http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330115323348

The above link is to an auction (or, rather, "Buy It Now") that I won recently. It is for an ElectroVoice cartridge that comes with an LP and 78 needle. I purchased two of them. One is for my Super Silvertone Radio Recorder (1940 vintage), and the other is for something else. For the Silvertone I am only using the 78 side. With both channels of the stereo cartridge paralleled, surface noise is practically eliminated on many records. The tracking force is extremely small, so appropriate weights or springs must be utilized on the tone-arm (originally designed for set-screw steel needles). The cartridge is very neatly filled with a special acoustic gel.

I am thoroughly pleased with the audio quality. With phonograph records, I am not too worried about modifying the instrument (as far as the cartridge is concerned). Though I like the looks of the old cartridges, they are terrible on records, and don't sound too good. With this cartridge, most needle chatter is eliminated. Some really poor quality records I own sound almost crystal clear. The improvement is far better than a Zenith Cobra cartridge. The fidelity is superb, too. 78s have such vibrant and lifelike tones that I've never heard before (unless it was with a lot of surface noise). The needle shape is perfect for most of my records, too. I find that 78s are picky as far as needle shape and size is concerned. Not all 3 mil needles are equal. Sometimes I find myself picking and choosing for the needle that plays the most records perfectly. Well, here's one that does, and it tracks so light that it won't be wearing out anytime soon. Weights and springs were added to the underside of the tone arm, so they are not visible. The cartridge feeds a normal two stage amplifier with plenty of gain.

The secret to a stereo cartridge is that with both channels wired in parallel, vertical modulation cancels out, which is where the surface noise is. I purchased another stereo cartridge about a month ago, and it was stiff and very noisy. Not all stereo cartridges are equal (it also came with a rather sharp needle (marked 78) that eats my records readily). This ElectroVoice is very pleasing, though. It will thrill you, too. If you are into 1950s recordings (I'm not too much, though I have a few), you will enjoy how it handles their rather heavily modulated grooves. Most of them sound as good as LPs. They are noiseless, and the fidelity is out of this world.

Thomas

:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330115323348
:
:The above link is to an auction (or, rather, "Buy It Now") that I won recently. It is for an ElectroVoice cartridge that comes with an LP and 78 needle. I purchased two of them. One is for my Super Silvertone Radio Recorder (1940 vintage), and the other is for something else. For the Silvertone I am only using the 78 side. With both channels of the stereo cartridge paralleled, surface noise is practically eliminated on many records. The tracking force is extremely small, so appropriate weights or springs must be utilized on the tone-arm (originally designed for set-screw steel needles). The cartridge is very neatly filled with a special acoustic gel.
:
:I am thoroughly pleased with the audio quality. With phonograph records, I am not too worried about modifying the instrument (as far as the cartridge is concerned). Though I like the looks of the old cartridges, they are terrible on records, and don't sound too good. With this cartridge, most needle chatter is eliminated. Some really poor quality records I own sound almost crystal clear. The improvement is far better than a Zenith Cobra cartridge. The fidelity is superb, too. 78s have such vibrant and lifelike tones that I've never heard before (unless it was with a lot of surface noise). The needle shape is perfect for most of my records, too. I find that 78s are picky as far as needle shape and size is concerned. Not all 3 mil needles are equal. Sometimes I find myself picking and choosing for the needle that plays the most records perfectly. Well, here's one that does, and it tracks so light that it won't be wearing out anytime soon. Weights and springs were added to the underside of the tone arm, so they are not visible. The cartridge feeds a normal two stage amplifier with plenty of gain.
:
:The secret to a stereo cartridge is that with both channels wired in parallel, vertical modulation cancels out, which is where the surface noise is. I purchased another stereo cartridge about a month ago, and it was stiff and very noisy. Not all stereo cartridges are equal (it also came with a rather sharp needle (marked 78) that eats my records readily). This ElectroVoice is very pleasing, though. It will thrill you, too. If you are into 1950s recordings (I'm not too much, though I have a few), you will enjoy how it handles their rather heavily modulated grooves. Most of them sound as good as LPs. They are noiseless, and the fidelity is out of this world.

