Price up, availability down for replacement styli in the near future?

[62vauxhall]

I ordered a conical stylus from a vendor and questioned why no .06mil were available which was the size of the original stylus I was replacing. And that all I found online were 0.7mil.

This is the answer I received:

"Yes the generic replacements don’t cover all the original diamond tip sizes… costs are too high for that… big changes in the industry coming as well, diamond tip shortages, soaring costs has manufacturers rethinking their positions in the market, upping prices, and dropping molds altogether. Some models will just disappear, and prices will be going up considerably in the coming months… of course the Chinese will fill the void with garbage".

 

[mr_rye89]

That's why I'm sticking with that $12 AT3600 for now. It also happens to have a .06 mil conical tip.....

 

[62vauxhall]

That's why I'm sticking with that $12 AT3600 for now. It also happens to have a .06 mil conical tip.....

What vendor sells AT3600's for $12?

I'll be needing a couple more cheap cartridges shortly. Those I've gotten up til now have been AT 95C's which are $50CAD.

 

[J!m]

99.9% of buyers will never appreciate the difference in reproduction quality above the A-T 95HE. Just go with that, especially if it is for resale.

It is a very nice cartridge and the rest of the system would have to be up to anything better if we are all honest with ourselves.

 

[krellmk]

99.9% of buyers will never appreciate the difference in reproduction quality above the A-T 95HE. Just go with that, especially if it is for resale.

It is a very nice cartridge and the rest of the system would have to be up to anything better if we are all honest with ourselves.

Can't go wrong with this cartridge for the price it does everything right

 

[J!m]

I agree. I have it on my Kenwood and that thing sounds far better than it should.

 

[MarkWComer]

What vendor sells AT3600's for $12?

I'll be needing a couple more cheap cartridges shortly. Those I've gotten up til now have been AT 95C's which are $50CAD.

Ed Saunders (now defunct) used to sell one called the “Red Ed,” which was a Sanyo version of the Goldring Elan. I bought one for $19, came with a .6 conical. I later bought the .3 x .7 elliptical and a 3 mil cone for shellac. Cheap cart, variety of points, and sounds reasonably decent. Later I bought one for my Glaser-Steers changer.

Lately I’ve been looking at the VM-95 series to put on my Dual. Available points range from 3 mil to Shibata, but I’ll go for the microline. I’ve been more than pleased with the 440MLa that I bought years ago, I think it compares favorably to the Shure V-15/III.

 

[J!m]

The V-15III even with a cheap stylus is nicer than the VM95-ML, although I haven’t tried the latter on the Micro yet.

 

[MarkWComer]

The V-15III even with a cheap stylus is nicer than the VM95-ML, although I haven’t tried the latter on the Micro yet.

Probably so, but I was comparing to the 440…

 

[J!m]

I’ve not heard the 440.

 

[62vauxhall]

None of the turntables I am concerning myself with right now are worthy of anything but an entry level cartridge.

There are four tables and all were pretty much landfill rescues. Although I did pay for them, it wasn't a whole lot. One is a Revolver Rebel, two are Sony's and one is a CEC. With the exception of the Revolver, I seriously doubt either of the others would fetch more than $100 in good working order. Consequently it would be logical to spend as little as possible on them.

I ordered and have possession of two AT-VM95C cartridges - chosen because it was on the low end of AT's price spectrum, I thought chances are pretty good replacment styli will be more a less readilly available in future and that the body is threaded so no nuts needed for mounting on tonearms.

One of the VM-95C's is already mounted on a Sony, the second will go on the CEC. The other Sony has a Sony branded cartridge with a broken stylus. For that one, I have a stylus coming so am not changing the cartridge.

The Revolver has an AT-91 already mounted, I am not inclined to change it but I might.

There are several other turntables I have kicking around, taking up space I don't have. My thought was if I equip some of them with a brand new cartridge, it might aid in generating intrest if/when put up for sale. That is the reason for my comment about an upcoming need for more cheap cartridges.

All they need to do is be able to play records. In general, I have seen little evidence of interest in upscale audio around here.

 

[mr_rye89]

What vendor sells AT3600's for $12?

I'll be needing a couple more cheap cartridges shortly. Those I've gotten up til now have been AT 95C's which are $50CAD.

I think epay or AliExpress. I may have got mine at LP Gear and paid 20 whole dollars for it, I figured if Rega was putting their name on them and selling them for $70 they can't be that bad.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3648563413...1OgjsJ0RFW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[J!m]

None of the turntables I am concerning myself with right now are worthy of anything but an entry level cartridge.

There are four tables and all were pretty much landfill rescues. Although I did pay for them, it wasn't a whole lot. One is a Revolver Rebel, two are Sony's and one is a CEC. With the exception of the Revolver, I seriously doubt either of the others would fetch more than $100 in good working order. Consequently it would be logical to spend as little as possible on them.

I ordered and have possession of two AT-VM95C cartridges - chosen because it was on the low end of AT's price spectrum, I thought chances are pretty good replacment styli will be more a less readilly available in future and that the body is threaded so no nuts needed for mounting on tonearms.

One of the VM-95C's is already mounted on a Sony, the second will go on the CEC. The other Sony has a Sony branded cartridge with a broken stylus. For that one, I have a stylus coming so am not changing the cartridge.

The Revolver has an AT-91 already mounted, I am not inclined to change it but I might.

There are several other turntables I have kicking around, taking up space I don't have. My thought was if I equip some of them with a brand new cartridge, it might aid in generating intrest if/when put up for sale. That is the reason for my comment about an upcoming need for more cheap cartridges.

All they need to do is be able to play records. In general, I have seen little evidence of interest in upscale audio around here.

The VM95-C can accept the other replacement stylus shapes, so if the table ends up surprising you, you can upgrade the stylus to a HE for example (as long as you have enough anti-skate adjustment available).

 

[Bob Boyer]

None of the turntables I am concerning myself with right now are worthy of anything but an entry level cartridge.

There are four tables and all were pretty much landfill rescues. Although I did pay for them, it wasn't a whole lot. One is a Revolver Rebel, two are Sony's and one is a CEC. With the exception of the Revolver, I seriously doubt either of the others would fetch more than $100 in good working order. Consequently it would be logical to spend as little as possible on them...

The Revolver has an AT-91 already mounted, I am not inclined to change it but I might...

That Revolver Rebel is a decent turntable if it's in decent shape. I had one for several years before finally purchasing my current VPI. I'm thinking the tonearm handled an ADC XLM very nicely. Appearance will be everything if you want top dollar for it, which is I'm guessing is in the $150 range based on a couple of sales that John Via made in the Nashville area.