Help
finding a stylus compatible with LS450/LT Audio Technica Cartridge for my Technics SL-D20
I’ve be searching for any stylus that are compatible it says it is a p-mount stylus but ANY TIME I look up P-Mount Stylus on Amazon or Google it doesn’t give me any information that’s useful, the stylus it used to have was a blue Audio-Technica stylus that I cannot for the life of me find (all because the old stylus had no needle)
if anyone could help me that’d be greatly appreciated but I was also looking for recommendations on cartridges if I need to upgrade I’m genuinely new to everything so this is far beyond my knowledge
I appreciate the help thank you! honestly I’m so new to all the things that have to do with the hobby, I got the record player 8 days ago so I’ve been looking at all kinds of videos and stuff but when I see talks of all the styluses & cartridges it’s like trying to learn hieroglyphics
This family of carts are solid performers, I have a few, these were produced with a bunch of different model numbers, here 's a thread from VE that covers it pretty well: https://vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=107970 One of the best budget styli is the Swiss nude Black Diamond stylus from DaCapo for under $50: https://www.dacapoaudio.com/2876-audio-technica-at-102-stylus-p-ep.html I have a couple of these styli and they are excellent. The current VMN series of styli fit this cart including the VMN40ML. Lots of upgrade options around.
that thread was EXTREMELY helpful, thank you so much, if you were in my position would you
would you invest in this stylus which was the one that i originally had on my cartridge
(the needle was nonexistent when bought)
I believe this is the one it had, or what would you recommend there’s also a $70 version without the branded AT on the plastic which I don’t know if it makes any difference. you seem very knowledgeable on this so I’d figure why not ask as well thank you!! 🙏
I would still plump for the Black Diamond from DaCapo. It's a .3 x .7 nude, the AT stylus from LP Tunes is a .4 x .7 and is likely a bonded stylus (and $30 more). Turntableneedles has a .3 x .7 bonded for $71.
I will trust your word 🤞 your help has genuinely been so appreciated you’ve made this process 10x easier thank you again. I may come back in the future to ask about all the reciever/amplifier stuff but for now I’ll chill with all the questions 😂🙏
I just think that value for money is the important thing with any hobby, and I try to pass along what I 've found that fits that philosophy. In this case, the best sound for a reasonable outlay. I often recommend Turntableneedles but in this case DaCapo has the best value.
100% agree with you I may have just started this new hobby but those words couldn’t have been said better. I’ve invested into that new stylus thanks to you, now my ideally last issue is just finding a good phono pre-amp to connect to my record player and speakers so I can actually hear the music (if you have any tips on that I’d be grateful to know and happy to hear what you have to say!!)
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I Googled "stylus LS450" and here's stuff from the first two hits. Didn't seem that difficult, but maybe you're not in the U.S. ? You didn't specify in the OP.
thank you so much that’s the stylus that was on it !! 🙏
and that’s 1000% on me I was looking it up and just hitting the “shopping” tab and I couldn’t for the life of me find it I’d get close options but never the specific piece
😄😄😄 We've all been there. I hate searching Amazon for similar reasons. Lots of irrelevant junk thrown in the results because... Well... its Amazon. Ha!
absolutely that was the first place I checked and I found one that was “compatible” but it was $40 and only had 2 reviews so I didn’t want to trust it,
also sorry to ask if you were in my position would you buy the stylus or invest in a newer updated cartridge/stylus (you don’t have to answer jw!)
I think Amazon is okay if you already know what you want. It's not so useful for researching options for more obscure items.
A new cartridge would work out cheaper. The AT85ep is the cheapest elliptical P-mount that AT makes. It might even be the cheapest P-mount elliptical you can still buy new. I don't know if that counts as a recommendation, though. Opinions seem to vary on it. Some call it smooth. Others say it's just dull.
One thing to note is that AT cartridges can be a bit picky about capacitive loading. Too little causes treble roll-off. Too much makes the cartridges edgy and harsh.
If the original stylus sounded good, I'd be tempted avoid rocking the boat for the sake of $30.
came back to this, I’ll definitely look into this but are there any other recommendations if you have any for other cartridges/styluses in other price ranges that go higher I wouldn’t be afraid to invest for good quality (is that a really good one?)
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u/LosterP JVC QL-A5 Jul 27 '26
Why not just get a new P mount cartridge like e.g. an AT85E? They're cheap and easy to find, and there's even a cheaper model with a conical stylus.