RCW
With the wires reversed on just one side, the old 'vertical' cut recordings can be played'

I have a switch on my 78 player that lets me change from L+R to L-R, enjoy the old 'Edison' recordings also.
:
:Thomas

::http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330115323348
::
::The above link is to an auction (or, rather, "Buy It Now") that I won recently. It is for an ElectroVoice cartridge that comes with an LP and 78 needle. I purchased two of them. One is for my Super Silvertone Radio Recorder (1940 vintage), and the other is for something else. For the Silvertone I am only using the 78 side. With both channels of the stereo cartridge paralleled, surface noise is practically eliminated on many records. The tracking force is extremely small, so appropriate weights or springs must be utilized on the tone-arm (originally designed for set-screw steel needles). The cartridge is very neatly filled with a special acoustic gel.
::
::I am thoroughly pleased with the audio quality. With phonograph records, I am not too worried about modifying the instrument (as far as the cartridge is concerned). Though I like the looks of the old cartridges, they are terrible on records, and don't sound too good. With this cartridge, most needle chatter is eliminated. Some really poor quality records I own sound almost crystal clear. The improvement is far better than a Zenith Cobra cartridge. The fidelity is superb, too. 78s have such vibrant and lifelike tones that I've never heard before (unless it was with a lot of surface noise). The needle shape is perfect for most of my records, too. I find that 78s are picky as far as needle shape and size is concerned. Not all 3 mil needles are equal. Sometimes I find myself picking and choosing for the needle that plays the most records perfectly. Well, here's one that does, and it tracks so light that it won't be wearing out anytime soon. Weights and springs were added to the underside of the tone arm, so they are not visible. The cartridge feeds a normal two stage amplifier with plenty of gain.
::
::The secret to a stereo cartridge is that with both channels wired in parallel, vertical modulation cancels out, which is where the surface noise is. I purchased another stereo cartridge about a month ago, and it was stiff and very noisy. Not all stereo cartridges are equal (it also came with a rather sharp needle (marked 78) that eats my records readily). This ElectroVoice is very pleasing, though. It will thrill you, too. If you are into 1950s recordings (I'm not too much, though I have a few), you will enjoy how it handles their rather heavily modulated grooves. Most of them sound as good as LPs. They are noiseless, and the fidelity is out of this world.
:
:RCW
:With the wires reversed on just one side, the old 'vertical' cut recordings can be played'
:
:I have a switch on my 78 player that lets me change from L+R to L-R, enjoy the old 'Edison' recordings also.
::
::Thomas

:::http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330115323348
:::
:::The above link is to an auction (or, rather, "Buy It Now") that I won recently. It is for an ElectroVoice cartridge that comes with an LP and 78 needle. I purchased two of them. One is for my Super Silvertone Radio Recorder (1940 vintage), and the other is for something else. For the Silvertone I am only using the 78 side. With both channels of the stereo cartridge paralleled, surface noise is practically eliminated on many records. The tracking force is extremely small, so appropriate weights or springs must be utilized on the tone-arm (originally designed for set-screw steel needles). The cartridge is very neatly filled with a special acoustic gel.
:::
:::I am thoroughly pleased with the audio quality. With phonograph records, I am not too worried about modifying the instrument (as far as the cartridge is concerned). Though I like the looks of the old cartridges, they are terrible on records, and don't sound too good. With this cartridge, most needle chatter is eliminated. Some really poor quality records I own sound almost crystal clear. The improvement is far better than a Zenith Cobra cartridge. The fidelity is superb, too. 78s have such vibrant and lifelike tones that I've never heard before (unless it was with a lot of surface noise). The needle shape is perfect for most of my records, too. I find that 78s are picky as far as needle shape and size is concerned. Not all 3 mil needles are equal. Sometimes I find myself picking and choosing for the needle that plays the most records perfectly. Well, here's one that does, and it tracks so light that it won't be wearing out anytime soon. Weights and springs were added to the underside of the tone arm, so they are not visible. The cartridge feeds a normal two stage amplifier with plenty of gain.
:::
:::The secret to a stereo cartridge is that with both channels wired in parallel, vertical modulation cancels out, which is where the surface noise is. I purchased another stereo cartridge about a month ago, and it was stiff and very noisy. Not all stereo cartridges are equal (it also came with a rather sharp needle (marked 78) that eats my records readily). This ElectroVoice is very pleasing, though. It will thrill you, too. If you are into 1950s recordings (I'm not too much, though I have a few), you will enjoy how it handles their rather heavily modulated grooves. Most of them sound as good as LPs. They are noiseless, and the fidelity is out of this world.
::
::RCW
::With the wires reversed on just one side, the old 'vertical' cut recordings can be played'
::
::I have a switch on my 78 player that lets me change from L+R to L-R, enjoy the old 'Edison' recordings also.
:::
:::Thomas
I have an old United Motors Service [Delco] R1242. Will this work on that record player????

