matching your cartridge to your turntable

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MANY if not most turntables have aluminum platters, it’s not the material but the density and design that affects resonance.

One “matches” a cartridge to the TONEarm, not the TURNtable. There are sites that have calculators for figuring out if a particular cartridge will “match” a specific tonearm (Vinylengine dot com is one look under TOOLS).

I don’t know anything about your specific turntable, but you can also look those up at  that site or its sister site HiFiEngine dot com).

Happy Hunting.

My first decent system in the early 70’s was a Dual 1229 with a Shure V15 type 2 improved playing through a Marantz 2270, Soundcraftman 2012A & Rectilinear 3’s. I thought it sounded glorious. 
I have sold everything (the Marantz for a very nice profit) but still have my 1229.  The grease has coagulated & my local dealer refuses to service it as they don’t believe any service will last. It sits an a shelf as a reminder of my past. 
Sorry but, I would recommend you upgrade your TT, perhaps to a Rega P3 or equivalent. I had the 2M bronze before upgrading to my current Hana ML. It is a nice cartridge. Potentially worth a try & you can always upgrade your TT if it doesn’t work. Best of luck. 

Fix My Dual in Iowa is a resource for 1229's needing a tune up.  Great people.

Audio Technica has a pretty vast selection of good, yet affordable cartridges. OR, you can replace the stylus on your Shure.  I have a V15 collection, and replacing the stylus would be my first choice.

Nice vintage system! 1229s were great tables. I was never a fan of Shures, but still nice! I second fixmydual.com suggestion. IMO the Reg would NOT be an upgrade.

I had Monitor 10s for years.Great speakers of that era!

normb

194 posts Thanks for the info,I will check it out.

signaforce

310 posts Yes,I guess I see the writing on the wall.This is probably not going to work in the long run.I think I will just put in a inexpensive cartridge and call it a day.I really want a better cartridge so I will start looking at better turntables

Thanks.

secretguy

1,796 posts

I think I used that service 15 years ago.I found it on eBay.

I was driving my truck over the road and met him at a truck stop near Des Moines IA.

I guess not using it much has caused it to get all gummed up again.

We'll see how it works when I get it back this time.

Thanks

puptent

228 posts

I will have to see if I still have the V15,it has a V12 in there now,which to me didn't sound that good when I got it.Maybe it was used,can't remember.

They are servicing it for me,but it was speeding up on start which I have fixed by cleaning the sleeve on the motor shaft before.

The problem is I can't see very good anymore since catarac surgery.

we'll see.

Thanks.

Depending on the lenses you had inserted, you are most likely optimised for distance vision. Some drugstore reading glasses might make fitting cartridges much easier.

dogberry

757 posts

I have reading glasses.

I have developed quite a few floaters in both eyes.

I don’t mind the ones that look like little black specs,it’s the big greasy ones that cover a good portion of your vision when focusing in on a small object.

The only option they offer is a vitrectomy,which is sucking the vitreous fluid out of one side of your eye while pushing a clear fluid in the other side.

No thanks,I’ll just deal with the floaters.

Well I went browsing for a replacement TT and ended up buying a Rega P6.

It should be a improvement over a 50 year old Dual,yes?

The cartridge, tonearm, turntable work together to get the micro vibrations from the vinyl groove.  Tonearms+cartridge act together, so better tonearms perform better sonically.  The turntable platter material and thickness also matters, along with controlling/minimizing motor noise.

So I agree that the OPs older table would greatly hamper sonics of better cartridges.  Get an inexpensive cartridge or get a better cartridge along with a turntable upgrade.  Some turntables are offered as a turntable+cartridge combo to save money like Rega and MoFi.  

No thanks,I’ll just deal with the floaters.

Poor diagnoses result from insufficient information. Sorry.

Twangy,

If your 1229 is running well, it shouldn't matter to you that someone else's isn't.  The repair tech you went to is entitled to their opinion, but doesn't seem to be well up on his HiFi history or core competencies.  The 1229 is a TOTL early 70s Dual and has a heavy idler driven die-cast aluminum platter, sprung motorboard suspension, low friction, low mass tonearm, and is very capable of providing a good vinyl playback experience.  Among current cartridges, I would go with an Ortofon 2M Blue or Audio Technica VM30EN, both nude ellipticals around $200.00.

Or...if your Shure V-15 only needs a stylus, get one from Jico, a VN35E Nude...https://www.jico-stylus.com/product/vn-35e-nude/

Is your signal to noise ratio higher than 50%? (it is) Then there’s potentially a better rendition to be had with a better cartridge. Anyways, $100 is an odd line to draw here - even the modest Fluance tables are worthy of more-than-$100 cart, and show its worth clearly. A lightweight arm should be fine for use with most MM / MI cartridges. 

Grados have somewhat a reputation for picking up motor EMI - just be aware of that. Hagerman makes a little "humbucker" device which may or may not fit on your table (he designed it for using Grados on Regas). Other than that caveat, your choices of cartridges seem fine!

kennyc

1,788 posts

Yes,this one has a has a Rega exact 2,which from what I've read is said to be warm and a little mid range heavy.

I guess we will see.

mulveling

2,138 posts

I really want something that I can upgrade later on.so I just bought the Rega 6.

Thanks for the info.I guess I will keep the Dual for those old wore out records.

dynacohum

682 posts

Yes.thats how I felt but I ended up getting a Rega and will try something else in the Dual.

I will see about  the ortofon as that was the brand I was leaning towards.

Op, I think the P6 is a very nice choice. 
@secretguy Thanks… when we were young! 
I will check out fix my Dual. I used to live in Des Moines… would have been much easier. 

And why is Audiogon suddenly putting post numbers under our usernames when quoted with an @ sign?

Yes…. What are those numbers for?
 

All a bit odd and meaningless. If that member has more posts under their belt is no indication that said poster offers up any more credibility than a contributor with a low mark.