G800 stylus compare

[damiena]

I put an aftermarket stylus in a few years ago and it sounded great compared to the original stylus.

A few months ago I was fixing up a turntable from a friend and I needed a cartridge to test it. I remembered I had a spare lenco arm I'd never used complete with cartridge and stylus sat in a box, the turntable it came off was purchased in 1964 and put in the original owners loft late 70s early 80s. It sounded good on the tt I was fixing. I was wondering if my current GL75 stylus was getting a bit rough. The stylus that came with my GL75 did not have 'Goldring' printed on it nor did the aftermarket stylus (as I'd expect). The old 'spare' ignored cartridge does have Goldring on it. I put the old 'Goldring' stylus in and it sounded way better, so I've been listening that that for the last few months.

This week I got a new G800 stylus (thank you you), in a proper G800 Replacement stylus box but without Goldring printed on the front. Looks unused. I compared with the old Goldring marked one and it sounds great - I can't tell a difference yet, however I thought it would be interesting to compare the stylus and cantilevers.



The one on the left is the new boxed replacement, the middle the one marked Goldring the right the aftermarket.



The aftermarket is short and stubby with a tiny dull tip. (shiny connector on the back though)

The Goldring labelled stylus is poking up proud, shiny and conical, it's shaft is quite a big leaning to the left though and has a plateau bend before the tip.

The boxed replacement is long and straight, shiny but less mirror shine, and with a thinner but equally proud and pointy tip, but no plateau bend and the end.

Not sure what to do with this investigation but I found it interesting all the same, I don't know much about styluses. I know I have two good sounding ones now. I'm impressed the wonky one plays well, and wonder if it's aspect is due to playing without sufficient antiskate or it's just been knocked about (should I, can I straighten it?)

[Ste_S]

It's interesting, thanks for sharing. I've been considering a few ebay G800's, and the pictures tend to make it look like the cantilever is off-centre (as do the left and middle styluses in your photo); I wonder if that's by design.

The one on the right, apart from being stubby, looks centred. However, I think that's because the third-party company potentially use the same cantilever and diamond across a range of different stylus bodies

[woody]

I've been messing around with a G800 as well, i bought a replacement stylus for it and it sounds dreadful, fuzzy and makes all my 45s sound in real bad condition  I also got a 78 stylus for it and its the opposite
it also seems to have a noticeably lower output than most of my other MM and yet it’s output is supposed to be 5mV so I bought another cartridge to try incase it was faulty , supposedly these carts were used by the BBC

[chas b]

It's often said that MMs have the advantage of simple stylus replacement. But looking at your examples they are so different that resetting alignment would be a requirement. Very interesting and thanks for posting.

[analogadikt]

The G800 is MI , not MM . The magnet is fixed in the overhang of the cartridge body above the stylus. If some aftermarket stylus manufacturer put in a ferrous piece that is not strong enough to pick up the magnetic field , the output shall be weak . I have one such stylus.

Regards,

Anwesh

[woody]

That explains that then thanks , ordered a NOS original stylus see what that’s like

[damiena]

It's often said that MMs have the advantage of simple stylus replacement. But looking at your examples they are so different that resetting alignment would be a requirement. Very interesting and thanks for posting.

I thought that - looking at my styli, surely the SRA and VTA would be different if the cartridge/tonearm were not adjusted?

[damiena]

The G800 is MI , not MM . The magnet is fixed in the overhang of the cartridge body above the stylus. If some aftermarket stylus manufacturer put in a ferrous piece that is not strong enough to pick up the magnetic field , the output shall be weak . I have one such stylus.

Regards,

Anwesh

Where or which part of the stylus is the ferrous piece Anwesh?

[chas b]

I thought that - looking at my styli, surely the SRA and VTA would be different if the cartridge/tonearm were not adjusted?

Thanks Damiena, that's the point I was trying to make. I had assumed that a replaceable stylus wether MM or MI would be a simple swap-out but your pictures suggest otherwise.

[analogadikt]

Where or which part of the stylus is the ferrous piece Anwesh?

Damien,
 It is on the section of the cantilever that goes inside the brass tube. A mm stylus has a tiny magnet there.

If you take a paper pin or needle and put it up the brass tube of a Shure stylus, and then hold the stylus with the tube pointing downward , the pin won't fall off but in case of a G800 or Stanton 681 or Pickering XV15 stylus it shall not hold.

Somewhat OT , but I remember that a few years ago , Dominic Harper of Northwest Analogue retipped a humble G800 with some high-end cantilever diamond combo and he reported that the results outdid some Grace or Supex that compared to.

Regards,

Anwesh

[damiena]

Interesting. I always presumed the iron or magnet was in (as in part of) the cartridge.

Every day is a school day 

[analogadikt]

Interesting. I always presumed the iron or magnet was in (as in part of) the cartridge.

Every day is a school day 

That is how MC cartridges are made. The magnets are fixed to the cartridge body.

Regards,

Anwesh

[woody]

Somewhat OT , but I remember that a few years ago , Dominic Harper of Northwest Analogue retipped a humble G800 with some high-end cantilever diamond combo and he reported that the results outdid some Grace or Supex that compared to.

  yeh and he charged a OT price for them if i remember right

[woody]

Id ordered an original NOS Goldring stylus and it plays fine with no issues its also very snug and tightly fitting





the aftermarket replacement sounded truly woeful and made my 45s sound worn out (which they aren't )





a lot of these aftermarket stylus are very cheap and nasty and heavens knows what damage there'll be doing to your records , had the same issue with a VMS20e replacement stylus

[analogadikt]

Id ordered an original NOS Goldring stylus and it plays fine with no issues its always very snug and tightly fitting

That is good news

For the sake of my curiosity, could you check if there is a magnet in the faulty stylus by sliding a paper pin in the brass tube? There shouldn't be , but some years ago I had read a post somewhere about that mistake being done in case of a aftermarket stylus .
Also, the stylus appears to be quite big , it is not for 78 by any chance?

Regards,

Anwesh