AT VM750 With A Twist

psemeraro

psemeraro

Member
Here in Orlando we have an amazing record store, Rock and Roll Heaven, with the most extensive $1 section I've ever seen. Tons of great stuff but they're older records and many play as nearly new, others not so much but all are at least good.

My favorite tip size for older records is .4 x .7 but except for Nagaoka, most .4 x .7 tip cartridges are budget cartridges with sloppy tips, soft cantilevers, etc.

This is a franken cartridge. AT VM750 body with Shure/Jico damping brush (fits perfectly) and vintage ATSS335E/U stylus with low mass hardened cantilever. The combo actually sounds great, lit up without being over bright, surprising low surface noise with the polished tip and hardened cantilever, and at the moment, NOS styli are cheap and available. AT has no current product like that with high quality .4 x .7 on a low mass hardened cantilever so this is something of a unicorn for older recordings but still sounds good on everything.

The damped brush solves the problem of arm and stylus compliance matching so I can swap tips (and arms) around without drama.

Cheers,
Pat

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Welcome!

It’s nice to see someone else from Orlando!

I know Rock and Roll Heaven well. The most amazing thing about that place is the condition of his used vinyl. If it’s on the shelf, it’s good. You don’t really have to check the vinyl. I haven’t been in any shop since the pandemic started. I’m looking forward to getting my vaccine so I can get back to normal.

I didn’t realize that they had a $1 bin. The last time I was in, I was on a Manu Dibango jag and bought everything they had.

If you like RRH, you should really check out Bananas in St. Pete. It’s worth the trip. @AnthonyI and I went the last time he was here on vacation. Literally millions of albums. The place is off the chain. It’s....bananas!

Cool cartridge idea! How did you get the brush to mate with the A/T stylus assembly?
 
psemeraro said:
Here in Orlando we have an amazing record store, Rock and Roll Heaven, with the most extensive $1 section I've ever seen. Tons of great stuff but they're older records and many play as nearly new, others not so much but all are at least good.

My favorite tip size for older records is .4 x .7 but except for Nagaoka, most .4 x .7 tip cartridges are budget cartridges with sloppy tips, soft cantilevers, etc.

This is a franken cartridge. AT VM750 body with Shure/Jico damping brush (fits perfectly) and vintage ATSS335E/U stylus with low mass hardened cantilever. The combo actually sounds great, lit up without being over bright, surprising low surface noise with the polished tip and hardened cantilever, and at the moment, NOS styli are cheap and available. AT has no current product like that with high quality .4 x .7 on a low mass hardened cantilever so this is something of a unicorn for older recordings but still sounds good on everything.

The damped brush solves the problem of arm and stylus compliance matching so I can swap tips (and arms) around without drama.

Cheers,
Pat

View attachment 92026
Click to expand...

HiFi Guy said:
Welcome!

It’s nice to see someone else from Orlando!

I know Rock and Roll Heaven well. The most amazing thing about that place is the condition of his used vinyl. If it’s on the shelf, it’s good. You don’t really have to check the vinyl. I haven’t been in any shop since the pandemic started. I’m looking forward to getting my vaccine so I can get back to normal.

I didn’t realize that they had a $1 bin. The last time I was in, I was on a Manu Dibango jag and bought everything they had.

If you like RRH, you should really check out Bananas in St. Pete. It’s worth the trip. @AnthonyI and I went the last time he was here on vacation. Literally millions of albums. The place is off the chain. It’s....bananas!

Cool cartridge idea! How did you get the brush to mate with the A/T stylus assembly?
Click to expand...
Welcome, welcome!!

To @HiFi Guy's comment, ya Banana's was a trip. An ungodly amount of vinyl between the retail space and "warehouse"..........which you can get lost in, lol.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Welcome!

It’s nice to see someone else from Orlando!

I know Rock and Roll Heaven well. The most amazing thing about that place is the condition of his used vinyl. If it’s on the shelf, it’s good. You don’t really have to check the vinyl. I haven’t been in any shop since the pandemic started. I’m looking forward to getting my vaccine so I can get back to normal.

I didn’t realize that they had a $1 bin. The last time I was in, I was on a Manu Dibango jag and bought everything they had.

If you like RRH, you should really check out Bananas in St. Pete. It’s worth the trip. @AnthonyI and I went the last time he was here on vacation. Literally millions of albums. The place is off the chain. It’s....bananas!

Cool cartridge idea! How did you get the brush to mate with the A/T stylus assembly?
Click to expand...
Ray the owner of RRH is a regular at my establishment (The Local College Park) and he takes incredible pride and care in his product. There are 10s of thousands of records in the $1 section and yes that are mostly very good.

To attach the brush I cut out the old shank section and used a small amount of wood glue. It fits perfectly, the glue bonds well to the metal body and with a bit of careful force pulls right back off and leaves no trace so the mod is not permanent.

Bananas is awesome but I dont get out there much. I like to grab vinyl 40 - 50 pieces at a time so $1 records are more my speed. My "working" collection of records is a different matter and some of the 12" singles (that you hear on CP Radio) get really expensive so those purchases need to be moderated.

Pat
 
psemeraro said:
Ray the owner of RRH is a regular at my establishment (The Local College Park) and he takes incredible pride and care in his product. There are 10s of thousands of records in the $1 section and yes that are mostly very good.

To attach the brush I cut out the old shank section and used a small amount of wood glue. It fits perfectly, the glue bonds well to the metal body and with a bit of careful force pulls right back off and leaves no trace so the mod is not permanent.

Bananas is awesome but I dont get out there much. I like to grab vinyl 40 - 50 pieces at a time so $1 records are more my speed. My "working" collection of records is a different matter and some of the 12" singles (that you hear on CP Radio) get really expensive so those purchases need to be moderated.

Pat
Click to expand...
When the pandemic is over, I’ll have to swing by your place for a meal and a beer.
 
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