KentT wrote:Japanese makers touted P-Mount, no others used them.
Revox seems distinctly european to me....
B295's were provided ex factory with p-mount starting I believe in the late 80's.... (just one example I am familiar with...)
And the best Technics tables didn't use P-Mount, meaning the R&B (Recording & Broadcasting) line.
In broadcasting they usually used heavy arms low compliance cantilevers and spherical styli..... how is this relevant to audiophile use? Typical broadcast cartridges are Stanton 500, Shure M44 and Denon 103 - all well regarded but far from high end.
Frequency response for AM need go no further than 10kHz and for FM 15kHz... - the requirements are VERY different.
At the time audiophile use involved eliptical, shibata or microline/ridge tips, high compliance, and arms as light as possible.
The same Technics motors and electronics were fitted to "domestic" use tables.... and those arms often had a p-mount option - either as a p-mount arm, or the SH90s p-mount headshell. (which I use)
The top of the line audiophile Technics (as opposed to broadcast use) had p-mount options.
Meaning the SP lineup. There were a few high end Technics which used P-Mount but few. Not accepted by the high end or professional markets.
Seems to me that the EPC100mk4 and the EPC310 cartridges were very well regarded indeed - current pricing for the p-mount (as opposed to integrated) cartridges seems to be around $1000.... (saw a couple sell just over the last month.... too rich for me!)
Seems to me not only was it accepted, but it still is, and in far higher demand than there are cartridges available.
The audiophile market has mostly shifted to low compliance .... a corollary of the shift to MC's....
There are and were fantastic high compliance cartridge designs - and many of these are and were p-mount...
Shure V15 family
Stanton 680 & 880 Family (along with Pickering relatives)
Empire/Azden-Piezo
Ortofon OM & 3xx/5xx family
etc... etc...
The real problem with p-mount was a question of timing - it came out at the same time as CD.... as a result it barely got a toehold on the market, when its main supporters (primarily Japanese - they owned the mass market at the time!) quit the TT market... Started winding down production, and stopped marketing new ideas... instead they phased out the R&D and TOTL "Halo" models, and ramped their way down to plastic fantastic turntables - which were unfortunately fitted with p-mounts.
Today, people like you keep the price of most high quality p-mount cartridges nice and low, so people like me can get hold of them cheap as chips. (well for all except the very best, and those, the p-mount versions go for twice the price of the standard mount and integrated versions!)
A p-mount has all the potential of a standard mount cartridge - while at the same time being easier to use - what's not to like!?
bye for now
David
(Defender of the p-mount.... wearing superhero lycra outfit with a large T4P on the chest)
by mrow2 » 21 Aug 2011 20:13 
