Technics 205C II cartridge w-nude elliptical Stylus
Jul 6, 2023 8:07:38 GMT
firebottle, jandl100, and 1 more like this
Post by optical on Jul 6, 2023 8:07:38 GMT
Hi all,
my Technics SL1700 turntable I bought a few months ago came with a Technics 205c II cartridge and EPS 205ED stylus . . . . unfortunately the stylus was completely bent (for which the seller compensated me).
However it meant I didn't have the chance to hear that particular cartridge until now.
Not wanting to fork out straight away for a 'direct' replacement (£150+) or indeed upgrade to a Jico SAS (£300+), I decided to give the relatively cheap nude-elliptical from Analogis, a go.
This particular stylus is advised to track between 2.5-2.9g so a little heavier than the original but still fairly acceptable. Plugged it in and spun a record . . . okay, but thats about it unfortunately thus far.
Fair enough, it should open up and get a little better at least i thought. . . .
Oh dear, having trouble tracking some parts on the inner record now. Tried another record (slightly less demanding) . . . same result unfortunately.
There's not much to check seeing as overhang and everything else are set by the single centre mount screw in the factory Technics head shell, so not an alignment issue.
Played about with the anti-skate too, unfortunately not much difference.
How disappointing . . . . maybe the styli was a dud?
I contacted DaCapo Audio from whom I had purchased it.
A nice chap called Ole got back to me within a few minutes regarding my query and said he would have a look at the batch of styli it came from as he hadn't heard of this issue before. (I also mentioned that there was a very small mark on the front of the stylus, although this doesn't bother me, just thought I'd say anyway).
He contacted me the next day and agreed that using the stylus at 2.5-2.9g there was some audible distortion. So he tried it at the original stylus' tracking force of 1.5-1.9g.
He said this eliminated all of the distortion and that the stylus was tracking significantly better than before on his sample so he advised me to do the same.
Set mine to 1.5g dialled back the anti-skate (I always find the right amount of anti-skate is usually around or just over half the tracking force so set this to around 0.8g.
Needle on the record, christ. Now we were getting somewhere. The bass hit me immediately and dynamics were now leaping from and around the speakers instead of the rather flat presentation I had previously been enduring. Tested the 'problem' passage again . . . tracked it like a dream, smooth and faultless.
Ole remarked that the Analogis styli had been getting better and better recently and thus could now manage to track accurately at much lower tracking forces, a true sign of a good cut, which makes sense.
Still only got a couple of hours on it but assuming it gets any better for £45 it's a bit of a killer in my opinion. Certainly no worries about going through a couple of these a year in the name of 'just spinnin'.
The 205C has more than a bit of a cult following and I can certainly hear why. It's very well balanced with realistic dynamics and a big open soundstage. The Vaders are loving it . . . .
Also works well with relatively low capacitance so I have set the dial on my MX-Vnyl phono stage to 50pf which seems to work very nicely.
Cart is setup with Audio Technica OCC head shell leads.
Enjoying this one.
my Technics SL1700 turntable I bought a few months ago came with a Technics 205c II cartridge and EPS 205ED stylus . . . . unfortunately the stylus was completely bent (for which the seller compensated me).
However it meant I didn't have the chance to hear that particular cartridge until now.
Not wanting to fork out straight away for a 'direct' replacement (£150+) or indeed upgrade to a Jico SAS (£300+), I decided to give the relatively cheap nude-elliptical from Analogis, a go.
This particular stylus is advised to track between 2.5-2.9g so a little heavier than the original but still fairly acceptable. Plugged it in and spun a record . . . okay, but thats about it unfortunately thus far.
Fair enough, it should open up and get a little better at least i thought. . . .
Oh dear, having trouble tracking some parts on the inner record now. Tried another record (slightly less demanding) . . . same result unfortunately.
There's not much to check seeing as overhang and everything else are set by the single centre mount screw in the factory Technics head shell, so not an alignment issue.
Played about with the anti-skate too, unfortunately not much difference.
How disappointing . . . . maybe the styli was a dud?
I contacted DaCapo Audio from whom I had purchased it.
A nice chap called Ole got back to me within a few minutes regarding my query and said he would have a look at the batch of styli it came from as he hadn't heard of this issue before. (I also mentioned that there was a very small mark on the front of the stylus, although this doesn't bother me, just thought I'd say anyway).
He contacted me the next day and agreed that using the stylus at 2.5-2.9g there was some audible distortion. So he tried it at the original stylus' tracking force of 1.5-1.9g.
He said this eliminated all of the distortion and that the stylus was tracking significantly better than before on his sample so he advised me to do the same.
Set mine to 1.5g dialled back the anti-skate (I always find the right amount of anti-skate is usually around or just over half the tracking force so set this to around 0.8g.
Needle on the record, christ. Now we were getting somewhere. The bass hit me immediately and dynamics were now leaping from and around the speakers instead of the rather flat presentation I had previously been enduring. Tested the 'problem' passage again . . . tracked it like a dream, smooth and faultless.
Ole remarked that the Analogis styli had been getting better and better recently and thus could now manage to track accurately at much lower tracking forces, a true sign of a good cut, which makes sense.
Still only got a couple of hours on it but assuming it gets any better for £45 it's a bit of a killer in my opinion. Certainly no worries about going through a couple of these a year in the name of 'just spinnin'.
The 205C has more than a bit of a cult following and I can certainly hear why. It's very well balanced with realistic dynamics and a big open soundstage. The Vaders are loving it . . . .
Also works well with relatively low capacitance so I have set the dial on my MX-Vnyl phono stage to 50pf which seems to work very nicely.
Cart is setup with Audio Technica OCC head shell leads.
Enjoying this one.