Cleaning and Chemi etc.. AM One of the few manufacturer left that makes reasonably good record cleaning brushes, they also make loads of other record cleaning products and accessories. Record Research Lab Record cleaning chemicals etc.. Zerodust Makes the stylus tip cleaner Last Makes stylus preservants, a chemical that you apply to the stylus to preserve it's life. Discwasher Makes and sell a variety of disk cleaning and protection products. Groove Glide Antistatic cleaning fluid that does not leave a residue (or minimal anyway), link is to a USA based store rather than manufacturer Technical Info. German article on the theory of RIAA EQ Theory Has a few old (but very good) technical papers on turntable, arm and cart theory. Tweaking your record player A very good article from Stereophile. Understanding The Issues Behind Cartridge Alignment Cartridge Alignment Why Ortofon and Why moving Coil ? This article is a bit out of date, but it touches on some of the issues regarding pickups that come up from time to time esp. here in England, there is always the chant "MM is technically better" to be heard from the monster raving loony linn/naim crowd. The Universal Stylus Not strictly a technical article but a fascinating read Headshells Ortofon Audio Quest Please send any factual corrections, dead links, information and/or links that you feel that should be on this page to the page maintainer but please note that I do not have an Internet access at the moment so there may be some time before I can answer.
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The pickup is one of the most important chain in a analogue set-up since it is the device that actually converts the energy from the record to an electric signal. Most high quality types are Moving Coil (MC) were the coil assembly is fixed on the end of the cantilever thereby making the user replacement of the stylus near impossible, most budget types however are Moving Magnet (MM) whereby the coils are fixed in the cartridge body but the magnet is on the cantilever, this simplifies the stylus/cantilever assembly greatly and means that in almost all cases the stylus is user replaceable. Other variants like Piezoelectric (crystal or ceramic) or Moving Iron (MI) are also to be found although rare in new equipment.
T4P is the correct name for what is called a "P mount" in the English speaking world, it's is a mounting system mostly found in cheap Japanese players whereby the cartridge is fastened directly to the end of the tonearm with a single bolt and there is no headshell as such, this is a faster and more accurate method than the more common arrangement and thus cheaper but is less flexible, this is mostly seen used in turntables that feature unadjustable arm arrangements in which case it's use is fully justified, but was popular for a while in mid price Japanese turntables but is thankfully getting rarer. If you are using a turntable containing this mount there is no need to worry, there are still plenty of carts available for this configuration including most MM variants from Audio Technica and Ortofon has many MM's as well and even has one MC model for this type of arm, if the arm does however not have ajduatable counterweight and anti-skating you will have to limit your purchadse something with a very similiar mechanical specifications.
Note when evaluating new MC pickups that this type of transducer often needs a run in time before it starts to sound at it's best, depending on version anything from a few hours to over 50, this is not universal and is more frequently seen on high output types since their coils contain more windings than those of low output ones.
Currently active Pickup manufacturers
Acutex
Has a range of low to mid end Moving Magnet pickups.
Audiocraft
Makes a mid/high end moving coil pickup.
American DJ See --> Tonar Pickups
Audio Note/Kondo
Makes the Io-j high end MC pickup with coils wound using silver wire, unusually amongst modern day Japanese high end parts has an elliptical stylus, if you are interested you should get in touch now since there is a year long waiting list! This cart has been reviewed by Enjoy the music. Note also that the Io-j has a very low output (0.15mV) and that many preamps and transformers are not able to amplify it enough, so check with you supplier or take a look at the Audio Note MC transformers or Audio Note UK MC transformers transformers that are manufactured especially for those pickups.
Audio Note UK Ltd.
Makes a few high end MC cartridges and markets MM's that are a lightly modified Goldring 10xx design, actually the MM's are called IQ-1, IQ-2 and IQ-3, and are all the same cart but are offered with different stylii, you can read a review of the IQ-2 by Soundstage.com here. The MC's are based on an older Audio Note/Kondo Io-j design (see above), but the company makes three variants of it called Io-Iv, Io-IIv and Io Ltd., technically speaking the Ltd version has slightly better specification and slightly lower output, it also requires six wires leading to the cart and comes with it's own power supply. You can read a review of the Io-Iv.