The cartridge mounts with the fairly standard two screw arrangement, where the screws are spaced approximately 1/2 inch apart (from their centers). If you can fit the cartridge, and are able to decrease the tracking weight without ruining tracking (needle stays in groove), then it will work for you. You may need to use longer screws, like I did, and then lower the cartridge with washers. Otherwise it sits too far up in the tone arm. The tone arm should be well luricated. The signal wire should be as thin and as flexible as possible. If your unit originally used a thick wires, thin wires should be spliced to the thick wires, and the thick wire sshould not run above the swivel bushing (the splice should take place below the motor board). If thick wires are anywhere in the tone arm, they will increase the forces required for lateral tracking.

The cartridge is cheap enough that it's worth a try. It sounds beautiful (of course I've added some extras to the amplifier, like my own negative feedback circuit, and a special choice of resistors and capacitors for the cartridge input, so that undesirable peaks were removed...I did that a long time ago, but whatever I did sounds great with this cartridge).

Thomas

::::http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330115323348
:I have an old United Motors Service [Delco] R1242. Will this work on that record player????

Thomas ... So, NOW you tell us about the mods to your amp and tone arm. You had us all thinking we could slap this cartridge on a Silvertone special we bought for $5 at the last swap meet and be wowed by the soothing tones pouring from the 4.5 inch speaker. So goes the old saying - 'if it sounds too good to be true - it usually is'...

No. It will sound as good or better than an original cartridge. Its tonal response will be quite fine, and in any case, it will eliminate a lot of surface noise, and will be gentler to your records. My modifications simply corrected some of the peaks that develop in a pentode driven amplifier, as well as the original loudspeaker, which sounds quite nice, but still could use some improvement. I don't feel like reconing it, since the original cone is pristine, and moves well (not stiff). A couple of very small capacitors and resistors is an easier fix, and makes for remarkable results in any radio. Practically all of my radios contain my negative feedback circuit (two resistors and two capacitors). They all sound wonderful, and can all be converted back to original design in about 5 minutes each. To truly appreciate my negative feedback circuit, one must compare pentode output with triode output, and even triode output benefits from my circuit. The cartridge is not too good to be true, and will surprise you even if you leave your amplifier all original. I guarantee it (though I don't sell them, so don't expect refunds). As a matter of fact, I have a control in the back of my phonograph that allows me to adjust everything back to original specs (eliminate the negative feedback circuit), and though the audio gets a bit harsher (as it always did, and as all of these old amplifiers sound), the records still sound far better with the ElectroVoice cartridge than they would with an original style cartridge.

Thomas

My post was merely in jest - but you have peaked my interest... How about sharing your negative feedback circuit replete with diagrams and details...

A while back Peter showed me a site that allows one to draw diagrams. However, I lost the address. The negative feedback circuit is quite simple, though, and most amplifiers of the two stage variety are quite similar, so it is easily explained in word-form.

Disconnect the plate resistor of the 1st audio tube from B+ (leaving it connected to the tube's plate). Connect between the resistor and B+ a 50K resistor. The two resistors should now be in series. Where they join connect a .01 MFD capacitor. To the other end of the capacitor connect a resistor from 0 to 470K ohms (adjust value to suit your taste). Connect the other end of this resistor to the plate of the output tube. If you are working with a push-pull circuit, connect to the plate of the output tube that is directly driven by the 1st audio tube (not the tube that is driven by the phase inverter, or the tube that is on the out-of-phase side of the interstage transformer secondary (where transformers are used)....you will know by the sound you get, when you have everything connected properly in a transformer type circuit).

As for the 2nd capacitor (remember that I suggest two capacitors and two resistors), connect one end of a .001 to .002 MFD capacitor to the junction where the 1st audio plate resistor and the 50K resistor meet. Connect the other end of the capacitor to B-. Adjust the value from .001 to .002, and possibly .003, to suit your tastes.

