budget cart for Technics SL-1300?

I've decided to bring down the old SL-1300 from the attic to see if I can awaken my interest in vinyl. Don't want to spend a lot of money on a new cart only to find out that "the juice ain't worth the squeezing".

Would welcome suggestions under $100.

For a second there I thought I was at audiokarma. ;)

But anyway...Some good options at or below $100 are the Audio Technica AT95E/AT95HE, Ortofon 2M Red, Shure M97XE, Nagaoka MP-11/MP-110.

Poultrygeist, if you don't have one get some kind of device to clean your vinyl. It makes a big difference even on vinyl you think is clean.

G.E.M. Dandy: .$149 I've got one. In some ways it's better than my Record Doctor (Nitty Gritty clone)

Spin Clean: $125 Don't have one but have heard very good things about it. The price includes everything including spare rollers.

KAB EV-1: $159 A Nitty Gritty clone. You supply the vacuum with you own vacuum cleaner.

Glad to hear you're giving vinyl another try.

Thanks. The Sure M97xE looks to be a pretty good deal at $55 on Amazon. Had an M95 back in the day and as I recall it was a good entry level cart.

As for cleaning all I've got is an ancient Disc Washer system. Probably no one remembers them but it's a cleaning roller, disc washer fluid that fits inside the roller, Zero-stat gun, stylus cleaner, tiny stylus magnification mirror, Zero-stat testing bulb and micro screw driver. The set is all wood with it's own dust cover. I'd be shocked if there isn't lots of better cleaning devices out there.

The thing that made me give up on vinyl was all that cleaning and the added frustration of dealing with static electricity.

I still have a ton of classic albums and a number of direct-to-disc recordings including a few rare LP's recorded in 45rpm which were hyped as being superior to 33 1/3. I once had a T-shirt from the 70's that read "Nautilus Direct-to-Disc Records for Higher Highs and Tighter Bottoms". :biggrin5:

I sort of enjoy the cleaning. I certainly go much stronger than a Discwasher. I use a mini shop-vac on mine. If the cleaning and static are frustrating to you, you might still not like the vinyl experience, but it's good to see you're going to give it a whirl.

That's a pretty good TT to be bringing out of mothballs. I am currently using a Pickering XV-15 with with mine but did pick up one of those Shure cartridges off of Amazon as a back up or to use with another TT. Nice piece with some instructions on how to properly set your cartridge up.

I would say if you enjoy dynamics with a forward sound, 2M Red. If you enjoy a more laid back, mid-centric sound, M97xe. Nagaoka is great for detail across the range, but not forward at all, very good for long sessions.

Glad you're getting back into it...

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Originally Posted by Poultrygeist

Thanks. The Sure M97xE looks to be a pretty good deal at $55 on Amazon. Had an M95 back in the day and as I recall it was a good entry level cart.

As for cleaning all I've got is an ancient Disc Washer system. Probably no one remembers them but it's a cleaning roller, disc washer fluid that fits inside the roller, Zero-stat gun, stylus cleaner, tiny stylus magnification mirror, Zero-stat testing bulb and micro screw driver. The set is all wood with it's own dust cover. I'd be shocked if there isn't lots of better cleaning devices out there.

The thing that made me give up on vinyl was all that cleaning and the added frustration of dealing with static electricity.

I still have a ton of classic albums and a number of direct-to-disc recordings including a few rare LP's recorded in 45rpm which were hyped as being superior to 33 1/3. I once had a T-shirt from the 70's that read "Nautilus Direct-to-Disc Records for Higher Highs and Tighter Bottoms". :biggrin5:

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I have one of those setups with the dust cover. On mine the wood base has an oval hole for the bottle, a hole for a spare headshell, one for the Disc Washer brush, one for the brush that's supposed to clean the big brush and one for a screwdriver(?). My Zerostat is white. I've also got a Disc Washer D'Stat mat..

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Originally Posted by Poultrygeist

I've decided to bring down the old SL-1300 from the attic to see if I can awaken my interest in vinyl. Don't want to spend a lot of money on a new cart only to find out that "the juice ain't worth the squeezing".

Would welcome suggestions under $100.

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What cartridge do you have? Maybe all you need is a new stylus.

I just put a new Jico D6800EEE-S Shibata Stylus on my 32 year old Stanton 681EEE cartridge. It sounds great. :14:

I believe I've got an old Stanton 681EEE mounted on a second Technics head shell around here somewhere. As I recall it has a little brush on it that when lowered caused it to track too lightly. There's oxidation on the the wire connectors which I'll spray with contact cleaner. Is it safe to spray the cart as well? This stuff has been in storage for years so I plan to get a new cart. Has the technology with carts changed since the late 70's and early 80's?

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Originally Posted by Poultrygeist

Has the technology with carts changed since the late 70's and early 80's?

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YES!!! In fact cartridge tech has probably made the most improvement in all of audio. This is debatable, but the bottom line is that cartridges have come a long way.

BTW would anyone know where I can find a copy of the owner's manual for the SL-1300? I can't remember how to set this thing up. I did find my Sure stylus gauge and the over hang thingy but dang if I recall all the steps and how to use this stuff. I look forward to again watching that little strobe shine on those platter dots. Very hypnotic.

The Vinyl Engine site has the manuals:

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/t.../sl-1300.shtml

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Poultrygeist

I believe I've got an old Stanton 681EEE mounted on a second Technics head shell around here somewhere. As I recall it has a little brush on it that when lowered caused it to track too lightly. There's oxidation on the the wire connectors which I'll spray with contact cleaner. Is it safe to spray the cart as well? This stuff has been in storage for years so I plan to get a new cart. Has the technology with carts changed since the late 70's and early 80's?

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I take the brush off my 681EEE stylus; it just snaps off. If you leave the brush on, you should increase the tracking force to 2 grams for a resulting tracking force of 1 gram.