Been looking for a decent turntable for some (newer) LPs I've purchased. I
had an old Lenco turntable but it's not in very good shape. I found a nice
Sanyo, with lots of bells and whistles, that seems to suit my fancy. However
it needs a stylus, and there's no number on the stylus itself. The cartridge
number is AT13Ea . Is this even worth bothering with, or should I just go
out and buy a decent new one? If this is indeed a decent cartridge (appears
to have a dual-moving magnet, though I don't know much about them....), what
would the number be for a replacement stylus?
Also, is there any substantial difference between a $50 cartridge and a
$500 cartridge?
Thanks for any advice.

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Reply to:
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On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:14:26 GMT, "Chris F."
wrote:

Been looking for a decent turntable for some (newer) LPs I've purchased. I
had an old Lenco turntable but it's not in very good shape. I found a nice
Sanyo, with lots of bells and whistles, that seems to suit my fancy.

Lenco is a fine, reputable brand from way back when HiFi manufacturers
actually cared about how they built thing. The chances of any Sanyo
turntable being remotely as good as your old Lenco are close to zero.

If I were you I'd take the Lenco to an engineer who uncderstands
turntables and get it fixed up.

Also, is there any substantial difference between a $50 cartridge and a
$500 cartridge?

Indeed there is. But neither the Lenco nor the Sanyo would justify
spending $500 on a cartridge. Get the Lenco in shape and you might
consider spending up to around the $100 mark.

On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 07:52:35 GMT, (Clive
Backham) wrote:

On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:14:26 GMT, "Chris F."
wrote:

Been looking for a decent turntable for some (newer) LPs I've purchased. I
had an old Lenco turntable but it's not in very good shape. I found a nice
Sanyo, with lots of bells and whistles, that seems to suit my fancy.

Lenco is a fine, reputable brand from way back when HiFi manufacturers
actually cared about how they built thing. The chances of any Sanyo
turntable being remotely as good as your old Lenco are close to zero.

If I were you I'd take the Lenco to an engineer who uncderstands
turntables and get it fixed up.

All that is true about the Lenco turntables but their arms were always
clunkers.

Kal

In article ,
Chris F. wrote:
Been looking for a decent turntable for some (newer) LPs I've purchased. I
had an old Lenco turntable but it's not in very good shape. I found a nice
Sanyo, with lots of bells and whistles, that seems to suit my fancy. However
it needs a stylus, and there's no number on the stylus itself. The cartridge
number is AT13Ea . Is this even worth bothering with, or should I just go
out and buy a decent new one? If this is indeed a decent cartridge (appears
to have a dual-moving magnet, though I don't know much about them....), what
would the number be for a replacement stylus?

No, that cartridge is junk. I'd be suspicious of the turntable too, if
that was mounted on it. Which Sanyo is it? Sanyo made some decent
broadcast machines and also some worthless direct-drive crap.

Also, is there any substantial difference between a $50 cartridge and a
$500 cartridge?

Yes, an amazing one.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

Clive Backham wrote:
On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:14:26 GMT, "Chris F."
wrote:

Been looking for a decent turntable for some (newer) LPs I've purchased. I
had an old Lenco turntable but it's not in very good shape. I found a nice
Sanyo, with lots of bells and whistles, that seems to suit my fancy.

Lenco is a fine, reputable brand from way back when HiFi manufacturers
actually cared about how they built thing. The chances of any Sanyo
turntable being remotely as good as your old Lenco are close to zero.

They are all well-built, but some of them are designed to cue up very rapidly
for broadcast work, at the expense of rumble. A lot of them have too much
vertical rumble to be useful for stereo, even though they are fine for mono.
That's because of the way the center bearing was designed, and it wasn't a
problem when they were new.

Also a lot of them had very heavy arms. The later ones sometimes came with
lighter third-party arms. This is a real problem with modern cartridges but
it's an easy thing to retrofit.

If I were you I'd take the Lenco to an engineer who uncderstands
turntables and get it fixed up.

It's certainly worth doing this, at least to find out what is worth doing.

Also, is there any substantial difference between a $50 cartridge and a
$500 cartridge?

Indeed there is. But neither the Lenco nor the Sanyo would justify
spending $500 on a cartridge. Get the Lenco in shape and you might
consider spending up to around the $100 mark.

Entirely possible.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

In rec.audio.pro, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

In article ,
Chris F. wrote:

Also, is there any substantial difference between a $50 cartridge and a
$500 cartridge?

Yes, an amazing one.

I found an amazing difference between an $80 cartridge and a $100
cartridge. I can't afford to hear what a $500 cartridge might sound
like.

--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

"Chris F." wrote in
:

Is this even worth bothering
with,

No idea.

what would the number be for
a replacement stylus?

I wouldn't be surprised if you can find it on:
http://www.diamondstylus.co.uk/

If you can't find it yourself, I believe you can also send your old stylus
there to get it identified.

/Jonas

Jonas Eckerman wrote in
. 1:

what would the number be for a replacement stylus?

I wouldn't be surprised if you can find it on:

A couple more sites to check, that seems better when searching with the
turntables model-no rather than the stylus':

http://www.musonic.co.uk/styli.htm
http://www.turntablebelts.com/
http://www.batteries-online.co.uk/
http://www.stylus.me.uk/

(Yes, I've just been looking for replacement stylii myself...)

