Customer Reviews

Stanton Discmaster Phono Cartridge

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Ok, so you came across this cart and you're thinking it's just a DJ cart and the sound is not up to 'hi-fi' standards. Well, hold on... Let me school ya' about what a real professional cart is. Back in the days when radio used to rely on 45's and LP's for music, we used Stanton 500 cartridges in the studio. Only one wood describes the performance of a 500: solid. These carts sounded good, took abuse 24/7 and were the backbone of broadcasting for years. Fast forward a few decades and you'll still find the 500 in service all over the place. The Discmaster V3 is a integrated headshell design that closely mimics the performance of the 500 and since it requires no alignment if you have an 'S' shaped tonearm, there's little room for error in setup. No matter what brand of turntable you have, if it matches the tone arm geometry of the Technics SL1200, you're in business. So, this would include the Audio-Technica LP120, some of the vintage Radio Shack LAB turntables and the great line of classic Pioneer turntables from the 70's plus a slew of others.

Another thing, don't let the higher tracking force throw you. These carts are based on the old professional conical styli that you grew up hearing on your radio. The VTF range is wide, 2 to 5 grams, because the proper way to setup a cart with a conical stylus is to use a test record and jack it up until the mis-tracking distortion goes away. Once you're there, you'll hear very little sibilance and clarity that is hard to find from most modern hi-fi carts with elliptical styli tracking the standard 1.25 to 2 grams. Basically, a well aligned conical (they call it spherical now) stylus tracking at 4 grams and firmly planted in the groove is going to do far less damage then an elliptical that is rattling around and giving you all that splatter. Don't have a test record? No big deal... Just dial up 4 grams and you'll be fine.

The Discmaster V3 is one of the best kept secrets in the world of audio today... Set it up properly and you'll be amazed. This is what vinyl is capable of doing and what it did for years on the radio. If you really want to have the true essence of analog, pro is really the only way to go.

:) JC

I've had the Stanton Discmaster II's for 2 years. They are terrible for back cueing trying to find the beat of the other record. Low sound quality as well. Scratchy.... Not clear like a stylus of that calibre is supposed to be. Anyway, I bought Ortofon Concorde Pro's! WOW....WHAT A DIFFERENCE! THAT THING WILL TAKE A BEATING AND KEEP ON TICKING! CUEING IS PERFECT, SOUND QUALITY IS AMAZING, AND THEY OVERALL LOOK BETTER THAN THE STANTON'S! I hate to bash Stanton like this but trust me DJ'S out there.... This is the honest truth! Please... go with the ORTOFON'S!

DJ NICODEMUS
(SC)