Audio Technica
Japanese manufacturer of low to mid price cartridges, their MC designs are underrated and often very good value, especially the low output AT-OC9ML which is something of a bargain in some markets but it's also the only MC cart from the company that you can buy almost universally, Audio Technica does however make a few other MC cartridges that are usually available in Japan and sometimes on mainland Europe but not in the UK or US, these include the limited edition AT-ART2000 a design based on the much beloved ART1000 of yore. The cheapest MC cart from the company is the AT-F3 II, it a low output cart unlike most budget MC carts, The AT-Mono 3/LP is a high output cartridge designed for the playback of mono LP's and the AT-Mono 3/SP is designed for the playback of 78'rpm's, it has a reduced frequency range to minimise auxiliary noise output. The AT-33ML/OCC is an updated version of the classic AT33 made with the company's OCC technology and much sought after by certain audiophiles eps. in the UK, however the AT33PGT (or 33 Prestige) is the Classic 33 cart in a "deluxe version" (i.e. fancy clothing) and is thus one of the longest running audio product in continuous manufacture or all the way since 1962.
It should be noted that the AT MM range has a very good street prices in the USA and especially in Japan so they should be your first stop if you are in search of a budget pickup in those parts of the world. The range starts with a line of budget MM cartridges featuring a spherical stylus and all share basically the same specification , including the standard mounted CN5625AL and AT70L, the rest of the budget range is what the company calls "universal mount", that is they are P-mount cartridges that come with an adapter that allows them to be mounted in a standard half inch headshell, these include the AT-90CD, the AT348H/U pickup that is also available without the universal adapter as AT3482O at a slightly lower cost and the AT300P a cart that has slightly better specifications. Note as with all low budget pickups that have spherical stylii these are not really recommended for the low budget audiophile, but are fine a replacement units for your granny's stereo system.
The low mid range from AT is more interesting and will make fine beginners cartridges and have the advantage of being widely available and thus easy to get replacement stylii for, some of their models are also good value, all their mid range carts have an elliptical stylus and the standard mount models are the AT71ELC, the ATP-2XN DJ model (usually comes with a extra stylus included in the pack) and the AT120E/T. Most of the midrange products are "universal mount" and include the AT91ECD and a variant of it called AT-78 that has a stylus cut for playing 78 rpm records is also available (and available separately if you want to retrofit your cart) and a kit called AT-91/78 that has both a microgroove and a 78 stylus. The AT301EP, the AT92ECD and the broadly similar AT-95E that is sold in Europe along with the AT-110E have a killer price/performance ratio and have got rave reviews in the press lately, and are excellent upgrade choices. The AT3111EP and the AT316EP. Near the top of AT's MM range is the "universal mount" AT331LP that features a line contact stylus and very respectable audio specification and is a cracking good buy if you ask me, but by all means read the review by Consumerguide, the 440ML has a Microline stylus and is the top MM model from the company that has a reasonable distribution around the world and has a very respectable audio spec but is somewhat dearer than the 331 or a 120, still a review is here. You can read more about these models on the AT homepage. One classic MM design that is still in production in an updated version is the AT-ML150/OCC but it can be a bit difficult to find in the west, it's a high end cart that is more than 2x the cost of an 440 but was considered by many MM fans to be the last word in an earlier incarnation and indeed still is to a degree, the modern version features a nude Micro-Linear stylus BTW. The company also has 2 budget MM T4P mount systems that unlike others from the company do not come with a standard mount adapter, namely the AT-101EP (not sold in the USA) and the 3472.
Audio Tekne
Makes the high end MC 6310 moving coil cartridge.
Bang & Olufsen
Still makes the MMC 2, MMC3, MMC 4 and the MMC 20S Moving Iron pickups in limited numbers and with only occasional production runs (and possibly the MMC 1 as well), mainly intended to supply the user base of their old turntables (they have a property mounting system), but the range has a small cult following so we have seen these carts mounted on to a normal turntable (and at one time some enterprising individual sold converters). Any authorised B&O dealer can order these for you from the factory but if you are having problems locating a supplier try PhonoPhono, you may have to wait for a new production run if you are looking for a specific model, at the time this was written the MMC4 was the only one that was generally available from PhonoPhono. For the MMC3 try Mr. Stylus in Germany (Had stocks in September 2003), both above suppliers can also supply you with original and 3rd party stylii you should be aware that original B&O stylii come with line contact stylus while the 3rd party units feature elliptical and even spherical ones so there is a reason for the price difference (in fact the company invented the line contact stylus, another useless fact bought to you by audiotools.com).
