Goldring cartridge opinions!

[Kent T]

Hi all Lenco fans,

I am curious about Goldring cartridges. Which ones are excellent, which ones aren't too good? How are they relative to Stanton, Shures, Ortofons, and Nagaokas? I am considering trying one.

[richard]

Goldring has a rich history of buying, rather than making, cartridges and needles. It's sad, but I'm pretty certain this is the truth. This may explain why their presence on the US market was always so small. Way in the past, they did manufacture some excellent pickups, but even when stereo first emerged, they handled it by importing Pickerings into the UK.

Check Ed Saunders' web site edsaunders.com . I have priviledged information, so I don't feel that I'd be ethical if I revealed any more about this. Goldring recently changed hands, but I don't think that anything else changed. I hear that they're nice people.

However, the picture shifts with this observation: Shure and Stanton are no longer catering to people who like excellent sound. Stanton has one or two (maxumum) products designed for home listening at present: that's it. Goldring, in fact, is addressing Shure's and Stanton's former audiophile customers better than these two American firms are, with more products of interest.

Ortofon, and especially Nagaoka, are pretty serious about this, and they make their own stuff. Ortofon has recently been acquired, too.

You (and I) have left out Grado, who are serious. I wish that Nagaoka was better at communicating in English: I queried them recently and got no answer. Grado has never been very clear about the what's what of their products. I can say that they have always had a following among "serious" music listeners and musicians. But so did Pickering/Stanton. You probably know all the scuttlebutt about Grado already, so I won't belabor it.

The brands that you began with are distinguished by their being normal-output products that use easily- and safely-replaced styli. This has not been the case with Grado. You can replace your Grado stylus by yourself, but you should keep your wits about you when you do it.

Where I'd begin is with thinking about which stylus appeals to me, then considering which company will keep making them into the future: who has the commitment? Goldring's part of a small conglomerate. Nagaoka and Ortofon have branched sideways into industrial transducers. Grado is a family business.

Stanton's and Shure's best products are all in the past. There's not a parabolic tip between them. There's no problem with buying used bodies in those brands, but your needles will all have to be New Old Stock, at collectors' prices.

How's that?

[Kent T]

Your take is eminently sensible. I love Stantons and Pickerings. I do love the 681 line especially well. I love the better Ortofons and Shure is hit and miss with me about what is currently available. I play lots of 45 singles which sometimes are styrene. I need the ability to track at 1/2-2 1/2 grams tracking force, good frequency response, conical stylus, decent ruggedness for light to moderate broadcasting use, and reasonable price (under $125 US). I like better Audio-Technicas well. Nagaokas are excellent when I want mellower character. Grados have nice attributes, but hum pickup and tracking are lacking for me on some setups. I do think Goldring is trying to curry phonophiles though they are more OEM than original builder. Ed Saunders has interesting similar pickups (I bet they are really the same, these Red Ed cartridges). I plan on getting both to try out. The Elan for my working 45 cartridge has promise and is cheap enough we can afford them often for on air work.

[GP49]

Ed Saunders has interesting similar pickups (I bet they are really the same, these Red Ed cartridges).

It's a Sanyo.  Goldring rebranded them.

[richard]

Gene, do you have a web link so I can have a look at the Sanyo originals? I wasn't aware that they were a cartridge producer; they seemed to always be using other company's stuff in the past.

On the other hand, we could all use a good laugh.

Kent, you know, for the records that you mentioned, my thoughts go to the tip size .4 x .7. This may be cool for mono 45s, too, although a fatter tip might be more appropriate.

I have this theory that's been banging around in my brain for a few years. My theory is that for 45 rpm mono junk, a 2.0 mil needle might be just the thing. I won't go into the sordid reasons for this. I've salted away two old Zenith one-size-fits-all diamond plug-in cartridges. Most of theirs, of course, were made for "real" records (33/45). But this was for some sort of single-tip 3- or 4-speed turntable of some sort, probably a Cobra (or whatever) changer. The aftermarket cartridge was probably better than the original, which I'll bet was a sapphire. What I'd like to do is to graft one of these tips onto a worn-out Stanton cantilever, and see how it'll do on a few old crappy 45s. My hunch is that some 45s were cut with oversized grooves. Eddie Ciletti's put some interesting back stories on the web about deviations from standards taken by some cutting engineers who did a lot of singles.

On the other hand, I may be all wet. I'll have to make up a stylus to test this out, and my plate's full of other stuff.
Sometimes in audio, we can go back to earlier standards and find joy there. Going to funkier styli can provide nice benefits.

