Cartridge change and interesting find

[hermitcrab]

My Astrosonic has been intermittent on one channel while playing vinyl... tap lightly on the cartridge and the channel would pop back in... seeing this is the original cart and about 55 year old , I guess it's lived it's life ... so I contacted Gary @VM and he sent me the Pfanstiehl 191D as a replacement ... the tone arm just needs a little massaging with a dremel to make it fit... but what I noticed is cart on left is the original, one in center is the one from Gary, the right is one I got off amazon for 10 bucks from Bampa... only difference I see from the 191 and bampa is the metal bar attached to the 191... so... does Pfanstiehl produce the cheapo bampa carts or does china produce the pfanstiehl carts?.. also you can see the original cart where it is splitting apart on the very side that is giving me problems .... anyway , I thought the similarities in the cartridges was interesting.. what would stop a fella from just JB weld a small metal bracket onto the bampa cart and voila a cheapo 191D replacement..
Elton

[electra225]

Perhaps Gary could give you some insight on your inquiry. My guess is that the Pfanstiel and the Chinese cartridge may be built similarly styled but not by the same manufacturer.

[hermitcrab]

As some may recall, on the other site VHF I complained about my astrosonic imperial had lousy highs ... most commented it is usually the opposite on magnavox's to have low bass ... well I changed the cartridge, but not with the one shown... I don't know how most make that one work in the narrow arms, but no matter how much grinding I did the cart would not sit low enough to be screwed in ... unless I bent the metal bracket..which I didn't think was good idea , so long story short, I went with the tetrad 12 cart and glued it in... the difference was unbelievable... the highs I never heard before and the bass seems to be stronger as well , My go to record to test is Ravel's Bolero and it almost brought tears to my eyes at and the difference. I never realized how complacent your ears get to sounds you are used to hearing...lesson learned ...now I have albums stacked playing everything from hard rock to Billy Vaughn... total price of the conversion kit? 9 bucks from fleabay...

[William]

That is good news Elton! I have always wondered how much difference a cartridge makes, and it seems it makes a lot of difference. The problem I see, if the original is not available, which replacement does one need? It may be just a trial and error type of thing to figure that out.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

well I have read that carts will deteriorate after so long... but they do it so gradual that you really don't notice it...kinda like putting a frog in water then boil it... if my one channel was not acting up ... I would have never known...anyways the imperial sounds like a new machine , in fact I was working out in the yard , and took advantage of the 150 watt amp ...