This is a reply to an old post regarding cartridges for the Garrard SL 95B record changer. I hate to see emaidel crucified alone, so I decided to join him. Misery loves company.

I have 6 turntables, a fact that has prompted my teenage son to think I'm certifiable. I also had 4 oscilloscopes until I recently sold one of them. I like to collect old electronics equipment.

Two of those turntables - a BSR 810 and a Garrard SL 95B - are "record changers." Both claim to be "transcription" turntables, but that's stretching the truth.

I bought the SL 95B for my wife to play her old albums on. It has the nice wooden plinth with the lift-up wood and plexiglas cover, and it blows away the hideous, Chinese-made, plastic platter, belt-drive "turntable" that came in her TEAC GF-680 entertainment center. The GF-680 has decent sound, and she can play her tapes and CD's in it while she works in her home office. But the junky turntable, with its wow & flutter spec of 2.5% (yes, that's not a typo - 2.5 percent!!), will make your ears bleed. Thankfully, TEAC included AUX input jacks so one can plug in a decent turntable through a phono preamp. The Garrard seemed to fit the bill perfectly since she also likes to stack records.

I've stripped the Garrard down and lubricated everything, and it plays nicely, and cycles as it should. It came with a Shure M40 cartridge, and I found a SHURE NOS 6 mil conical stylus for it, which is perfect for casual use.

But after comparing it to the BSR 810, I think I'll sell the SL 95B on eBay, and give her the BSR 810. Emaidel is correct: The SL 95B tonearm is wobbly (and I've adjusted the gymbal), the platter is stamped steel like the cheaper Garrard changers, the muting switch is exposed, with open wire contacts, and the tonearm jerks around like it has Pharoah's shakes. Plus, the speed isn't even adjustable.

While not audiophile grade itself, the 810 is much better. The platter is a full 12-inch heavy casting, the mute switch is an enclosed type with relay-style contacts, the tonearm is MUCH more precise, and the automatic spindle does not require the records to be held by the edge. The tonearm movement is also somewhat jerky, but it's still much better than the SL 95B.

Both turntables suffer from hum, caused by their respective cartridge slides. I solved that in the 810 by running new shielded tonearm cable directly from the cartridge down to the mute switch, and then using the heavier twisted cable from the mute switch out to the RCA jacks. That eliminated the hum entirely, although it makes changing cartirdges a hassle. But the M91ed that came with the 810 is all that she needs.

Despite eBay's bad reputation, you're better off finding a good Pioneer, Merantz, Kenwood, or other classic turntable there instead of buying one of the "modern" atrocities. Just look at the seller's feedback, and be sure to ask questions before bidding. Cripes, the new $500 DJ-style belt-drive turntables by Stanton and others have plastic housings and brag about having wow & flutter of 0.1%. That's as bad as the 810 or the Garrard with their idler wheel rim drive systems. Those old 70's and 80's direct-drive tables were typically .025 or .03%. I would put my money into one of those.