Understanding styli shapes, shank shapes and constructions
0.6 mil, normally touches the centre of the record groove walls. The conical design works best in moderate to lower priced, and older record players with a tonearm imposing higher tracking forces, or tonearm not featuring cartridge tilt adjustment. Typical radius of conical stylus for 78 rpm records is 2.5 or 3 mil (pages 46 & 47), four times bigger than LP record conical styli. Stylus shank construction : Nude or Bonded Styli Nude styli, shaped from whole diamonds, are more costly than bonded styli, which have their diamond tips “bonded” to metal shanks before finishing and being assembled to the cantilever. Also because of their lower mass, nude styli track more accurately (diamond density is lower than the metal shank, and the size is smaller). Also, since our nude styli are grain-oriented, with their longest- wearing faces touching the record surface, they last longer. Stylus shank form factor: Rectangular and Square Shanks or Round Shank Rectangular and square shank nude styli cost even more than round shank nude styli to make, but mounting them in laser-cut square holes in the cantilever locks them precisely into the correct alignment with the record groove. Which cartridge is best? Moving Coil or Moving Magnet? Many serious audiophiles prefer Moving Coil designs, citing clarity and transparency of tone, better defined transients, precise stereo imaging and lower distortion as the reason for their preference. Please note that Moving Coil cartridges require preamps with special compatible inputs (MC phono inputs). The output level of MC cartridges is between 0.2mV to 0.55mV, therefore MM phono inputs designed for cartridges delivering around from 3mV to 5mV cannot accommodate Moving Coil cartridges. Moving Magnet cartridges are more robust. Moving Magnet cartridges stylus assembly are field replaceable.
5 main series of cartridges: Excellence, Moving Coil, VM Series, VM95 Series and XP Series DJ cartridges.
5 different diamond stylus shapes: Special Line Contact, Shibata, Microlinear, Elliptical and Conical.
4 different stylus constructions: Nude Rectangular Shank, Nude Square Shank, Nude Round Shank and Bonded Round Shank. The Special Line Contact stylus, offers the optimum tip design for high frequency response with minimum abrasion, providing low distortion and low record wear. The Shibata stylus was originally developed to play four channel vinyl records (quadraphonic) and for this purpose it was necessary to playback up to 45 kHz. The Shibata shape provides a long line of contact with groove walls, minimizing record wear, and replays high frequency material with minimal distortion. The Microlinear stylus almost exactly duplicates the shape of the cutting stylus used to produce the original master disc. This enables it to track portions of the groove other styli cannot reach, resulting in extremely accurate tracking of high frequency passages and ruler-flat frequency response within the audible range. The Elliptical stylus has two radii, the front radius being wider than the side radius. This allows the stylus to ride in the centre of the groove, like the conical, while the smaller side radius can more accurately track higher frequencies. Audio-Technica Elliptical styli have a size of - 0.3 x 0.7 mil (1) with the first number indicating the side radius. The Conical stylus is the simplest, least expensive and most widely used stylus. Its spherical tip, which has a typical radius of
(1) The abbreviation mil is equal a thousandth of an inch - mil = 0,001 inch = 0,0254 mm = 25,4 m m
Point Contact Styli
Line Contact Styli
Direct power Moving Coil
AT-ART1000x (page 9)
Moving Coil
AT33MONO (page 24)
AT33EV (page 23) AT-OC9XEN (page 20)
AT-OC9XEB (page 20)
AT-OC9XML (page 21) AT33PTG/II (page 23)
AT-OC9XSH (page 21) AT33Sa (page 23) AT-ART9XA (page 15)
AT-OC9XSL (page 21) AT-ART20 (page 11) AT-ART9XI (page 13)
Moving Magnet
AT-VM510xCB (page 35)
AT-VM95SP (page 39) AT-VM670xSP (page 32)
AT-VM95EN (page 38)
AT-VM530xEN (page 31)
AT-VM520xEB (page 31) AT-VM95E
AT-VM95ML (page 39) AT-VM740xML (page 30) AT-VM745xML (page 30)
AT-VM95SH (page 39) AT-VM750xSH (page 30)
AT-VM760xSL (page 30)
AT-VM610xMONO (page 32)
(page 38) AT85EP (page 45) AT-XP5 (page 43) AT-XP7 (page 43)
AT-VM95C (page 38) AT81CP (page 45)
AT-XP3 (page 43)
Audio-Technica Phono Cartridges Guide 2025 - 7
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