[WC]

I am sort of new to this vinyl thing. So what would be a good cartridge for my turntable. I currently have a Stanton 505 cartridge on it. I get skipping occurring on most records that I play and I would like to start with a new cartridge and do a complete setup for the turntable. I have a budget for the cartridge to be $100. I listen to rock, punk, folk, and some Jazz. Don't listen to much classical. I am also open to any suggestions of tools that would help with setting up a turntable.

[raysracing]

My first new cartridge in years was an Ortofon MMC Red. Only downside at the time was the shape makes it hard to align for a beginner. Now in retrospect it had a bit too much surface noise, but it is a $99 cartridge. I had it on a similar table with a similar arm (Technics SL-M1) and it set up easily.

I did all my own set-up and I get better each time. I printed off the free alignment protractor sheets from http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml and bought a Shure stylus force gauge on Amazon along with a good record cleaning brush (Carbon fiber) and the Spin clean.

Best to read up as much as you can so your set-up does  not cause harm to your new cartridge and your records long term.

[putz]

Some actual 1200 users here will probably chime in with their suggestions. If you want to speak to a professional, I can personally recommend Kevin at KABUSA as a 1200 expert. He also sells carts and will point you in the right direction. He's a good guy and maybe you can throw him a little business.

Check out his site.

http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/

[2gumby2]

I'm currently using a modified Stanton that I bought from KAB USA, but I also like Grado cartridges and I think they match well with the 1200. The biggest difference in my vinyl setup was when I got a Bel Canto phono stage. It made a HUGE improvement to my listening enjoyment.

[kc8apf]

I've only ever had an Ortofon 2M Blue on mine so I can't really compare.  I'm happy with the sound though.

[WC]

I ended up putting a Grado Green1 cartridge on my Christmas wish list. I also added a brush and a shure force gauge. I already have a spin clean. I have been using MOFI sleeves after I clean the LPs.

[starkiller]

I'd go with either the Denon D-110 or if you can find one the D-160.  For the $ spent they are both excellent deals.  I had both so know where of I speak.  I also did use for awhile the Benz Ace L and liked it also but you had to have a MC preamp whereas the Denon's don't need it. 

Good luck!

[AllynW]

I'd go with either the Denon D-110 or if you can find one the D-160.  For the $ spent they are both excellent deals.  I had both so know where of I speak.  I also did use for awhile the Benz Ace L and liked it also but you had to have a MC preamp whereas the Denon's don't need it. 

Good luck!

I have to agree.  The bang for buck factor is pretty high with Denon cartridges.  I had previously used the DL-160 on my stock 1210MKII loved it.  My guess is the DL-110 is a close and well within your price range.

[neobop]

I ended up putting a Grado Green1 cartridge on my Christmas wish list. I also added a brush and a shure force gauge. I already have a spin clean. I have been using MOFI sleeves after I clean the LPs.

Did you get the Grado?  How's it going?
neo

[WC]

I received the Grado Green1 Cartridge for Christmas, but I have yet to install it. Haven't had the time available yet.

[WC]

Well after a few delays such as having to swap out the P-mount for a standard mount model. I have mounted the cartridge. It wasn't as hard as I feared it would be. Hardest part was getting the cartridge set on the head shell. Getting the screw and nut together. It sounds good, but I have more tweaking left to do. I couldn't get the table level with just the feet on the bottom of the turntable. I need to put some shims under several of the feet to get it level. Not sure if it is completely related, but when I tried to cue the arm on a record it would drift back to the tone arm rest. I increased the tonearm weight until it stopped moving back on its own. I will readjust after get the table leveled. Grado doesn't give any heights for its cartridges, so I set the height to the middle of its range.

[Wayner]

Do you know how to set the tracking force for arm/cartridge? Sounds like maybe not?

If you don't, you need to do a couple of things. The first thing is to rotate the arm's counterweight until you can get the arm to "float" in midair. This is a process called "zero balancing". The arm should not favor going upward or downward, but simply float, horizontally. Then rotate the counterweight dial (only) on the counterwwight to 0. Don't move the counterweight when you move the dial. Also when you do this, set the dial for the anti-skate to zero (this dial is located by the tonearm queing lever, facing upwards), to take any force off of the arm (sideways force). After you have accomplished this, rotate the counterweight at the end of the arm until it reads 1.6 grams on the dial. This sets your tracking weight. Now you will have approximately 1.6 grams of force on the cartridge to correctly track the record groove. You should also set your anti-skate dial again to 1.6. This puts a side-ways counteractive force on the arm, reduce the skating effect from the arm's tendency to travel towards the record label. All arms do this. This will improve the tracking. You may have to fiddle with this control a little. My Technics SL1200MKII has the anti-skate set at about 1.9, but yours may vary.

Wayner

[WC]

Wayner,

That is how I set tracking force. My Cart said 1.5 grams so that is what I set it at. When I had set it like that and tried to place the stylus on a record the arm would swing back to the armrest. It was my first time ever setting up a turntable. I did follow the instructions in the turntable manual. I want to see if leveling the turntable has an effect on correcting this issue. I will play with it some more tonight.

[Wayner]

That don't sound right. Someting wong. Maybe you need to get a scale. I just don't know where you are, TT wise, but I did read that you are a newb. I suspect that you simply are not doing one of the procedures correctly.

When you zero balance the arm and move the dial (not the counterweight) to zero, it is now ready for you to rotate the counterweight (not the dial on it) to the weight you desire. As you move the counterweight forward, you add weight. as you move it backwards, you remove weight.

If you set your tracking weight to 1.5 (thats fine), there is no way the arm should swing back to the arm rest.

I suggest you go to Utube and try to find an instructional video on how to do this procedure. I also suggest until you are comfortable that you have the weight dialed in correctly, you do not play your turntable, because I think you are on the road to damaging your stylus/and or record(s).

I suggest you try it again.

Wayner

[Wayner]

Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hgdyWXUFqA

At the end of the video, he forgot to set the anti-skate dial when he was done, so remember to set that to 1.5 (anti-skate dial is supposed to match the gram weight you are tracking your cartridge at).

Wayner

[WireNut]

Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hgdyWXUFqA

At the end of the video, he forgot to set the anti-skate dial when he was done, so remember to set that to 1.5 (anti-skate dial is supposed to match the gram weight you are tracking your cartridge at).

Wayner

Wayner,

Thank you for that reminder. A few days ago I spent about 1-1/2 hours aligning my new (old) JVC QL7 table and completely forgot to set the anti-skate after I was done 

[WC]

I leveled the turntable, but that didn't solve the issue. I then watched the video that Wayner posted. I determined that when I originally set the cartridge weight I only turned the front dial which didn't change the weight any. So after I turned the back weight based on the front scale, things seemed to work a lot better. Thanks.