Stanton 881s stylus replacement or a new cartridge?

[emaidel]

Speaking of old Stanton cartridges, one popped up on ebay I've not seen, only imagined it probably existed since there was a Pickering 4500Q CD-4 cartridge... a Stanton 780/4DQ. How rare are those? I suspect it's placement in the lineup would be similar to the Pickering 3000-Stanton 881? 780 like a "calibrated" 4500Q?

There was never a Stanton equivalent for the XUV/4500Q, which, in my opinion, was the best cartridge ever manufactured for the playback of CD-4 records. The Stanton 780 was more likely the Stanton equivalent of the earlier XUV/2400Q design, which frankly, was pretty horrible. Even Walter Stanton himself, in a rare statement of this type, stated the design was "a bad one." The early CD-4 cartridges from both companies tracked heavily (as did others from Audio Technica) and sounded simply awful.

The XUV/4500Q was a major departure from them, utilizing (for the first time) samarium cobalt as the magnetic material, and a super-thin cantilever. It was the first - and only - CD-4 cartridge capable of tracking at 1 gram. It had the misfortune to have been introduced almost simultaneously with the collapse of the quadraphonic market, but the XSV-3000 evolved as the stereo deriivative, employing a less drastic stylus deisgn, designated "Stereohedron" instead of "Quadrahedron," and it was an enormous sales success, morphing into the Stanton 881-S.

[Ed_in_Tx]

There was never a Stanton equivalent for the XUV/4500Q....

Hi Ed, much THANKS for the clarification. I can rest easy now, knowing there's nothing to be missed on this one.

[emaidel]

Hi Ed, much THANKS for the clarification. I can rest easy now, knowing there's nothing to be missed on this one.

You're welcome!

[von.ah]

So will the D81s work in the XUV cart? Will it work well? I'm just trying to find out all the reasonable options for stylus replacement. My 4500Q may be getting a bit long in the tooth, so to speak.

[whell]

So will the D81s work in the XUV cart? Will it work well? I'm just trying to find out all the reasonable options for stylus replacement. My 4500Q may be getting a bit long in the tooth, so to speak.

Yes, the D81S, if you can find one, will work in the XUV series.

[Jim Eck]

When it comes to information Ed (emaidel) is my hero! Over the years I have come to very much value his advice and opinions, thank you Sir.

Jim

[Ed_in_Tx]

Yes a D81S should physically fit and work in the XUV 4500Q body. I have each of those but have not tried that combination. With the 4500Q's lower inductance 290 mH and 600 Ohms DC resistance that's optomized for CD-4 100k Ohm 100pF loading compared to the 510 mH and 900 Ohm DC resistance of the 881S body, I think a D81S in a 4500Q body will have a peak in the high frequency response and sound bright with a conventional 200-300 pF and 47-50K load most phono preamps have. Unless you have adjustable cartridge loading. As I mentioned before I went the opposite way with a 4500Q stylus in a 881S body to smooth the overly bright high end.

[emaidel]

When it comes to information Ed (emaidel) is my hero! Over the years I have come to very much value his advice and opinions, thank you Sir.

Jim

Thanks very much!