I'm thinking about getting new needles/cartridges, etc. I currently have Stanton iTracks (they came with the technics), and one of them seems to be really shitty, I'm not sure how long the guy I bought them from used them or at what intensity. All I know is that if I switch the needle from one deck to the other it seems to be fine (and it doesn't seem to be a prob with the deck or tonearm settings either ... because when I switch needles the good needle out of the two has no problem playing on the other deck).

So anyways, between Shure Whitelabels and Ortofon Concordes, which do you prefer when considering quality, reliability, pricing, etc?

(and ehh...sorry if this topic has been done a bunch of times before).

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-trance85

for sound quality, reliability, inexpenisve styli, and it's ability to adjust overhang, i perfer the whitelabels.

Your in denver area too? Im in thornton.

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Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. He who laughs last thinks slowest!

I'm like an hour north of Denver, in Fort Collins (at CSU).

Thats cool, I'm gonna look into both, btw chex, is there any store in Denver area (or my area if you know Colorado very well) that sells this stuff and other DJ gear?

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-trance85

well, i do know Bart's CD celler in boulder, sells shure whitelabel styli for $21.99ea. As for gear, i just go to guitar center b/c i've bought stuff from them for years and they tend to pricematch almost any price you can find. My main reason why i chose whitelabels over the concords is it's price for a replacement stylus. Concords can run $45-$70 for styli while i can pickup ones for whitelabels at bart's for so much cheaper. The only thing i don't like about Barts, it's in the yuppie/hippie village of boulder.

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quote:

Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. He who laughs last thinks slowest!

Do you know if Bart's sells Shure Whitelabel cartridges? and do you know what shape the styli is? (couldn't find out...not even at the shure website )

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-trance85

Barts does sell them, i think they sell it for either $100.99 or $109.99. Also the whitelables have a spherical stylus.

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quote:

Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. He who laughs last thinks slowest!

yea they sell for $100.99, I got two of em earlier, total was $217.45


What settings would you recommend I use with em Chex? Right now after inital setup, the wires that come outta the cartridge are sliding along the record.

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-trance85

my settings are as follows:

overhang: 52mm (also like 50mm)
tonearm height: 3mm
tracking: 3g
antiskate: 0g

Those settings seem to work fine on my pair. The only thing is you may need to give the cantilever time to break in, then it should stick a little better. Oh and btw, If you havent allready, push the wires up a little so it doesn't drag.

So did you pick up any vinyl from barts?

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quote:

Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. He who laughs last thinks slowest!

Well I went there to get the shure whitelabels and to browse, but I only had the intention of buying the whitelabels. I think I spent a half hour or 45 min browsing and listening before just buying the cartridges and leaving.

Also should I leave the needle running overnight on a piece of crap record to break it in or something? Someone said doing that might be helpful (in a different post).

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-trance85

no, you don't need to play the record constantly. just put the needle on a record and let it sit there for 2hrs at a time every few days or so. here's what shure had to say:

quote:

* Normal break-in time takes about two weeks. The bearing, a critical part of the stylus suspension system, is stiff from the factory. Skip resistance improves with use. * You can speed up the break in period by leaving the cartridge in the record groove, with the turntable turned off, for two hours each night letting nature (gravity) do its thing.

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quote:

Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot. He who laughs last thinks slowest!

alright cool, thanks for the help

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-trance85

this might be too late, but if you were content with the quality of the stanton i-tracks, u shoulda just bought a new stylii.