Which Cartridge

[navinsinha]

I have been using AR XA as my living room TT with ADC ZLM cart and its JICO stylus. Our (mine and my wife's) favourable genre are Old Bollywood films, Ghazals (primarily Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali & Jagjit Chitra) and Hindustani classical music. This cart is doing pretty well. Two days back I got a very good condition Lenco GL75 and put a new Shure M 44-7 on it. I was listening to Jagjit Chitra's ("Unforgettable). At that time, my wife came home and shouted at me that what have I done to the music system? She felt (me too) that the music was too shrill. I told her that it is different TT and Cart but she told me to go back to the AR XA, I did and the soothing music was back. Now I can safely say that the difference could be due to the cart. The problem is that ADC ZLM is an expensive cart, can our dear FMs suggest what cart should I use for my genre of music? The other carts that I have are - Shure M97XE, Shure V15III, Stanton 681 EEE, Denon DL103 and Nagaoka MP110. Thanks a lot in advance for your assistance!

 

[greenhorn]

why not use a generic adc stylus - I recall you have a spare body. jico stylus are available for reasonable prices.

 

[navinsinha]

That's right Bro! I have ADC 220 but no stylus at present. Let me try for some generic stylus or JICO, within a reasonable cost of course. Thanks a lot!

 

[JayaRaa]

Why not try the other carts you have with you before going for another investment?

 

[jls001]

If your new Lenco uses the stock arm, it is known to match well with low compliance cartridge like the Denon 103 you already have.

One important caveat, though: the V blocks on L75 arms are known to degrade with age, thus degrading the sound reproduction substantially. If you plan on continuing with the stock arm it's a good idea to replace the V blocks with new ones. An even better idea of course is to replace that arm. I'll stop talking. The more I talk I'll deplete your wallet

 

[navinsinha]

Hi Joshua,
Thanks a lot! Your are always welcome. Yes, I can try the DL103. BTW I may get a good Jelco arm at a reasonable price. Do you think it would be a good match?

 

[navinsinha]

Hi Joshua,
A friend of mine is having a spare Grace tonearm also. Between the Jelco and Grace, which one would be better?

 

[jls001]

The mounting distance of the arms you're interested in are very critical as the L75 mounting distance is 211 mm. Besides mounting distance, the other arm parameter to consider is the diameter of the arm base that will go into the arm hole of L75's top plate. I don't recall the exact top plate hole diameter but I think it's about 22-25 mm.

So if you want a drop-in replacement arm, the new arm needs to meet the above two criteria. I think Linn arms are known to be drop-in replacements.

 

[navinsinha]

Thanks a lot Joshua! I need to talk to you, would call up during the weekend.

 

[soundbuff]

If you have not tried it already the Denon DL 110 is a good all rounder. I am on my fourth.
It is not shrill but the highs are more extended than the Shure m97. Bass is pretty generous and human voices - male and female - are excellent? It lacks refinement compared to a more expensive carts (like a ZYX or a Benz), but its just ten K after all.

 

[sann]

Like Joshua mentioned the stock Lenco arm is an excellent match for DL-103, just need to check V blocks and replace them if they are shot.
That combination will do justice to the kind of music you listen to. Before buying new arm/cart just give it a try.