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Thread: Cartridge Offset On Tonearm? Stanton T60

  1. #1

    Cartridge Offset On Tonearm? Stanton T60

    First post. Thanks for reading. This pertains to setting up the cartridge on the T60 tone arm. Honestly, I'm pretty lost on how to know which way is right. I first had it on parallel with the headshell with a slight overhang. I then thought it was supposed to be flush with the headshell. However this made too much of a bite if that makes sense.

    So I continued looking. I printed off a cartridge setting template and attempted to use this hoping it would help. Long story short. It only lines up with one of the points. It's slightly off on the other.

    I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Any help on what I need to be doing is appreciated. It's a Stanton T60 turntable with an Audio Technica cartridge. I'm not privy to its exact model. Thanks for reading and offering some insight.

  2. #2
    Member steveryan's Avatar
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    It's usually not too critical where the cartridge sits within the headshell. It's more of a preference IMO. I would just set it in the middle and be done with it.

    Those cartridges usually have a tracking force between 1.5 grams and 2.5 grams. Just set it at 2.0 grams and you should be fine. If the needle is skipping around a lot when you backcue and what not, try adjusting the anti-skate to see if you can calm it down a bit. If that turntable has a height adjustment for the tonearm, set it so that the arm is level.

    That's about all you can do. If it's still skipping, that cartridge may not be good for DJ'ing. IMO, although Audio Technica makes some great high-end cartridges, they might not be the best option for DJ's.

    Something else to keep in mind is that if you are using Serato, it's not all that critical as to what cartridge you're using as long as it does not skip and jump around when you are touching the record. There's no real need to spend a few hundred dollars on Ortofon or similar cartridges. Remember, with Serato, the music is never actually traveling through the needle (Stylus). The music is coming from the sound source, and in the case with Serato, it's never the turntable. Those big, expensive cartridges will contribute nothing to your sound quality with Serato. I think a lot of DJ's make the mistake of spending lots of money on a cartridge thinking that their music will somehow sound better. With Serato, it never will.

  3. #3
    Thanks for your response. I do remember the track force. I believe it was 3 to 3.5g. The record does jump sometimes, but I was attributing that to the novice level. This turntable is pretty basic. There is no anti-skate as well as tone arm adjustment. I'm not using Serato at this point. I have the one turntable with a whack mixer (tho a new one is coming tomorrow).

    When you say set it in the middle, are you implying the tip of the headshell lined with the middle of the cart.?

    Thanks again.

  4. #4
    Member steveryan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HiMyNameIsCheese View Post
    Thanks for your response. I do remember the track force. I believe it was 3 to 3.5g. The record does jump sometimes, but I was attributing that to the novice level. This turntable is pretty basic. There is no anti-skate as well as tone arm adjustment. I'm not using Serato at this point. I have the one turntable with a whack mixer (tho a new one is coming tomorrow).

    When you say set it in the middle, are you implying the tip of the headshell lined with the middle of the cart.?

    Thanks again.
    The screws that go into the cartridge are in the center of the guides on the headshell. It really doesn't matter too much though. It's just preference. You can put em all the way forward or back or in the middle. Some guys even put them in on an angle but I'm not sure if that really does much of anything. If you're having issues with the needle jumping, you can try moving it to a different spot.

    You should be able to find your cartridge at this link or one very similar to it.

    http://www.audio-technica.com/cgi-bi...es.pl?lang=eng

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    Quote Originally Posted by HiMyNameIsCheese View Post
    Thanks for your response. I do remember the track force. I believe it was 3 to 3.5g. The record does jump sometimes, but I was attributing that to the novice level. This turntable is pretty basic. There is no anti-skate as well as tone arm adjustment. I'm not using Serato at this point. I have the one turntable with a whack mixer (tho a new one is coming tomorrow).

    When you say set it in the middle, are you implying the tip of the headshell lined with the middle of the cart.?

    Thanks again.
    I'm assuming you mean the needle is jumping and not the record?

    Does the needle jump while you are scratching/cueing? If that is the case it might be bad technique on your part, I also don't think any of the AudioTechnica needles are great for scratching to be honest.

    Are you sure you a setting the tracking force right? Remember to first adjust the counter weight so that tone arm is floating level, then set the counter weight to zero, then adjust to weight to 3 - 3.5.

    You might want to try out a needle from Ortofon or Shure, I don't think the AudioTechnicas are great for cueing and scratching.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by monkeystyle View Post
    I'm assuming you mean the needle is jumping and not the record?

    Does the needle jump while you are scratching/cueing? If that is the case it might be bad technique on your part, I also don't think any of the AudioTechnica needles are great for scratching to be honest.

    Are you sure you a setting the tracking force right? Remember to first adjust the counter weight so that tone arm is floating level, then set the counter weight to zero, then adjust to weight to 3 - 3.5.

    You might want to try out a needle from Ortofon or Shure, I don't think the AudioTechnicas are great for cueing and scratching.

    Haha! Yea, I meant the needle. I took steveryan's advice and just centered it. It's decently behaving...for now. I was just thinking of maybe just upgrading to a more serious turntable. Any recommendations on some turntables? I'm open to used or new. No more than $300. Thanks for your time.

  7. #7
    Member steveryan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HiMyNameIsCheese View Post
    Haha! Yea, I meant the needle. I took steveryan's advice and just centered it. It's decently behaving...for now. I was just thinking of maybe just upgrading to a more serious turntable. Any recommendations on some turntables? I'm open to used or new. No more than $300. Thanks for your time.
    If that's your price range, I'd look into some Pioneer PLX-500's. If Technics 1200's were out of the budget, I'd probably consider the Pioneer.

  8. #8
    Cool. Thanks. I checked into the Pioneer tables. It seems some people had some problems with the motors just dying out. What about the Audio-Technica AT-LP120?

  9. #9
    I bought the Audio-Technica AT-LP120.

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    Quote Originally Posted by HiMyNameIsCheese View Post
    Cool. Thanks. I checked into the Pioneer tables. It seems some people had some problems with the motors just dying out. What about the Audio-Technica AT-LP120?
    They have the pioneers at venue i often play, and after one year in the club and little use, they are already trash. I would avoid pioneers.

    Try and find a Technics 1200 mk2 (my personal favorite) or another Technics dj turntable, second hand.

    Otherwise check brands like Stanton or Reloop, or another "Super OEM" as they are called.

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