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If I were starting new in 78RPM today, I'd probably buy the Ortofon OM series cartridge made for 
78s. I doubt Ortofon will go out of the needle and cartridge business for a while. The Shure M44 is 
probably fine for most uses, also.

I never _loved_ the Stanton 500 but it has always been fine for the 78 listening and transfers I've 
done and it's not so fragile or so expensive that I care about playing beat up records.

I had a Shure M44 for a long time but stupidly sold it in the 90s when I thought I was getting out 
of grooved disks. I would have just bought the 78 needle for it and used it to play 78s to this day 
if it were still around.

Grado also makes a 78RPM-purposed cartridge. My opinion of Grado, having owned two of their 
lower-end cartridges, is that they didn't sound very good and weren't very well made. It might have 
changed under the new generation of ownership. I like the idea of their business (American-made, 
American-owned) but like I said I didn't like their products which I have owned in the past.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger Kulp" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2012 1:44 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Styli


>I have a 50+ year old Shure I really loved,that I can no longer get retipped.?Can anybody suggest a 
>replacement?
>
> Roger
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Milan P Milovanovic <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Friday, August 3, 2012 4:44 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Styli
>
> I don't know if I'm the only one, but I got pretty good results with Ortofon OM series, and bunch 
> of re-tipped styli (done by Expert Stylus company). Also their original Ortofon OM 78 needle is 
> very good needle for everyday use (2.7 mil truncated elliptical), very suitable for lacquers and 
> transcriptions.
>
> Regards,
>
> Milan
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin P. Mostyn" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, August 03, 2012 9:36 PM
> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Styli
>
>
>> I recently tried to order some more custom styli from Expert Stylus for a
>> Stanton 500 but was informed that Stanton has essentially left the phono
>> cartridge business, at least for now and perhaps forever, due to their
>> purchase by Gibson Guitars. Expert suggested that I turn to Shure or
>> Ortofon. Ortofon is out of my price range, so I'm looking at Shure. I know
>> that some U.S. dealers still have Expert-Tipped Stanton styli available but
>> I would like to find a long term solution.
>>
>> I see the following cartridges available:
>>
>> M78S - specifically for 78, uses the N78S stylus; Note that the N78S stylus
>> has max tracking of 3 grams.
>>
>> M44-7 - no listing for a 78 stylus. Max tracking is 3 grams.
>>
>> M97-xE - not clear if it takes an N78S stylus; regular shank probably too
>> delicate for historical records.
>>
>> M92E - does take the N78S stylus
>>
>> SC35C - does take the N78S stylus, but the regular shank for this cartridge
>> will track up to 5 grams! Its replacement stylus is cheaper than the N78S
>> stylus.
>>
>> The list of available cartridges is at:
>> http://www.shure.com/americas/products/phono/index.htm
>>
>> The list of available styli is at:
>> http://www.shure.com/americas/products/accessories/phono-accessories/index.h
>> tm
>>
>> In a 2006 post, Dave Lennick recommended the SC35C with its quondam 78
>> stylus, but said stylus is no longer available. However, the stock SS35C
>> shank may be the same one used for the SS78E. Dave has also said that he
>> (really really) hates the N78S stylus. It may be that the SC35C shank will
>> fit into any of the cartridges that accept an N78S.
>>
>> Since I'm having custom tips affixed, it really doesn't matter if a factory
>> 78 tip is unavailable. I just need a high quality cartridge with an
>> appropriate strong shank that will survive playing historical records and
>> can be retipped by Expert. It appears that the only appropriate shanks from
>> Shure are the ones in the SC35C, the N78S and the M44-7.
>>
>> I will use these mainly for transcription discs. I have a few thousand
>> transcription discs, vinyl, lacquer, uncoated aluminum.
>>
>> I would very much appreciate any advice that the group can provide.
>>
>> --Kevin Mostyn
>