Results 1 to 25 of 130

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Aging Smartass
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Moore, SC
    Posts
    1,003
    The Stanton 881-S was a very good cartrdige, and over the years, improved models only got better and better. No original Stanton styli for it are available anywhere anymore, but the LP Gear generic stylus looks to be an OK alternative.

    The Stanton stylus shape was a "Stereohedron," which was the company's proprietary version of a Shibata-type design, and like the stylus tip in the LP Gear replacement, was sourced from Japan (as were most styli in American-made phono cartridges). The Shibata stylus was originally designed to play a certain type of 4-channel record (those labeled "CD-4") but, due to its extended groove contact, was beneficial in playing back regular stereo records, and also in reducing record wear. The LP Gear generic stylus is a Shibata, so that, at least, is a good thing.

    The other stylus from The Needle Doctor is a 78 rpm stylus that should never be used for playing back stereo LP's.

    Over time (even 25 years), there is nothing inside the cartridge body that wears out, or "ages" in any way. All of the moving parts are in the stylus assembly.

    You can certainly buy a new cartridge, but you may have to spend a good deal more than the $79.95 pricetag for the LP Gear replacement stylus to get one that sounds better than the 881-S.

    LP Gear has three other generic styli that will work in your 881-S: they are all for Pickering cartridges (the XSV-3000, 4000 and 5000). All three are priced the same (which really doesn't make much sense), and are a few dollars higher than the Stanton stylus. The 881-S, or at least the early versions of it, was exactly the same thing as the Pickering XSV-3000, which is why the styli are compatible. I'd be weary though of the generic Pickering stylus from Garage 'a Records (another supplier of replacement styli) as it doesn't have a Shibata-type stylus tip, and at least from the photo, has a rather thick cantilever.

    Insofar as my "credentials" for this posting, let me just state that I was a National Sales Manager for Pickering in the late 70's (when both the XSV-3000 and 881-S were introduced), and the VP of Sales and Marketing for Stanton throughout the 90's until the company was sold. I hope you find this information useful.

    I also checked stereoneedles.com, and found that the original styli for both the 881-S and Pickering XSV-3000 are no longer available. They do have styli (originals, too) for the XSV-4000 and 5000, but at preposterous prices. You'd be much better off with a new cartridge than paying those prices.
    Last edited by emaidel; 09-25-2008 at 05:13 AM.

  2. #2
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Posts
    727

    Thanks

    Quote Originally Posted by emaidel
    Insofar as my "credentials" for this posting, let me just state that I was a National Sales Manager for Pickering in the late 70's (when both the XSV-3000 and 881-S were introduced), and the VP of Sales and Marketing for Stanton throughout the 90's until the company was sold. I hope you find this information useful.
    .
    We may not agree on everything (who does?) but facts are facts. Glad you're on board here - your background certainly makes your input on these matters invaluable, let alone "useful".
    Form is out. Content makes its own form.
    -Sam Rivers

    The format doesn't matter. The music is all that matters.
    - Musicoverall

  3. #3
    Aging Smartass
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Moore, SC
    Posts
    1,003
    Quote Originally Posted by musicoverall
    We may not agree on everything (who does?) but facts are facts. Glad you're on board here - your background certainly makes your input on these matters invaluable, let alone "useful".

    Thank you. Stanton, and to a far greater degree, Pickering cartridges never achieved "audiophile" status, even though the TOTL models from each company (which were basically identical products, save the cosmetics and packaging) deserved such accolades.

    The problem lay in the companies' marketing and advertising. Since both Stanton, and to a far greater degree, PIckering sold to discounters (the nemesis of any high-end dealer), they were each often regarded as "undesirable." The mere mention of the word "discount" to many a high end dealer brought about noticeable convulsions, heart palpitations and outrage. The fact that, should such audiophile dealers have to match a discounter's price on either a Stanton or Pickering cartridge, he'd still more than double his money, didn't seem to make any difference.

    The advertising of each didn't help either. Walter Stanton (who owned both companies) and the cadre of "yes-men" he surrounded himself with, firmly believed that by informing anyone of just what makes a Stanton or Pickering cartridge "tick" was tantamount to giving away trade secrets. As a result, Pickering's advertising resorted to such fluff as , "Delivers 100% Music Power!" and "The Source of Perfection in Sound," instead of anything explaining why the cartridges worked as well as they did.

    Stanton was the cartridge of choice for FM stations, and as such became known as, "The Choice of the Professionals." Stanton developed a special stylus (shaped like a "W") to play the stamper too! But, since Stanton cartridges were discounted, audiophiles avoided them like the plague.

    And then there's the matter of the Pickering "Dustamatic" and Stanton "Longhair" brushes. Neither company ever recovered from the ridicule they received throughout the industry (mostly from competitors who, by virtue of the patents on the brushes didn't have them) regarding these brushes. As it turns out, the brushes did an excellent job of dynamically stabilizing the tonearm and reducing low frequency resonance - just as the DIscwasher "Disctracker" did, and Shure's "Dynamic Stabilizer" did. Many thought the brushes were supposed to clean dirty records, but they were never designed for that: the bristles are too large to penetrate a groove, and as such, rub along the record's surface creating a small static electricity charge which "vacuums" up the dust into the brush. By riding on the record's surface ahead of the stylus and lifting the dust up into the bristles of the brushes, the stylus then didn't grind this very same dirt into the record itself. By the time a booklet was produced to explain what the brushes did, and didn't do, it was too late.

    Strangely, today, many audiophiles boast of still using a Pickering XSV-3000, and with the brush in place too. And many of these have secretly told me that, while they always loved the cartridge, they never admitted to it, so as to avoid ridicule from other audio fans.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •