Newbe Dual cartradge

[royphil345]

The Grado cartridges tend to pick up hum and noise. Probably not a good choice for a table with so much steel around the motor / tonearm. The styli also have some black goop on them to improve the fit into the cartridge body. Makes changing the stylus for 78 use harder and the fit may get worse over time.

I would say the tonearm is more medium mass than light. Although, probably considered light in it's day. It's straight, but there are a few chunky parts on it. Just about any moving magnet cartridge you choose should work well. They're all on the high compliance side. How much you want to spend will have alot to do with your choice. Best cartridges I know of with 78 styli available are:

The Ortofon OM 5E would be a good choice in the lower price range. $45.00 and another $45.00 for a 78 stylus. A little more for an OM 10 Super and worth it. http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-S...fon-Cartridges The OM 10 Super could be upgraded to a an OM 20 Super in the future with a stylus change. The OM 20 Super is said to be a very accurate, smooth-sounding, and well-liked cartridge. I keep meaning to try one, but haven't. Would run close to $200.00 for the cart and 78 stylus.

I'm not listing the Stanton cartridges, while 78 styli are available, because the 78 styli are expensive and I think the Ortofon sound better for the money.

The Shure M97xE is another possibility in the middle price-range. I would probably place performance somewhere in between the Ortofon OM 10 and OM 20. The 78 styli are only $40.00 You can sometimes find the cartridge discounted closer to $70.00 from some web and eBay sellers. http://www.needledoctor.com/Shure-M9...2&category=380

Good luck with your 1219. Nice old table!!!


EDIT:

I see that LP Gear offers a 78 stylus ($25.00) for the AT95E which is a very inexpensive but good sounding cartridge. Although, the 78 stylus is not made by Audio Technica. http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merc...ct_Code=ATC95E

The cartridge itself is $10.00 cheaper at Garage 'A Records, but they do not carry the 78 stylus. I think they have the Ortofon 78 stylus for a little less as well. Not sure if you could save money ordering the cartridge from Garage 'A Records and the 78 stylus from LP Gear with shipping included at both stores... http://www.garage-a-records.com/index.php

One good thing about the Audio Technica cartridges is the way the styli fit in... you wouldn't have to worry about the fit becoming looser with repeated stylus changes from normal to 78... I would choose the AT95E over something like the lowest Ortofon I mentioned (OM 5). A little less money too... I didn't mention Audio Technica because 78 styli are not usually available.

For the absolute best 78 performance, you'd want a separate mono 78 cartridge like the Shure M78 or something similar. Mono cartridges are made to not pick up any vertical information from the grooves. Less surface noise... The headshell on your Dual is not standard though. Figured you probably don't have an extra and that simply changing the stylus would be better for you.