2. analog
  3. 154648-9153

Best cartridge for very old worn vinyl

Fellow vinyl junkies,
I have a weakness for old vinyl (particularly early oval Argo choral recordings circa 1958-1969).
Almost invariably these suffer from worn grooves, the effects of god knows what misaligned agricultural arms/cartridges over several decades, even the ones marked “near mint” by professional sellers.
I have a range of cartridges, including Decca London Reference, Koetsus, SPUs and Shure V15 111.
These go in an FR66 arm. Not all of these are necessarily ideal for this job...:)
What do you guys reckon is the best cartridge for these types of records?
Key requirements are not to be flustered by the challenges these ancient slabs of vinyl hold while doing the best job of producing something resembling music ?
Cheers !
128x128howardalex
howardalex's avatar
howardalex OP
64 posts
 
@edgewear, thanks: the FR66 was installed in my Brinkman by the dealer, so I don’t know what P2S distance it has. Most definitely though all of the FR7s and SPUs don’t quite reach the single “bullseye” point on the Brinkman alignment protractor.
Without wishing to turn this into a huge technical debate or bringing Audiogon to the brink of nuclear war, if the distance is not correct and the stylus tip is slightly short of said point what sonic effects will that have in broad terms ?
I guess it ought to be capable of adjustment , but the Brinkman has a bespoke arm pod and it’s all pretty solid looking !
howardalex's avatar
howardalex OP
64 posts
 
@solypsa, thanks for comment ! Yes it’s got the b60 mount which lifts/ lowers the base of the arm. Even I can adjust that, not the p2s I fear !
howardalex's avatar
howardalex OP
64 posts
 
I’ve just read the Balance manual which says:

”The Balance tonearm base consists of a pod and a top plate.
The pod fits in the hole of the plinth. It can be rotated 360° degrees to adjust the correct pivot-to- spindle distance for the tonearm and, when used with the Brinkmann Stylus Protractor, facilitates foolproof, highly accurate cartridge alignment.”

Sounds pretty terrifying 
vegasears
1,173 posts
 
What works for me is an AT-150MLX, it may be discontinued and I don't know where it's replacement sits in the current audio-technica line of cartridges.  In my system the 150 really performed well with worn well used LP's.  It just seems to pickup less surface noise.  LPGear.com has NOS 150's but they are pricey.
don_c55
1,025 posts
 
Old worn out vinyl will wear out most any cartridge very fast vs clean vinyl.

Use a cheap cartridge!
More to discover