Stanton 500E stereo cartridge

[John P. Cooper]

I have one of these and I think it is still in my current turntable.

How would you audiophile guys rate it, soundwise?

I remember reading at the time that it was hot stuff.

Looks like I bought it on 6/28/1983.

[RedJazz]

Originally Posted by John P. Cooper

I have one of these and I think it is still in my current turntable.

How would you audiophile guys rate it, soundwise?

I remember reading at the time that it was hot stuff.

Looks like I bought it on 6/28/1983.

I think it is a good moderately priced cartridge. To me audio equipment is a lot like wine. I can tell the difference between really great wine and just average stuff, but generally the really great wine is out of my price range, so why bother? Same with audio equipment. The best really is the best, but not only is it outrageously expensive, but generally takes up so much room that if you really went in that direction you'd probably have to build a whole house around it, so that's just more prohibitive expense. The best course is to look for what Consumer Reports generally calls "best buys." It's not the very best in an absolute sense, but good enough for jazz or, as I just heard Rumsfeld say, government work.

[John P. Cooper]

Thanx RJ~

It's at least a 22 y/o cartridge model.

Trying out carts is a tricky task and I have little desire o take a run of carts home to try them out...and doubt I could in the price range I would be willing to pay.

[kedoane]

Originally Posted by John P. Cooper

Thanx RJ~

It's at least a 22 y/o cartridge model.

Trying out carts is a tricky task and I have little desire o take a run of carts home to try them out...and doubt I could in the price range I would be willing to pay.

When I tell people how much it costs for the two matching carts that I have for playing records on air, they are shocked. I got a matching set of Stanton Trackmaster ll RS. They are not for scratching the way that turntablists do, but I use them for either playing a music bed, or on occasion, playing a song off of vinyl. This set costs me $200. It is not cheap, but at least I have my own carts just in case the one in the on air booth do not work.

[letchhausen]

You can get the Stanton 500E MkII at Needle Doctor for $34.95. They have a huge selection of budget cartridges and associated vinly playing equipment. I use an Ortofon OM 10 ($69) on my Dual back-up table. It's not bad for a cheap cart. I used to run a Denon DL-165 on this when it was my primary table and that made very sweet music but that cartridge was around $150.......

[John P. Cooper]

Thanx for the replies, guys.

Strikes me that I paid much more than 35 clams when I got that cart back in '83.

Ha! I just found my old Zerostat gun and my Discwasher kit, both of which I rarely used. Circa 1970.

Hahaha....just found the old vinyl padded flip top case for my Koss headphones. Circa 1970.

Is it eBay time for these?

[Chris D]

The Discwasher and Zeostat are still in produciton, so you probably wouldn't get too much for them.

I'll second the recommendation or Ortofon's more affordable cartridges. I have a thing for Grados -- right now I'm listening to Jimmy Knepper with Gene Quill and Bill Evans through a Grado Blue -- you get a lot of bang for the buck. They're natural and lively; sometimes too lively for certain arms.

[John P. Cooper]

A vintage DiscWasher and ZeroStat gun (both in a kit/fancy box) just sold on eBay for 75 clams.

[Chris D]

Originally Posted by John P. Cooper

A vintage DiscWasher and ZeroStat gun (both in a kit/fancy box) just sold on eBay for 75 clams.

Wow. I'm almost shocked. Have at it, then!