Replacement stylus for Stanton 681 and 881S

[James Frace]

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and am looking for a recommendation. I own a few Stanton cartridges and 2 are in need of replacement stylus. I know there are several different brands I can go with but am looking to see if a few of the pros here can steer me a little better. I know Jico and LP Gear have replacements as well as EVG, but it looks as though the 1st 2 have better stylus options with being able to upgrade to the shibata. OEM are way to expensive.

I also know Jico only has a 14 day return policy on bad equipment. I've had several of their stylus on my Ortofon VMS30E MKII, a prior 681EEE with the D6800EEE Shibata which sounded good but at times a little muddled, Shure V-15III with the SAS stylus, and the Pickering XV-15 with the D-4500 Shibata.

I guess my question is will LP Gear be the better choice or are they basically the same? How close are they to the original in SQ? And on my one 881S, the D81 stylus shaft is broken in half. Should I just try and get the stylus retipped?

Thanks for any help,

Jim