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Posted by CarlosM on Apr-25-2003 03:02:

Trackmaster II SK ???

Hi Fellas, well.. i told to a friend that buy a pair of Groovemaster for me, but he didnt find the groovemaster and he just bought me the Trackmaster II SK ... so.. I would like to know your opinions on this Cartridge if u have used this?... the box of the pair of cartridges says BEST FOR SCARTCHING... that could means that will wear out my Records??.... becouse i love my records.. and all my collection is in mint condition...also if u have the heigh and wheigh settins for this cartridge, since the intructions doesnt explain this very well.

well.. thats all... i hope someone can help me here.

thanks in advance.

Posted by raaven on Apr-25-2003 03:19:

i've used these for a while. i only use one right now 'cause i can't afford the styli for the other two.

i like 'em they aren't the best but they work well enough for me...

height = 0
weight.. everyone has there own way but the way i was always taught was to balance the counter-weight and cartridge over the record so it floats and then you set the counter-weight to 0 and adjust from there for how man grams of weight you want.

oh and some say they wear out your records quicker some say ortofons do. who knows?...

Posted by bachatu on Apr-25-2003 03:29:

Hey Carlos,
I currently use the Trackmaster II SK. Don't pay attention about the advertising of 'for scratching'. Its just a marketing scheme..,I actually bought mine cause I got a pretty good deal for the two pack plus 2 styli, and I found some places where they advertised for 'mixing purposes' as opposed for scratching. It just depends on what market they wanted to hit.
Performance wise... I would say its 6/10. I actually thought that if called 'trackmaster' that it would be good to cue up records and good sound quality, low record wear, but they proved me wrong. Especially on the tracking part. They jump very easily, and obviously i dont want to place too much weight on the tone arm, cause then you can easily wear out records.
One other complaint on the cart is sound quality. I seem to get noticeable hissing in comparison to other carts. My causin has shure on his decks and they dont hiss like mines. Its not like its extreme, but for a 'top of the line' cart from stanton, you would expect no hissing.
When use out my styli, im not replacing the styli, but id rather buy some shure carts or even ortofons.

Posted by JohnSmith on Apr-25-2003 17:31:

I completely agree, his post is exactly what i would have said.

When my stylii run out, i think i am going to get Groovemaster stylii for them, i'm pretty sure you can do this.

quote:
Originally posted by bachatu
Hey Carlos,
I currently use the Trackmaster II SK. Don't pay attention about the advertising of 'for scratching'. Its just a marketing scheme..,I actually bought mine cause I got a pretty good deal for the two pack plus 2 styli, and I found some places where they advertised for 'mixing purposes' as opposed for scratching. It just depends on what market they wanted to hit.
Performance wise... I would say its 6/10. I actually thought that if called 'trackmaster' that it would be good to cue up records and good sound quality, low record wear, but they proved me wrong. Especially on the tracking part. They jump very easily, and obviously i dont want to place too much weight on the tone arm, cause then you can easily wear out records.
One other complaint on the cart is sound quality. I seem to get noticeable hissing in comparison to other carts. My causin has shure on his decks and they dont hiss like mines. Its not like its extreme, but for a 'top of the line' cart from stanton, you would expect no hissing.
When use out my styli, im not replacing the styli, but id rather buy some shure carts or even ortofons.

Posted by DJ Chrono on Apr-26-2003 03:06:

bachatu, You shouldn't be hearing a hissing sound with these carts, thats alittle strange. Maybe it's your decks

The Trackmaster II RS's seem good. I want some.

Posted by Greedy on Apr-26-2003 05:28:

ok, we've had a lot of threads about this particular cart and im too lazy to find the thread so heres my opinion on this cart . . . . .it sucks. . . .the hissing you hear, happens to the majority of ppl that buy it. Rule of thumb a lot of ppl go by is anything that ends with "master" by stanton, is no good. You should go get shure carts because they are so good and the replacement stylii are a lot cheaper.

Posted by DJ Chrono on Apr-26-2003 14:35:

I completely disagree with you Busy Child. I have a stanton diskmaster and a shure m35x.

Both of them sound good, there is no hissing with my diskmaster, and the diskmaster stays in the groove alittle better than the shure.

Posted by JohnSmith on Apr-26-2003 15:54:

no, everything with "master" at the end does not suck! just the trackmaster, the groovemaster and discmaster are both good, only the TII SK hisses a lot.

Posted by bachatu on Apr-26-2003 21:10:

quote:
Originally posted by DJ Chrono
bachatu, You shouldn't be hearing a hissing sound with these carts, thats alittle strange. Maybe it's your decks

The Trackmaster II RS's seem good. I want some.

DJ Chrono,
The Trackmaster II RS is different from Trackmaster II SK. The styli is different, as the RS is the Roger Sanchez signature model (has a different color) and the styli is Eliptical, while the TM II SK includes a spherical styli.
Eleptical has better sound quality, though harsher on vinyl, and thats why its recommended to use eleptical styli mainly when recording or when higher audio quality is needed.
There is nothing wrong with my turntable, as the turntable itself cannot cause hissing... the signal is transferred by the turntable, but the quality of sound is picked up by the cart, but thanks for the suggestion/reply.
Im even reluctant to believe that groovemasters are better than the track's... id rather not take a chance and buy some shure M35xs' or just go with some ortofon nightclub S concord carts.

Peace,
Ricky

Posted by Greedy on Apr-26-2003 21:17:

good man

Posted by DJ Chrono on Apr-26-2003 23:15:

quote:
Originally posted by bachatu
DJ Chrono,
The Trackmaster II RS is different from Trackmaster II SK. The styli is different, as the RS is the Roger Sanchez signature model (has a different color) and the styli is Eliptical, while the TM II SK includes a spherical styli.

Yeah I know they're different, the post just reminded me of the RS's.

I've never used the SK's, but I find it hard to believe that a company as big as stanton would mass produce carts that expensive, and overlook a characteristic hissing noise. but if other people have had the same problem, then I guess it is the carts!