Turntable Cartridges

Welcome to our website. Here you will find information about turntable cartridges and accessories, including pricing and which ones we find to be the best available (we review them too!). All of the major manufacturers will be here and all of the audiophile brands and models will be covered. In the search for the perfect sound, the cartridge is key.

What are the main parts of a turntable?

You have the deck, which is the main part of the phonograph. Then you have the tone arm which comes out of the deck and actually moves with the records. At the end of the tone arm is the cartridge, or stylus or needle as it is sometimes called. This is the part of the turntable that has direct contact with the record (vinyl) and produces the sound, which is transferred through the tonearm, which also determines how much weight is put on the record (an article about balancing and weighting will appear shortly on this site) and transfers the sound to the speakers.

Here is some basic information about turn table cartridges:

When choosing a catridge, you really need to consider your budget. If you’re going for an affordable model its really important to know how the different types of stylus work. There are:

Spherical – The cheapest type available and generally you’ll want to avoid these. The Stanton cartridges are a good example of these.

Eliptical diamond – These are quite acceptable and fine but smaller is better here, as the smaller the styli the better it’ll fit into the grooves of the record (accuracy of sound).

Linear Contact – Micro Line and other premium styli – These are extremely (sometimes) expensive but have the best sound and are most recommended for most audiophile quality record players.