[GP49]

Gene, do you have a web link so I can have a look at the Sanyo originals? I wasn't aware that they were a cartridge producer; they seemed to always be using other company's stuff in the past.

I saw a lot of those same cartridges on the turntables of Fisher rack systems.  It's a Sanyo MG-29.  Googling will turn it up.

The Ed Saunders site has a link to a review which says it's an Audio-Technica.  That's incorrect.

[Phil Y]

Hello Kent T,
I have been using a 1042 for a few years and am very happy with it. It sounds better than my previous three, a Sumiko Blue Point(not special), before that a Denon DL110 and before that an Ortofon VMS30. I have no recent knowledge of the makes you ask about but I would certainly recommend the 1042.

Hope that is of some help, Phil.

[Graeme]

I have a 1012gx and have been surprised how much performance i could coax out of it.
Im using a denon 103 at the moment, its not a clear cut race though.

Denon is a bit better at atmosphere, goldring is more acurate, more live sounding and more initialy impressive.

Im liking both at the moment.

[richard]

Gene wrote,

I saw a lot of those same cartridges on the turntables of Fisher rack systems.  It's a Sanyo MG-29.

Ah! I found it.
On this site, we can read the fine print: country of origin.
http://www.andersonsportsllc.com/mg29E.html.

The Ed Saunders site has a link to a review which says it's an Audio-Technica.  That's incorrect.

Gene, is this an old product? Since it's hard for me to get my head around Sanyo being a cartridge maker, is/was this thing an Audio Technica to begin with, now made in China?

[GP49]

Gene, is this an old product? Since it's hard for me to get my head around Sanyo being a cartridge maker, is/was this thing an Audio Technica to begin with, now made in China?

It has been around for at least ten years and probably more.

It does not resemble an Audio Technica in any way whatsoever.  Instead of the dual-magnet armature of the A-T with the cantilever configured as a Class Two lever, it's a conventional moving magnet with a single magnet on the inner end of the cantilever, which is a Class One lever.  It has a diamond-shaped tube going into the cartridge body, as on a Shure, but the tube is plastic, moulded in one piece with the finger grip, not brass as on a Shure.  The stylus pulls off to the front, same as a Shure or Stanton.

[richard]

Your opinion?

[GP49]

Your opinion?

It's a decent entry-level moving magnet. There's no upgrade stylus for the MG-29, as far as I know. It's spherical LP only from the original maker, though an aftermarket supplier apparently does make a 78 rpm stylus for it.  It would not be worth the cost or effort to have Expert retip it with a more advanced diamond, though I am sure they could do it.  It tracks well at 2.5g or so but if what I observed in the field is any indication, it may be prone to the cantilever getting bent by rough handling; I had to keep a stock of them on hand for replacements, when people would break theirs.  Maybe this only reflects its popularity; Sanyo put a lot of these into Fisher rack systems.  I don't know why they didn't use their own cartridge across their entire line, but some Sanyo-brand products did have Audio-Technica cartridges in them, particularly the AT-93.

[GP49]

The brands that you began with are distinguished by their being normal-output products that use easily- and safely-replaced styli. This has not been the case with Grado. You can replace your Grado stylus by yourself, but you should keep your wits about you when you do it.

While browsing I ran across this example, quoted from Vinyl Engine:

> The following morning I decided to remove the (Grado stylus) and
> check the suspension. Again it was held very firmly in the body, a
> gentle pull with a slight wiggle – nothing. A little more force and I
> could feel it moving, backed off the force but too late - it let go
> and before I could relax my grip, it rolled over in my fingers as it
> withdrew.
>
> Cantilever snapped clean off. Bummer.

[Kent T]

2 mil mono needle not very good for my old 45 needs. .4 x .7 Stanton Elliptical 681 replacement stylus, superb for older records and nice tracking ability and sonics. I bought both Red Ed cartridges, the conical version is excellent for a cheap cartridge. I like it. Haven't installed the Elliptical stylus version yet.

[richard]

".4 x .7 Stanton Elliptical 681."
I wish that the radio station where I worked had that needle. I was very impressed with it. It vanished too early. I don't think that an aftermarket would get it right.

Please tell me more specifics about your 2.0 mil needle. In my experience, it's never been offered in any form that's not very poor. Like, mine are mounted in Zenith Cobra throw-away cartridges. But maybe there's something that I don't know.