this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
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BudgetAudiophile

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Looking for turntable cartridge advice (lemmy.ca)
submitted 3 weeks ago by GreatBlueHeron@lemmy.ca to c/budgetaudiophile@lemmy.world
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I've just bought a Yamaha YP-D6 turntable. It's had a hard life, but seems to work ok. I'll replace the stylus before playing any of my collection. Problem is that it has a Shure RXT-4 cartridge which takes a N97HE stylus. A quick bit of research suggests I'll be paying well over $200 for even a cheap N97HE clone. This seems a bit risky when I don't even know if the cartridge is functionally "good".

I'm not looking for the best possible performance from a turntable - it's just to be able to play my collection for nostalgia etc.

I think I'm better off replacing the cartridge with something like and audio technica AT-VM95E.

Interested to hear any thoughts, including suggestions for other budget friendly cartridges.

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[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Most likely it's just a worn out stylus, but you do say your TT has been through a lot. The cartridge could be damaged, although they're sturdier than the needle part.

There are probably ways to check a cartridge's health — my guess is you'll need a good microscope and some intimate knowledge of how a functioning cart of that make and model is supposed to look and work? That's beyond my expertise, I'm afraid.

[–] GreatBlueHeron@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The stylus is more than a bit worn out!

With that level of damage I suspect there's a chance the cart is also damaged and I'm going for a cheap AT for now.

[–] haverholm@kbin.earth 1 points 3 weeks ago

Oh, yikes. Yeah, that stylus is a hazard to your records. If you're at all worried about the cart, it's probably best to write that off, too.