Benz Micro
Makes mid to high end Moving Coil pickups, most of the current model range is from Series 2 that is notable versus their older carts for their lower mass and a new rear pole piece that is 20% more efficient than on previous products. Their cheapest cart as far I can see is the high output MC-20E 2, it's has a 47kohm impedance and can thus be used with any MM capable amplifier, so does the Silver but it's output is slightly lower at 2mV so some cheap MM stages/amps might not have enough gain to work with it, if you however have a MC capable stage or a transformer you should rather look at the low output Gold, it has a better audio specification but retails at the same price as the Silver. Next up is the ACE (not sure if the Ace is a series 2 cart), it's available in 3 versions, the L is a low output variant @ 0,3mV/12ohm, the M is a mid output variant @ 0,8mV/24ohm that is an excellent choice for those with ultra sensitive valve based MM stages or with a MC capable stage that has problems with the low output of the L version, and the H is a high output/impedance version that at 2,5mV/90 should work with most MM capable phonostages. The mid range Glider Series 2 is equipped with a Geiger 6x40µm line contact stylus and are a naked coil cartridges that has an excellent price/performance ratio and is unusual in being almost universally liked (i.e. it has got good reviews around the world, unusual in that tastes in carts are quite different around the globe), it's also shipped in L2, M2 and H2 versions with the same output voltages as the Ace and that is also the case with the closed Wood 2 (also called Woodbody 2 or sometimes just L2, M2 and H2) that also have the Geiger 6x40µm line contact stylii, a review of the Wood L2 can be found here.
The high end pickups from the company all come with a Geiger Dynascan 5x150µm stylus and the range starts with the Reference 2 Silver a low output cart that pumps out 0,3mV/8,5ohm and then there is the Ruby 2 a high end cartridge with a wooden body open at the bottom, it is unusually lightweight for this type of cart and puts out 0,3mV/40ohm, there are 2 further variants of that cart in the mid output Ruby H variant that puts out a 0,8mV/85ohm, but has slightly worse audio specification than the 2 and is the same price, the Ruby Open Air 2 is however an open coil variant that is slightly more expensive than the closed version and while the specifications are similar the Open Air 2 version has got better reviews.
Brinkmann
The Brinkmann-EMT pickup is a nude MC pickup based around an EMT Studiotechnik generator.
Canadian Astatic
Makes a wide range of low end crystal, ceramic and a few MM based cartridges, mostly intended for the replacement market.
Cardas
Designs and sells 3 low output MC cartridges that are made for them by Benz Micro, the Heart Myrtle features a body made out of Myrtlewood while the Heart Ruby and Heart Reference have a body made out of Briar.
The Cartridgeman
Makes a £ 499 MM cart called The Music Maker, seems to be a reworked Grado but the maker claims it has , has been getting very good reviews in the British press, has also been reviewed by TNT-Audio.
Clearaudio
Makes a line of low output mid to high end MC and MM pickups that feature a unique body construction and a patented coil arrangement called "Series coil system" whereby the coils are mounted symmetrically in front and behind the cantilever pivot. Pickups include the relatively low priced Aurum alpha MkII, Aurum beta MkII and Aurum beta/S MM designs, the mid priced Virtuos and the Sigma Gold, that cart is something of a gem and has got awards and great reviews left right and centre, the coils have 24k gold windings hence the name, you can read a review by Enjoy the music. The high end line consists of Gamma/s 2001, the Victory which is available in low or high output version for the same price, the Victory Gold variant of the same cart with gold windings, the Singature, Discovery, the Accurate. The flagship models from the company are the ultra high end Insider and Insider Reference, these are hand crafted from a solid block of leadalloy to ensure that it's oxygen free and then gold filled. Most Clearaudio carts use a propirty line contact stylus called Trigon PII.
