Quote:
Originally Posted by Ekcoman
Have heard on this site that the repro version is a bit disappointing.
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I'm going to have to be brutally honest about these repro Ronette cartridges. I was nearly going to say they're total junk and should go straight in the nearest bin, but perhaps that's too 'brutal'. A few years ago I repaired a record player for someone and they also wanted a new stereo compatible cartridge fitting in place of an old Garrard GC8. They ordered and supplied the replacement cartridge for me to fit and it was one of these 105 copies. I didn't know how bad these were at the time and under the same circumstances now, I would never recommend anyone to buy or fit one. They may have the necessary technology to pick out the two channels and feed them to a stereo amplifier but they have the same lack of vertical compliance as the original mono only versions. On a heavily modulated test single it jumped on heavy bass and sounded worse than the old GC8 it replaced. You only have to look at the construction to note that the 'all-in-one' metal stylus arm is the same as the old mono version, so far as I can tell, anyway.
It all depends on how you value your records. It is a debatable subject as regards to exactly how much damage is done to a stereo record by playing it with a non-compatible cartridge, and how many times you'd have to play it with one before the damage would be audible on a basic standard recordplayer. A hi-fi enthusiast with a good quality system and finely tuned ears would probably be able to detect the damage after the record was played just the once with a non-compliant cartridge. The other point to note is that if you have a collection of records bought second hand from auctions and boot sales, then you wouldn't know what these records have previously been played on, and you may just accept the obvious crackle and distortion as just being an old worn record, rather than the fact it was played in the past on an old record player with a non-stereo compatible cartridge. It's really up to the individual, if you've got mint and valuable records, then these should really be played on a quality hi-fi system and NOT a standard recordplayer. If you've just got a stack of random well used and well played old records that you're not too worried about, then just get on and play them and enjoy them and don't worry too much about cartridges, compliance, and tracking weight etc. - the choice is yours at the end of the day.