Can this Stanton 681EEE be saved?

[Jdurr]

I have a Stanton 681 EEE cart. With the stylus being bent, can it be saved and brought back to life?

thanks

[Spinner45]

Nope, a suitable replacement is now the order.
That's WHY they made them "replaceable".

[Jdurr]

Well dang....that's what I thought. I have clone that looks like it , but does not sound as good!

[BMRR]

Well, you could certainly have that stylus retipped. Frankly that would give a better end result than most of the aftermarket copy styli, most of which don't have the all-important soldered tension wire which is such an important part of Stanton's suspension system.

I know a guy who retips and repairs Stanton/Pickering styli all the time. He does great work and his prices are very reasonable. Depending on your budget, he can do a bonded elliptical, nude elliptical, bonded hyperelliptical (almost identical to a bonded Stereohedron), nude MicroRidge and more.

[smee4]

I have upgraded mine to a Vivid line stylus from LP Gear. It now sounds the best I have heard from it. https://www.lpgear.com/product/STNS681EEES.html

tip: use it without the brush

[Jdurr]

Thanks to all. BMRR, do you have a link to the guy that retips? That would be my first choice.

[BMRR]

He doesn't have a web site but if you give me your email address I can send you his contact information.

[patient_ot]

The Jico replacements directly from Jico (not rebranded stuff @ lower spec) have the tension wire.

That said, retipping is also an option and you could get a higher quality nude advanced tip for the retip, which aren't available AFAIK from Jico.

[BMRR]

The Jico replacements directly from Jico (not rebranded stuff @ lower spec) have the tension wire.

Correct, my comment about aftermarket styli was aimed at Pfanstiehl, EVG, LPGear, Thakker, etc.

Genuine JICO is good stuff and performs very close to the real thing.

[patient_ot]

The Jico replacements directly from Jico (not rebranded stuff @ lower spec) have the tension wire.

Correct, my comment about aftermarket styli was aimed at Pfanstiehl, EVG, LPGear, Thakker, etc.

Genuine JICO is good stuff and performs very close to the real thing.

I have a Jico Shibata on my Stanton 680...it sounds very nice but it's still a bonded Shibata. I often wonder what the cartridge would sound like with a nude advanced tip done by a retipper. I may try it at some point several months down the line when this Jico stylus is done.

[BMRR]

The guy I use has a nice selection of tips/cantilevers available, something for every budget. His most popular one is a very slender aluminum cantilever with a nude rectangular-shank .3x.7mil "true ellipsoid" diamond. I've seen this one in person and it's absolutely gorgeous. The rectangular shank gives it lower mass than a square or round shank, and it's a great tracker as a result.

For about the same price he also has a bonded tip that he says looks identical to a Stereohedron and sounds the same as one.

Moving up the line, he has a nude .2x.7mil elliptical on a titanium cantilever. I forget whether that diamond is square or rectangular shank, but it looks pretty spectacular in the pics I've seen.

His TOTL offering is an ultra thin boron cantilever with a nude MicroRidge diamond.

And for the budget-conscious he also has bonded ellipticals and bonded conicals.

[oldtech]

NOS Stanton and Pickering styli come up for sale on ebay at reasonable prices. You just need to be patient. Over the past year I bought two Stanton conicals (including a light tracking one) and two ellipticals at around twice the price of a Pfanstiehl, and honestly there's no comparison.

[patient_ot]

The guy I use has a nice selection of tips/cantilevers available, something for every budget. His most popular one is a very slender aluminum cantilever with a nude rectangular-shank .3x.7mil "true ellipsoid" diamond. I've seen this one in person and it's absolutely gorgeous. The rectangular shank gives it lower mass than a square or round shank, and it's a great tracker as a result.

For about the same price he also has a bonded tip that he says looks identical to a Stereohedron and sounds the same as one.

Moving up the line, he has a nude .2x.7mil elliptical on a titanium cantilever. I forget whether that diamond is square or rectangular shank, but it looks pretty spectacular in the pics I've seen.

His TOTL offering is an ultra thin boron cantilever with a nude MicroRidge diamond.

And for the budget-conscious he also has bonded ellipticals and bonded conicals.

Would love to see pictures of the work, especially the boron + MR one if anyone ever goes for that.

[smee4]

To those who prefer re-tipping... is there ever any problem with re-using an old suspension? How do you know the suspension isn't compromised from age and use?

[DeepEnd]

To those who prefer re-tipping... is there ever any problem with re-using an old suspension? How do you know the suspension isn't compromised from age and use?

ESCo tested mine before agreeing to retip.