{"id":1322,"date":"2020-02-16T21:46:53","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T21:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1322"},"modified":"2020-03-25T07:25:51","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T07:25:51","slug":"retire-my-goldring-e3-catridge-for-audio-technica-vm-95en","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/retire-my-goldring-e3-catridge-for-audio-technica-vm-95en\/","title":{"rendered":"Retire my Goldring E3 catridge for Audio-Technica VM-95EN"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve really enjoyed my Goldring E3 Cartridge for the last couple of years, but all good things come to an end. Time to embrace a new cartridge.<\/p>\n

\"Goldring
Goldring E3 vs VM-95EN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I replaced my aging Goldring 1006 cartridge with an E3 back in September 2017 I had absolutely no idea how much play the 1006 had on it’s stylus. I didn’t want to be in the same position with the E3,\u00a0 so I have a tally counter<\/a> next to my turntable. It has clocked up 1025 sides, or about 340 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Goldring
Goldring E3 tally counter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The corresponding chart from my rather OCD spreadsheet shows that my use has been pretty steady. I play vinyl for about 150 hours a year, or about 3 hours a week.<\/p>\n

\"E3
E3 Needle hours<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Opinions vary as to when to change your stylus. 340 hours is probably a little low. Goldring are tight lipped about the issue. Audio-Technica claim 500 hours for a conical and just 300 for an elliptical.<\/p>\n

\"E3
E3 and VM-95EN underside<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though not officially acknowledged, it’s generally accepted that the E3 is an Audio-Technica with Audio-Technica crossed out and Goldring written in in crayon. Oh and they put a silly oversized case around the cartridge and stylus to give it a Goldring look. Looking at the under side of both next to each other provides pretty damning evidence. So, if we assume that the E3 is an elliptical stylus Audio-Technica, there is a compelling case to consider replacement at 300 hours.<\/p>\n

We must also consider that manufacturers walk a line between advising early replacement to ensure safety of your records and projecting a quality robust product. Getting this wrong one way or the other is not great marketing. I’m going to err on the safe side. I’m also factoring in the facts that I just fancy a change, and I find the E3 ugly and difficult to see when cuing. The E3 will go into a box and may be resurrected on another turntable.<\/p>\n

\"AT
AT VM-95EN instructions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have a second headshell for my dual 505 turntable so I can crack on with installation before removing the E3. Clear instructions show how to mount and wire up the new cartridge<\/p>\n

\"AT
AT VM-95EN on headshell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I cover installation and set up of this cartridge in detail elsewhere.<\/a> Suffice to say it was straightforward.<\/p>\n

\"ATVM-95EN
ATVM-95EN Specification<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T1he specification calls for a tracking force of 2g. I explain elsewhere the pro’s and con’s of tracking force adjustment.<\/a> Suffice to say I\u00a0 am happy with the reading of 2.07 g achieved.<\/p>\n

\"Setting
Setting tracking force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I will fine tune the setup later, using a Test record and appropriate templates. It’s certainly good to go for now.<\/p>\n

\"Carley
Carly Simon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I suspect that this album just might have been marketed with an eye to exploiting the sex angle? Anyway, it’s a fine album and well produced. That’s my excuse for choosing it as the inaugural play for the AT VM-95EN.<\/p>\n

\"Tally
Tally counter..<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I played Carly, then Fleetwood Mac Rumours. That’s the first four sides tallied up on the new counter. Mechanical version this time.<\/p>\n

\"AT
AT VM-95EN in use<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This cartridge is a similar specification to the E3 which it replaces. First impression is that it sounds quite a lot clearer. It certainly looks better as well, despite the gaudy colour. It’s easier to see what you’re doing when cuing up. A very satisfactory upgrade .<\/p>\n

Update:<\/em>
\nAfter a few weeks of use, and playing a lot of records due to the Covid-19 shutdown keeping me at home, I love this cartridge. I’m picking up lots of detail which was previously missing. This is even the case on records which I know very well, like ELO Out of the blue and Led Zep IV.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve really enjoyed my Goldring E3 Cartridge for the last couple of years, but all good things come to an end. Time to embrace a new cartridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,17,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-paraphernalia","category-turntable","category-vinyl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1322"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1393,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1322\/revisions\/1393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}