Numark CS-1 vs Ortofon Nightclub E

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Posted by Cobalt on May-31-2004 20:48:

Numark CS-1 vs Ortofon Nightclub E

I started off my Numark TT-200s with a used Numark CS-1 and a Shure SC35C. The CS-1 began to fail after about a year, so I bought a replacement stylus figuring that was the problem. Upon receiving the stylus, it turned out that the cartridge itself was broken! A long story of Numark evading me and failing to answer my calls and emails follows, but that's not what I'm asking here.

My SC35C stylus has worn out, and the sound quality was never top notch to begin with, so I want to purchase a pair of integrated cartridges that will last me a while. After some research I settled on Ortofon Nightclubs with elliptical styli. But since I already have a brand new CS-1 stylus and Numark TTs, should I just go ahead and get a pair of new CS-1s? The sound quality was excellent on mine until it gave out, and they're significantly cheaper than Ortofons (about half the price). I risk having to deal with Numark again if they break like my first one did, but I haven't heard of this as a widespread problem. On the other hand, CS-1s are spherical rather than elliptical, and I lean towards the latter.

Ortofon has a reputation for quality, but I wonder if the extra investment in a pair would be worth my money, including the cost of the CS-1 stylus I already have.

Thoughts?

Posted by `pr0digy on May-31-2004 21:05:

I've never heard of anyone comparing Numark needles with Ortofons... Actually, Numark carts are almost never discussed, IMO because they are second-rate.

Posted by Cobalt on May-31-2004 21:10:

quote:
Originally posted by `pr0digy
I've never heard of anyone comparing Numark needles with Ortofons... Actually, Numark carts are almost never discussed, IMO because they are second-rate.

Oh, of course the Ortofons are better. But they're also much more expensive, and I already have a spare CS-1 stylus. The CS-1 is on par with Trackmaster, and both are just below Ortofons.

Posted by Dzokayi on May-31-2004 21:16:

Spend the money.

Get a pair of Ortofons and never look back.

Posted by dj chex on May-31-2004 21:58:

if your gonna use the elliptical styli, be sure your using the "s" tonearm instead of the straight. BTW check out shure whitelabels as well.

AS for swaping a numark cs-1 stylus on a ortofon, i never heard of anyone that tried it out before. I have, however, heard of someone using a american dj banana stylus on a niteclub before.

Posted by tu_face on Jun-01-2004 08:51:

i have had my concorde pro carts for over 2 years, they have taken a lot of hammer and i have only changed the styli once, and they still sound great (although admittedly they need changing again now ).

don't waste your money on numark carts, they are dogshit, and as you have seen from experience, the cartridge itself doesnt last that long.

Posted by Cobalt on Jun-01-2004 22:00:

Thanks for the input, everyone. I think I've decided to save for the concordes, and try to sell off the CS-1 stylus somewhere.

"You get what you pay for," and in this case I think I will. Numark doesn't deserve my money after all they put me through, anyhow.