Technics SL-1200 Mk2 cartridges

Hello all, I would be very gratefull if someone could give me some advice. A friend, who is a bit of a budding DJ, has recently replaced the styli on his Technics SL-1200 Mk2 turntables which have stanton 500 cartridges fitted. The problem appears to be that he unwittingly bought the 'copy' styli and now his set up sounds very poor indeed. I have little knowledge of turntables but cant help thinking he could get a better sound from a cartidge change, using something more hi-fi than the carts designed for DJ'ing. Could someone recommend a cartridge for my friend that would work on these tables and produce a nice sound, his budget is not great. Any suggestions would be gratefully accepted. Thanks Ben. PS he uses the phono stage in a Marantz PM 4000. amplifier.

 

Hi theer, I have quite a bit of experience with these as I use one myself that I have modified heavily. As a result it has the potential to sound truly amazing and the list of potential mods is virtually endless.

It really depends on your friends cart budget, but the Grados work well enough at super budget level (they start at £40 for the prestige black to £105 for the gold), or the Goldring 1000 range with the 1042 at the top. After that it's Sumiko or Dynavector and up.

Origin live is a great place to look too as they do an arm board to change the arm for a rega or one of their own arms. This really is where the good stuff begins. Change the mat for either the sound dead steel ISOPLATMAT , or Funk Firm Achromat too.

KABUSA in america supply external power supplies and strobe disablers (I fitted 15 amp mains cable to mine). ISONOE do lovely anti vibration feet (but expensive (ish) at £90 for four.

All the usual TT rules re resonance apply, but for free simply adjusting the existing feet upwards to provide some isolation as well as ensuring the deck is level are a start, then the cart starting at £40 really. Then the sky's the limit, starting with junking the arm (i sold my arm on ebay to re coup some money). Be assured they can blow expensive British belt drives away if done properly.

all the best

 

Absolutely, but they may not be suitable then for DJ work. I guess what I'm saying is that its going to depend on whether he still wants to do DJ with them as well. HiFi styli and cantilevers are unlikely to take kindly to back cueing for example.

If he wants to DJ with them still then I'd suggest to still look at DJ carts. The Ortofon Nightclub E, is one of the better sounding DJ carts. (about £55 each for the OM version and £80 for the Concorde version)

Of course the ideal setup would be one set of carts for DJ work and a separate set on their own headshells for when sound quality is a must.

Grados will work as will an Ortofon OM, Goldring 1000 series, or Ortofon 500 series. Interestingly the Ortofon OM series and their DJ carts all share the same stylus fitting, so in theory you could swap the styli and use the same cartridge body.

The arm will work better with a lower compliance (stiffer suspension) cartridge than these though. We've had good results on a 1210 with the Ortofon MC1 and MC3 Turbos ... might be out of budget though.

That all said even an AT110E at about £30 will be an improvement on a Stanton 500 soundwise if DJ use isn't needed, even with the proper stylus let alone these copies. Those are good decks and really they deserve better

 

Thankyou both very much

Thanks to both of you for your detailed replies I shall let my friend read your posts and no doubt shall be discussing the suggestions late into the evening. Thanks again. Ben.

 

I was immediatly think of the important point at the top. Hi-Fi needles don't take kindly to having wax spun backwards!

The Idea of getting the concorde style needles for DJ work and then putting a decent needle on one of the original carts is a goodie. He'll also have to remember to alter the weight and the anti-skate settings so the Hi-Fi needle is set up properly. (And if he's an old skool hip hop DJ, take the half penny off of the head shell ).

Get rid of the little washer that sits between the arm and the headshell too.