{"id":1455,"date":"2020-05-07T07:15:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T06:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1455"},"modified":"2020-05-07T07:06:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T06:06:09","slug":"changing-a-tp4-p-mount-cartridge-for-an-at85ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/changing-a-tp4-p-mount-cartridge-for-an-at85ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing a TP4 \/ P-Mount Cartridge for an AT85EP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that my Technics direct drive turntable<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>it is permanently installed in a system it’s going to get regular use. The stylus has gaps in it’s known history, so I’m going to change it, just to be safe.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Existing
Existing P-Mount Cartridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is fitted with a P-Mount cartridge, which I’m also going to change.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In theory changing such a cartridge should be a 5 minute job. I’m going to take measurements as I go along, so it may take a little longer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Before starting let’s have a look at the setup.<\/p>\n

\"Original
Original settings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tracking pressure and anti skate are set to the factory defaults. All should be good. Now let’s have a closer look.<\/p>\n

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

Measured tracking force of just over 1.07 g. This is comfortably in specification, but perhaps a little low.<\/p>\n

\"Test
Test Record<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In order to test and set up anti skate force a test record is required. Here I use a Decca test record with an “Anti-skating band”<\/p>\n

\"Setting
Setting anti skate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The test record has a plain track for setting anti skate. The absence of grooves means that the arm will drift towards the centre or edge if anti skate is not set correctly.<\/p>\n

\"Anti-skate
Anti-skate setting dial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To get the arm to stay put I had to turn the anti skate setting right down. Something is not right here!<\/p>\n

\"epc-p33
epc-p33 Bent cantilever<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here is a close up of the stylus as originally fitted to the EPC-P33 cartridge. A bit bent methinks. That would nicely explain why the anti skate was off kilter. The last owner recon’s this must have happened during a house move, when the turntable wasn’t in regular use, so nobody noticed. To be fair, I used the turntable several times and didn’t notice anything greatly amiss.<\/p>\n

\"EPC-P33
EPC-P33 Cartridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I only had a sketchy history of my Technics direct drive turntable, so I decided to play safe and change the cartridge as well as the stylus. The cartridge is an EPC-P33, which is what would have been factory fitted to this PL QX200<\/a> turntable. I’ve been told that the stylus has been changed at some point. This makes sense, since it doesn’t look original but it does look to be in good condition, bet cantilever aside! New Stylus are available for about \u00a330.<\/p>\n

\"Audio
Audio Technica AT85EP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The replacement cartridge is an Audio-Technica AT85EP. At \u00a335 for an elliptical stylus in a cartridge this is excellent value, and only a few quid more than just a conical replacement to stylus to fit the ‘P33. I already have good experience of Audio Technica cartridges on my other turntables, and there is not an awful lot of choice for new P-Mount cartridges. This was therefore a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

\"New
New Cartridge fitted<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fitting the cartridge is just as simple as removing the single screw you see in this picture. The cartridge then just un-plugs and the replacement goes back in. Replace the screw to secure and you are done.<\/p>\n

\"Tracking
Tracking force measurement AT85EP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Using the electronic scales we see that tracking force is 1.3 grams. The spec says 1.0 to 1.5g, with 1.25g standard. This is about right then. Tracking on the slightly heavy side makes mis-tracking less likely and is good within spec.<\/p>\n

\"Anti
Anti Skate setting for AT85EP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back to the test record then, and re adjust the anti-skate force.<\/p>\n

\"Final
Final Settings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We can now see that with the arm settings lined up with the factory default settings all is good. This is indeed evidence that P-Mount cartridges are a simple plug and play replacement.<\/p>\n

The new cartridge is noticeably clearer. I also don’t need to worry about a dodgy stylus damaging my records. Well, not for another 300 hours anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now that my Technics direct drive turntable\u00a0it is permanently installed in a system it’s going to get regular use. The stylus has gaps in it’s known history, so I’m going to change it, just to be safe. It is fitted with a P-Mount cartridge, which I’m also going to change.\u00a0In theory changing such a cartridge … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Changing a TP4 \/ P-Mount Cartridge for an AT85EP”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,17,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-repair","category-turntable","category-vinyl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455","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=1455"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1506,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455\/revisions\/1506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.wiredwood.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}