable, but I’m sure it’ll keep me happy a good while as my fledgling vinyl collection grows.

I almost bought the Rega Carbon stylus for my old cart, I probably will at some point, just for comparison and so the old cartridge isn’t useless, it can go back on if I when I eventually sell the TT

Thanks for your advice guys.