The .01 MFD capacitor, in most amplifier circuits (it all depends on the circuit's impedance), tends to pass a lot more mid-range sound than bass sound. If you were to use a .05 to .1 MFD capacitor, the negative feedback circuit would cut out a lot of bass, too. The resistor in series with the .01 MFD capacitor limits how much treble the capacitor passes. The two form a sort of crude tuned circuit....a filter of sorts that passes middle tones most readily. In some radios I found that 470K worked well, and in others I found that nothing would really happen until smaller values were used (usually from 33K to 100K). I was never really happy with no resistor at all (0 ohms), though you can do it that way if you wish. With 0 ohms, though, you will cut out a lot of high frequency response and make the audio sound kind of muddy.

The purpose of the .001 to .002 MFD capacitor is to restore the extreme high-end. What that capacitor does is it bypasses negative feedback at the extreme high frequencies to B-, so that they do not make it to the 1st audio tube circuit. The capacitor 'freshens up' the audio.

You will be pleased. The audio should be fresher and easier to listen to, and shouldn't distort quite as much at higher volume levels. A slight amount of gain is lost, of course, with a negative feedback circuit.

There are some radios I own which I have not installed this circuit. They tend to have a certain tone that I like, or at least can live with. One in particular is my Zenith 5-G-500, which cuts out a lot of the treble, and leaves you with a very mellow audio with little treble distinction at all. Though it is by far not high fidelity, I used to listen to big band music through it a lot when such music was on the radio, and the sound of the radio brings back memories of stuff. It's a really cool radio. I got it as a Christmas present when I was in 7th grade.

There are other radios, though, that have certain harmonics and peaks that I can't live with for more than 30 minutes. In these radios a negative feedback circuit works wonders. One radio in particular to which I recently added the circuit is my Majestic 180. That thing was a real squaker, and I knew that it could sound better. Component values had to be altered slightly because the amplifier uses transformer coupling. If you use the circuit in a transformer coupled amplifier, you may have to alter the values somewhat, too. The radio sounds remarkable now, though.

Thomas

Also, for crystal phonograph cartridge inputs, you can alter the tone a bit, as I did with my phonograph a long time ago when it was still using a set-screw type cartridge. Normally a resistor is placed in series with the cartridge input. This reduces loading on the cartridge, since the cartridge is an extremely high impedance device. It also limits the harsh mid-range tones that a crystal cartridge produces so well. However, a resistor that really does justice to the mid-range, also severely limits the upper register, which you want with clean records. To compensate, choose a small value capacitor to bridge across the resistor, say around .001 MFD. Remember that paralleling capacitors increases capacity. You cannot parallel different capacitors to pass different frequency ranges. If you want to pass certain frequency ranges and eliminate others, you must have successive filters in series (resistor-capacitor combinations), as well as other elaborate arrangements. With just resistors and capacitors you can really taylor the audio to your needs, though if you really want to go wild, you should have a selector switch, since different recording companies used different recording curves. You'll find some Columbias to be sweet, and quite a few (especially Harry James) to be harsh. Victors are usually really clean, with a lot of bass, though not always. You can go nuts if you want to.

My simple modification was a 1 meg resistor with a .001 or .002 MFD capacitor paralleling it (I forgot). It seems to work well for most records. If the paralleling capacitor bridges too much high frequency across the resistor, you can also put a resistor in series with the capacitor. Also, my phonograph has a tone control in the in put circuit, prior to the volume control. It consists of a 2 meg potentiometer and a .002 MFD capacitor. The best audio is achieved, at least by my tastes, when the control is turned about 3/4 of the way down. It cuts out the harsh mid-range a lot, but leaves the high-end alone for the most part. Only during the last 1/4 of its rotation does it cut out the highs as well. If your phonograph doesn't have a tone control in the input circuit, this is where you can get elaborate with different filters. A certain resistor and capacitor in series wired ACROSS the input will filter out certain undesirable mid-range tones. If you want to filter out certain high-range tones, you are best using only a capacitor, and then choosing a really small value. Capacitors of small value in the 1st audio plate circuit also will cut out the extreme high notes. This is beneficial when worn records are played. When you have fresh records, though, it is best to leave the high frequencies alone, especially when you have late 40s Kostelanetz records to play (the Cole Porter album is phenomenal...fidelity is out of this world as far as 78s are concerned, and "All Through The Night" is a very deep and emotional piece....comparable with Bernard Herrmann or Leopold Stokowski's rendition of Claire de Lune).

Thomas