/Jonas

Model TP1010, I believe it may have been used in a radio station. Looks
pretty fancy anyway......
The Lenco, BTW, is a model L60. I had a lot of problem with the arm skating,
even on newly-opened LPs. However this may have been the fault of the worn
stylus.
IMO, the Sanyo is a nicer-looking machine, even has an S-shaped arm compared
the Lencos straight arm.


--
*********
Reply to:
*********
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Chris F. wrote:
Been looking for a decent turntable for some (newer) LPs I've
purchased. I
had an old Lenco turntable but it's not in very good shape. I found a
nice
Sanyo, with lots of bells and whistles, that seems to suit my fancy.
However
it needs a stylus, and there's no number on the stylus itself. The
cartridge
number is AT13Ea . Is this even worth bothering with, or should I just go
out and buy a decent new one? If this is indeed a decent cartridge
(appears
to have a dual-moving magnet, though I don't know much about them....),
what
would the number be for a replacement stylus?

No, that cartridge is junk. I'd be suspicious of the turntable too, if
that was mounted on it. Which Sanyo is it? Sanyo made some decent
broadcast machines and also some worthless direct-drive crap.

Also, is there any substantial difference between a $50 cartridge and a
$500 cartridge?

Yes, an amazing one.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I found the number for the stylus (ATN13) however it's hard to find, and
would probably have to be special-ordered. Doesn't matter though, I ordered
a new Audio Technica ATN-1365 cartridge (replacement styli are readily
available), so hopefully this will do the job. As I said, I don't know a lot
about the technical aspects of turntables.....

--
*********
Reply to:
*********
"Jonas Eckerman" wrote in message
. 1...
"Chris F." wrote in
:

Is this even worth bothering
with,

No idea.

what would the number be for
a replacement stylus?

I wouldn't be surprised if you can find it on:
http://www.diamondstylus.co.uk/

If you can't find it yourself, I believe you can also send your old stylus
there to get it identified.

/Jonas

Been looking for a decent turntable for some (newer) LPs I've purchased.
I
had an old Lenco turntable but it's not in very good shape. I found a nice
Sanyo, with lots of bells and whistles, that seems to suit my fancy.
However
it needs a stylus, and there's no number on the stylus itself. The
cartridge
number is AT13Ea . Is this even worth bothering with, or should I just go
out and buy a decent new one? If this is indeed a decent cartridge
(appears
to have a dual-moving magnet, though I don't know much about them....),
what
would the number be for a replacement stylus?
Also, is there any substantial difference between a $50 cartridge and a
$500 cartridge?

There is no such thing as a good Sanyo turntable. Don't bother with even a
$50 cartridge for something like that.

The budget audiophile turntable names to look for are Thorens, Systemdek,
Projekt, Revolver, and Rega. Of those the clear winner is the Rega Planar 3
(with RB300 tonearm), go as high as $350 on used market. If you can find a
Michel or Roksan for under $500 jump on it, but Oracle and Linn models are
generally always overpriced, really no better than the cheaper ones listed.

For cartridges, the budget winner is the Nagaoka MP11 Gold for a measley
$25, then there's Rega and Goldring models, all good values, and imo the
best performer under $500 is the Sumiko Blue Point Special for around $250.
Beyond that, I wouldn't bother with anything but a Koetsu, which will be
well out of your range.

If you do get a Rega, there's a great gadget that does make a big
difference. It's a replacement nut for the tonearm base, which has three
screws in the ring to get much better grip on the turntable plinth. You get
the nut finger-tight, then reef into the screws which drive into a washer
and really anchor the tonearm, rendering sonic benefits across the whole
spectrum.

And don't forget a wall-mount stand!

In article ,
Chris F. wrote:
Model TP1010, I believe it may have been used in a radio station. Looks
pretty fancy anyway......

No, that's a belt-drive unit. You won't see the broadcast guys use those.
Those are not all that bad although they are kind of flimsy. The arm is
junk and should definitely be replaced with something newer, though. Just
tap the arm and listen and you'll hear why6.

The Lenco, BTW, is a model L60. I had a lot of problem with the arm skating,
even on newly-opened LPs. However this may have been the fault of the worn
stylus.

I think the L-60 is the model arm, not the turntable itself.

If you are having skating problems, I would look very seriously into the
arm and cartridge adjustment. Get the proper set up gauge and the proper
scale. Set the thing up correctly, then play a test record and watch the
cartridge while you play the sweep track. If it starts dancing, you have
a serious resonance problem. The arm and cartridge form a resonant system
together and there should be no big bumps in the 20-50 Hz region that will
cause the stylus to start dancing. The arm and cartridge MUST be matched
to one another.

As I recall, the L-60 was a very heavy arm by modern standards, and won't
work reliably with a lot of the modern cartridges because the high mass pulls
that resonance down. A Grado DJ-100 might work but most cartridges want to
see a much lighter arm. Look at the "compliance" spec on the cartridge data
sheet.

IMO, the Sanyo is a nicer-looking machine, even has an S-shaped arm compared
the Lencos straight arm.

The S-shaped arm was a fad in the 1970s and turns out actually not to be
a very good idea. There is a really good article in the AES Compendium
on Disc Recording about tracking performance which discusses these.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."