Which cartridge for a Technics 1210 deck?

Associate
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I've given my old Technics deck a thorough clean as after years of inactivity it's going to get lots of use in the near future as I am going to be recording all of my vinyl on to my PC.

The current cartridge/stylus is the original Stanton 500. I think as I'm planning on doing this only once, and the cartridge has already had so much use that I might as well stick a new one on. It would seem from some Googling that the 500 is no longer in production, so just getting a new stylus doesn't seem to be an option. I like the look of the integrated headshell designs from Ortofon and Stanton, but I'm not planning on doing any mixing or scratching again, so can't see the benefit.

In terms of just getting some decent sound quality, what is my best bet for a budget of around £30?
 
Caporegime
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18 Oct 2002
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I'll start off by saying that the 1210 isn't the best choice of deck for archiving, but it depends what sort of quality you're after. How are you getting the deck into your PC? I'll let someone else answer the cartridge question because I've never really dealt with that sort of budget.
 
Soldato
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I had ortofon on my decks when I had them and they are superb.Not sure how much an ortofon cart and needle is though.The standard cart is good but you have to make sure you fasten it on straight(it's got 2 screws) otherwise the sound comes out funny.Or go for the concorde which is slightly more but better quality.
 
Associate
OP
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Cheers, I'm under the impression that both Stanton and Ortofon basic carts are around £30. I'll give it a bit more thought. I might even throw caution (and money!) to the wind and get a fancy headshell version...
 
Associate
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2 Aug 2006
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Leicester, UK
I have the Concorde Pro S Cart on my USB deck currently and it works a treat most of the time. However if your archiving worn vinyl with tiny grooves you might be better getting something with a thinner stylus.

When money is a bit more free flowing I'm planning on upgrading to this for archiving -

http://www.decks.co.uk/products/carts_styli/ortofon/concorde_arkiv.

On my Deck downstairs I have a Ortofan OM20 and the sound quality is far better as the stylus sits deeper in the groove.

My Upstairs deck is a KAM DDX4500 USB

Downstairs is a Project Debut 3
 
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