Crown Jewel
Manufactures a high end MC cartridge by the same name, like so many traditional high end Japanese MC cartridges it has a Samarium Cobalt coil magnet and an elliptical stylus rather than a line contact one, the housing is made out of aluminium and the out put is a healthy 0,5mV. There are only made 15 of this sought after cartridge every month, the company has no homepage but you can find information on it on the web from Absolute Sounds in Berlin or from Audio Evidence in the US. some people have wrongly asserted that this is the same as Shelter but that is an incorrect assumption (they use the same body, the insides are different though).
Denon
Makes a range of MC pickups traditionally intended for broadcast purposes and thus usually feature a spherical stylus but also popular amongst audiophiles for their lively sound. Their range has been revamped recently and the big new is the introduction of a design called the DL-S1, this is the first Denon high end pickup in a couple of decades and has specifications more in line with other Japanese high end audiophile models than with the traditional Denon designs including a line contact stylus, a quoted frequency response of 20Hz to 70KHz and an output of only 0,15mV. The DL-S1 also has the same pickup housing as the Denon DL-304 had which is quite different from the earlier designs and features the sort of gold detailing popular with Japanese audiophiles and a matching transformer in the form of the Denon AU-S1, the price in Japan is 84.000¥ inc. tax, but the model does not appear to be distributed in the rest of the world, even the specialised western phonographic retailers that usually carry even the most obscure Denon models do not appear to stock this one. The company has also taken the opportunity to replace the venerable mid range DL-304 with the DL-301 MkII, but note that this is an updated version of the original Denon DL-301 rather than a direct replacement for the 304 except being close to it in price, the generator is similar to the old 301 but has a slightly higher output voltage of 0,4mV, which means that it is compatible with a much larger range of MC Preamps than the 304, it also shares a housing with the DL-S1 and the use of a more modern line contact stylus gives it a better quoted audio spec of 20Hz to 60KHz and improved tracking. This model also gets much wider distribution than the DL-S1 and should be available in most countries even if only in specialised retailers, the price in Japan is less than 1/3 of it's more expensive sibling BTW. The mainstay of the Denon pickup production is budget DL-110, this is one of the cheapest MC designs out there and is a mid/high output cart with an output of 1,6mV that should as such work with the majority of phono inputs intended for MM pickups although you should check the specs of your amplifier (more DL-110 specs.), it features an elliptical stylus, the 110 has a particularly smooth and soft character for such a low priced cart, and balances extremely well with hard sounding/top heavy systems. There is a variant of it available in Europe (but missing from the Japanese and American catalogues) that is called DL-160 it is identical to the 110 except that it has a better elliptical stylus, therefore tracks better and thus gets a slightly improved audio spec, more info on that model here.
The classic DL-103 which has been in continuous production since 1963 with only minor modifications, noticeably since this is an out and out broadcast cart it has a spherical stylus variant while the more modern variants of the Denon range have elliptical stylii, it also has a fairly high recommended tracking force at 2,5g, the 103 cart is for some reason much cheaper in Europe than in North America and for a reason unfathomable to us actually cheaper than in Japan itself, it actually pays for some parts of the world to buy it in Europe via mail order at around 120€ including tax (this goes for some other Denon models as well). The 103 is an out and out classic with a characteristic sound that is very popular with fans of Jazz and vocal classical music due to it's lively timing and it was so popular amongst broadcast organisations in it's day that it was used by EMI and Decca as their reference design when evaluating LP sound quality, the main drawback of the 103 is the stylus but the bass and highs suffer a little from the smaller contact area . This has also meant that there is a small cottage industry that specialises in selling modified 103's, usually with improved styllii and sometimes slight mods to the coil piece itself, there also exists a slightly higher priced variant of the 103 called the DL-103R that has a better copper in the coil windings and a slightly lighter coil design but is otherwise identical, the difference in the coil means slightly higher output and lower output impedance, the 103R model is usually only sold in Asia and you can find more info on it here, and there is a variant called DL-103/78 that is wired for mono and has a stylus cut for use with 78 Rpm. records (this model is sometimes referred to as DL-103/65 in Europe in reference to the groove width of a 78rpm record), and finally there is the DL-103PRO which is only sold in Japan and the only info on that variant is that it has a better high end response than the stock model but it's unclear if that is archived by a better stylus or generator, more info on the 103 here. Denon actually makes more carts that they do not list on their pages and those models are usually not sold outside of Japan and central Europe (with the exception of some 103 variants), amongst those models are the DL-102 a cartridge designed to play stereo records in mono, popular with AM radio stations and mono fans, the DL-102SD version is for playing 78 rpm records, note that both of these are true mono pickups and have an intentionally limited frequency range, the . Please note that those 102 and 103 variants are not in constant production all year round but rather batches are made from time to time so if you are asking for some of the more exotic variants you might have to wait a bit for them, if you have problems getting hold of the 103 or 102 variants take a look at the Specialised Phono Retailers on the grey sidebar, they will be able to help.
