Philips 242 Turntable Cart and Needle

[UcSam]

Yes the LP 60 takes the AT3600L stylus which tracks at 2.5 g +-.5g. AT 91 tracks lighter and may not be compatible. Some companies sell an elliptical upgrade for LP 60 tt.
Reubensm has given some excellent advice on carts in his other post. Thanks.
Remember that ceramic carts ar incompatible with new amps due to impedence mismatch. You need an older ceramic compatible amp , like Cosmic CO -30(one example).
Yes, hearing loss is an issue with age. I salute you for your service to the nation.

Interestingly, both 3600L and ATN95E appear on amazon.in

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00066XTBA/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A2WNDI09KBYDOS&th=1

Do you think I could try this on EG1400? Just in case the cart is working. Would this 3600L make a reasonable start if EG1400 takes off? Either the 3600L help me save from buying AT95 and ATN95E together or separately, or I I would be loaded with an inventory not useful for sometime to come with a 3600L stylus. Finding it hard to get a replacement cart.

 

[UcSam]

For a start, if I were to play 78s, I would definitely go for a mono cartridge as they somehow seem to be more forgiving when it comes to groove inconsistencies, surface noise and turntable rumble. The key to owning a 78 collection is to know the usage history of each record. This is close to impossible especially if records are purchased from shops or vendors. From my experience, magnetic cartridges for 78s produce better sonics but are very sensitive to groove distortion, groove and surface noise and if your 78 happens to have a deepish scratch or a slight crack, a cracker would burst through your speakers each time the stylus runs over it. A mono ceramic cartridge preferably from the likes of Sonotone (if you have access to international markets) or HMV, Philips and EEI if you are looking to purchase in India, is the best option. A flip stylus with microgroove on one side and 78 on the other gives you the option of using this setup for playing very old and worn microgroove records as well. Ceramic cartridges sound bad as almost all contemporary users are not familiar with how to connect them to an amplifier. One would require a passive input impedance balancing network (with a slight loss of gain) or a dedicated phonostage (without loss of gain) for excellent sound quality. For playing 78s, a scratch filter could be useful or if you are building a DIY circuit for the purpose, using variable cartridge impedance loading can control the noise to some extent as illustrated in this circuit (the variable resistor VR between the cartridge and the circuit serves the purpose).

PS: It is a complete misconception that ceramic cartridges damage your valuable records. Yes, they will if they are used on cheap turntables with heavy-weight tonearm tracking, and with misaligned, worn or damaged stylii. The routine of appropriately setting the tonearm calibration, caring for the record and stylus, and more so, careful handling, is essentially the same for both magnetic and ceramic based rigs. A true tonearm with accurate tracking can handle ceramics easily with 4-5g VTF which is similar to some magnetics. For example the Shure M3D MM cartridge tracks with VTF between 4-6g.

Hi Reubensm,
I could not find the stylus I got from UK, but I found another sealed box of stylus, which I had forgotten about. Picture attached. I had some old stylus too on which 78 were hardly played, or almost never played since they are too heavy to carry around while in service. But in absence of them, could this work with GP204 for Philips GC032 ?

 

[UcSam]

For a start, if I were to play 78s, I would definitely go for a mono cartridge as they somehow seem to be more forgiving when it comes to groove inconsistencies, surface noise and turntable rumble. The key to owning a 78 collection is to know the usage history of each record. This is close to impossible especially if records are purchased from shops or vendors. From my experience, magnetic cartridges for 78s produce better sonics but are very sensitive to groove distortion, groove and surface noise and if your 78 happens to have a deepish scratch or a slight crack, a cracker would burst through your speakers each time the stylus runs over it. A mono ceramic cartridge preferably from the likes of Sonotone (if you have access to international markets) or HMV, Philips and EEI if you are looking to purchase in India, is the best option. A flip stylus with microgroove on one side and 78 on the other gives you the option of using this setup for playing very old and worn microgroove records as well. Ceramic cartridges sound bad as almost all contemporary users are not familiar with how to connect them to an amplifier. One would require a passive input impedance balancing network (with a slight loss of gain) or a dedicated phonostage (without loss of gain) for excellent sound quality. For playing 78s, a scratch filter could be useful or if you are building a DIY circuit for the purpose, using variable cartridge impedance loading can control the noise to some extent as illustrated in this circuit (the variable resistor VR between the cartridge and the circuit serves the purpose).

PS: It is a complete misconception that ceramic cartridges damage your valuable records. Yes, they will if they are used on cheap turntables with heavy-weight tonearm tracking, and with misaligned, worn or damaged stylii. The routine of appropriately setting the tonearm calibration, caring for the record and stylus, and more so, careful handling, is essentially the same for both magnetic and ceramic based rigs. A true tonearm with accurate tracking can handle ceramics easily with 4-5g VTF which is similar to some magnetics. For example the Shure M3D MM cartridge tracks with VTF between 4-6g.

Just added a clearer photo.

 

[General_sound]

Hi UcSam. The 3600L stylus will not fit on the EG1400.
Yes you can fit an AT 91 or AT 3600 cartridge on the GA 242. If I get a spare, new EG 1400 stylus soon I will let you know.

 

[UcSam]

Hi UcSam. The 3600L stylus will not fit on the EG1400.
Yes you can fit an AT 91 or AT 3600 cartridge on the GA 242. If I get a spare, new EG 1400 stylus soon I will let you know.

Copied that. You said you were expecting it (Shure).
In the mean time, I have got my cousin to secure AT-VM95C with AT-VMN95C and a spare AT-VMN95C, PLUS AT-VM95e Cart with Stylus picked up. They cost about INR 10k in Atlanta. However, I dont see they reach earlier than Diwali. Long way. She plans to pick up a few more spares and accessories like vinyl jackets, headshell, four wires (basically for AT LP120, but todays carts and stylus are for me to get GA242 with a good cart and stylus which would also work on AT LP120. In the meantime, keeping the option of that risk of EG1400 open with an investment hoping it is serviceable.

 

[General_sound]

Hi UcSam. Do hope that you have made progress in restoring the turntables. I was reading another post about an Enbee Ss50B stereo amp. This was the sliding control model with individual left and right controls. From the owners profile it appeared that he was also an IAF pilot. Incidentally I have heard the similar amp. V lush sound. Wonder if any of them still survive.