Best Of

My 681EEE was handy. I bought it new on Dec. 6, 1977. I bought a replacement Stanton stylus for it around 1980. The original stylus is shown with it's brush on left side in the case. The replacement is still on the cartridge on right.

I was duped back then to believe that a stylus was only good for a few hundred album plays. I've always kept my records and styluses clean.

I had the original stylus examined closely later by a tech and he said it was in great condition.

Yes, you increase tracking force by 1 gram when using the brush. I used the brush for a short time then took it off.

I always liked the sound of this cartridge.

F1nut wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

The 681EEE in particular was a very fine piece of hardware.
I am embarrassed to say that I only learned of the... interoperability of Stanton & Pickering in the modern era; I had no idea back in the day.

That's the one I had. It had a little brush attached to it.

I'm a little late to this party, but agree these were/ARE very fine cartridges. In fact, JICO still makes brand-new replacement styli for certain vintage Stanton and Pickering cartridge models. I went through a stage of using this family of cartridges (almost exclusively), and always found them extremely neutral and balanced.

Between certain Stanton and Pickering cartridges, there are interchangeable styli, BUT a person must be very careful. Each brand had both MM and MI cartridges, so care must be taken if trying to do a "crossover".

Regarding the stylus brushes: my personal preference has always been to remove them. Rule of thumb is: if the brush is installed, the VTF setting should be 1g higher than typically published numbers. For example, the published VTF for a Stanton 681EEE is 0.75-1.5g, which is sans (without) the stylus brush.

Me too.

Gong - Magick Brother - 1969 Debut Album

2022 Remaster

Have some great music lined up for the evening.

Caravan • The Unauthorized Breakfast Item

I’ve had this for 9 years and I just opened it up for the first time.

Done with side one and very nice. I’m never sure what to expect when a band does an album 25 to 35 years later but this is really enjoyable.

Caravan • The Album

New Exotic Sounds Of Arthur Lyman
Taboo Vol. 2

Taboo • The Exotic Sounds Of Arthur Lyman