Vintage Dual 1228 Turntable : worth to upgrade cartridge ?

 I must have 6 Duals,I ran a 1229 and a 1219 for years,my last cartridge upgrade years ago was a Goldring 1042 or 1022.A couple years ago I installed my Signet AM50 on my Dual and it sounded very poor compared to on my secondary P+E table let alone my Rega.I would plan on replacing the Dual or staying in low price cartridge range.Spare headshells are the way to go,I have about 5 for the P+E and the old Shure V15 sounds good.Duals were good in their day but just can't produce soundfield.

 I have the Dual alignment gauge.Norman I'm glad you find your 1229 to your liking.I tried mats,total contact cleanings,many cartridges on mine,the alignment tool to no avail.I have the ability to finely adjust the VTA on my Rega and P+E 2040 which makes a huge difference.I tried it on my Dual but it is basically up or down for a stack of records.I do like the Duals build quality though,I still have my original 1019 and owners manual I bought in the 1960's.

 Norman,
Thanks for your input.I gave my 1229 away for parts as it was my fathers table and the auto jammed and he broke the arm and bearings forcing it to move.I have 2  1219's, 3 1019's,  4 P+E 2040's,2 for parts only.I run a Fulton kinetic barrier mat from the 70's which out performs others I have tried.
  What do you think of 1219's?I am thinking of sending my other good P+E in for a go over,just needs some minor work,I bought it over 20 years ago,then a beautiful restored one came up 2 years ago close here and I snapped it up.
 I like your idea of the 1229 Dual mods and doing the same with one of my P+E's.I was shocked when I pulled my P+E out after sitting for close 20 years thinking it was a mediocre table.
 You gave me food for thought and will look into modding one of my P+E's,one of which I think has a bad arm.The build quality is incredible.
 I will have to be on the lookout now for but yet another 1229 when up for sale.I have 2 Technic's,I forget just saw a Dual 1226 I have and a Rotel on the econo rack,crazy,oh and my Rega.

 One other thing I did with my Dual and P+E was to clean all the headshell leads with aa toothpick and the tonearm contacts up in the arm first with Deoxit red and again the second time with Deoxit Gold contact conditioner.I used a toothpick to clean the clip leads that go into the cartridge and treat with Gold.I even took the stylus out of one of my cartridges and did the tube that goes into the body.I heard a difference as well as my entire system which I tuneup every few months with the Gold.

Norman,I just a few weeks ago got a Dual 1219 at local auction with original box,all packing,foam,even alignment tool still in box.I just got it working properly.What an incredible find,like going back 50 years ago buying new in box.
I also did some listening on my P+E2040 last night with some startling simple tweeks.I ran my Fulton Kinetic barrier mat and experimented with brass weights on the deck,I put a cheap piece from audio advisor rubber vibration control under a brass balance weight in back by the arm.What an upgrade from so little money.Big increase in sound field height.Again a new found respect for my old P+E .