Diamond Stylus
Sells a few types of replacement pickups although I believe these are made for them in the far east rather than an original product.
DNM See --> Reson
Dr. Jazz
Makes 2 high end MC pickups caklled Blue Note and Blue Note Special, no web presence for the company but this German dealer has more info on his webpage.
DUAL
The company does not actually manufacture pickups but does have a couple of models on the market although they are mostly intended for the after-market supply of their own turntable models. The DMS 251 S is a budget model supplied with the Dual CS 415 2 and the Dual CS 435 1 as standard, this looks like an Ortofon model but I am not entirely sure, earlier models were actually made by Shure Inc. and where especially designed to mate perfectly with the tonearm compliance wise, the DMS 251 E is the same pickup with an elliptical stylus but is only sold these days as an after-market option, using the stylus for the E model does improve the performance of the S model quite a bit so seek that out when you need to replace the stylus, the price difference should be minimal. The ULM 165 E is actually the Ortofon OMB 10 with the Dual name on it, a replacement stylus for the ULM for playing 78' RPM records with is available as DN167.
Dynavector
Make mid to high end MC cartridges, of special interest are their high output carts, the company was founded around an invention that allowed high output carts to be made without the weight and sound issues normally associated with them. The cheapest cart from Dynavector is the DV 10X4 Mk2 a high output moving coil cartridge at a very reasonable price (UKP 200 or USD 300+) that makes an ideal introduction to moving coil cartridge's since it does not need an extra preamplifier and sounds rather good to boot especially considering it's price, but no need to take our word for it read the review in TNT (nota bene there is apparently a low output verion of the 10 available in Japan called the 10XGold L), the 10X has an elliptical stylus. The 10x is also a bit of a classic it has been manufactured with only minor modifications since 1978. Next in line is the DV 20X Mk2 it's available in both high output (2,5 mV) and low output (0,25 mV) versions as 20X H & 20X L respectively, it's design is more in line with the company's high end carts than with the 10x and features a rigid aluminium alloy housing and PE stylus (this is a mid range cart NB.) the H version is also the best tracking high output MC cartridge out there. Next up is the recently upgraded Karat 17D2 Mk2, a low output cart with the famous diamond cantilever and a micro ridge stylus, this model has been reviewed here. The Karat Nova 17D2 is wood bodied version of this cart, and is now being made as a limited edition reissue, there is no homepage for it but if you go to the Dynavector hompage and continue to the manual and technical document download page youll find a file called Nova17d_ebro.pdf that is a leaflet on the Nova. The XX-2 is a high end cartridge that utilises the company's patented "magnetic flux damper" it's similar to the older XX-1 (that some dealers still have in stock) but has an Alinco-5 magnet rather than the conventional ones that the XX-1 had, it has been reviewed by TNT audio. The stunning DRT XV-1 is a striking nude design that utilises multimagnets made out of alnico and is a bit unusual in design but has been getting rave reviews, you can read one of those reviews by HiFI Choice here. The Te Kaitora is the company's top of the line cart, it's also a nude design but a more conventional design. There are 2 things you should note about Dynavector cartridges, some of their high output carts tend to sound brittle and even annoying for the first 20 to 40 hours of use (but heavenly thereafter), and that the company uses for the most part a technique of thrusting a stylus through the cantilever for fastening rather than gluing and heat curing it as most other manufacturers do, this means that one or 2 third party retippers will not retip those carts (but do not let that influence a purchase, there are plenty of retippers that will, this along with the unusual winding of the high output coils is also the source of the unfounded and damaging rumours that Dynavector does not supply spare parts for their products).
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