Comparison and detailed measurements of Audio-Technica AT3600L and AT95E phono cartridges. 

Nice Measurements, Science added to subjective.

Thanks, yes it's a jungle out there, I always recommend keeping an open mind, using your own senses and having a listen to what you prefer instead of getting mislead by marketing, but of course it's harder these days where most hifi equipment is sold over the internet and you don't get a chance to try it out first. Cheers, Jake

Thanks for this. I was curious if the elliptical version was much different than the conical stock stylus. Its funny that most of us have them in our collection and people don't realize how loved they are (in our secondary/backup tables) not to mention Thorens, Rega and many higher end tables come with the 3600l - just rebranded.

It IS the same cartridge. There are also direct comparisons of the AT3600 and the Rega Carbon, and they sound the same. Rega just charges 2-1/2 to 3 times the price, because they include a free dose of heavy duty snake oil!

​@@owenlaprath4135, they not only sound the same, they even have same parameters measured. Any difference is so marginal they can count as manufacturing tolerances.

Thanks, I agree that older records from the 50s and 60s were mastered differently, I believe most of them were recorded in mono and then perhaps some artificial stereo was applied later and the record lathe making the master probably suits a conical cartridge much better than the more extreme modern stylus options. Sounds like a clever solution to use the 3600L as a mono cartridge compared to investing $300 in something like the Ortofon 2M Mono. Cheers, Jake

@@TheStuffMade - records were never cut with conicals, but what is basicallya micro-chisel with sharp edges. The modern stylus options you refer to were developed to closer fit these master cutter-heads! Extreme ellipticals and linear contact types actually fit far better into the groove-wall modulations than any conical, which were and are simply a cost effective way of mass producing affordable styli. The history of advanced stylus shapes actually starts way back in the fifties of the last century!

I use a Shure M78S with SC35 stylus for mono vinyl playback

Hello, the Harman curve is only relevant for headphones because of the way they interact with your ears compared to open sound. It's generally preferred to have your source as flat as possible, but of course there can be many reasons why someone would prefer the AT3600L, perhaps the little boost in high frequencies helps compensate for loss of hearing from getting older, or perhaps it matches better with the speakers, headphones or system being used, or it could just be a preference for a slightly brighter/more airy sound combined with the higher distortion. Cheers, Jake

Thanks, yeah I usually go with the old order of magnitude rule of thumb, as in if your amplifier performs an order of magnitude (e.g. 20dB) better than your source and your speakers, then it's not going to audibly color the sound. I see many review websites where amplifiers and especially DACs , phono and headphone amplifiers are marked as not recommended if they have a THD+N higher than -100dB/0.001%, that seem very silly to me, I'd like to see a proper scientific blind test where people are actually able to hear the difference between -70dB thdn and less than -100db thdn. Cheers, Jake

@@TheStuffMade In the early 70s, I was in Hollywood California. Hi-Fi was the rage and there were a number of "golden ear" gurus that people followed. I built an A-B-X switching system and placed a curtain between the listener and the audio equipment. I asked the "golden ears" to evaluate and comment on what component (amplifier, cartridge, etc.) was being listened to at each switch setting. They all failed miserably, getting the wrong answer more than simple random chance (i.e. 50%). They complained that they were not familiar enough with the source or it was a different "pressing", so I asked them to bring in their own favorites. Worse results. So they complained that people were in attendance and watching them ("Schrödinger's Cat" argument), so I offered to set up in their home or favorite listening environment. No "takers". About 7 years ago I found some "Audiophiles" on diyaudioprojects massively paralleling OpAmp ICs to make a 25W amp with 0.000001% THD, with some saying that that was an inadequate performance! I was also involved with 4 channel sound and worked with some record companies. There were 3 "schemes" for LPs: SQ, QS and CD-4. SQ was Columbia's, QS was Sansui's and CD-4 was JVC-Panasonic's. Both SQ & QS were based on a matrix which had a maximum Front to Back separation of 6dB. CD-4 could do > 25dB. Due to marketing and being able to use existing pre-amps and cartridges, the SQ & QS became the most popular. CD-4 required a special cartridge and a demodulator pre-amp. It all went away for two reasons: the placement and wiring of two additional rear speakers in a typical home was objectionable to at least one of the occupants and even after the trouble and expense of converting to 4 channels, people couldn't hear the difference due to the poor separation. CD-4, with greater expense and fewer album choices, never had a chance. You correctly state that THD+N (Noise) is the correct description nowadays. This is because of the equipment used to measure it. In the "old days", with analog equipment, there was a very narrow notch filter which was tuned to measure the frequency being tested and would measure the THD without the Noise added. This is significant because even if an amplifier produces minute amounts of THD, the noise floor is added to it, so the limit with low THD amplifiers is the residual Noise Floor.

Thanks, you get a complete cartridge for $15, but it doesn't include the headshell (the metal part the cartridge screws onto that fits into the tonearm). I think I paid around $60 for my AT95E including headshell, but you can get them for around $40-50 without the headshell. There is also now a newer version of the AT95e named AT-WM95e, it's around $65. But the AT3600L is a great little cartridge for just $15. Cheers, Jake

@@TheStuffMade ok thanks mate...I purchased the whole trio stylus/cart/shell AT 3600L for almost 30. Thanks for the info on the new AT 95E!!

Sony ps lx310BT stylus replacement ? If yes AT3600L can be fit to Sony pslx310bt , any other stylus other than AT3600L?

@@TheStuffMade Jake On my LP120 USB I'm just going to leave the AT 95E in place which I presume comes with this unit. I won't know for sure cause it's still in shrink wrap! My question is now that I have bought the AT 3600L combo/shell/stylus and cart-------will this work well in a vintage Technics SL D202 I'm resurrecting? thanks in advance

I might do a quick little follow up at some point, I was considering including it, but I decided it doesn't belongs as part of the review. Cheers, Jake

@@TheStuffMade Please do that! It would make for an interesting video.

@@TheStuffMade If nothing else it would increase the perceived value of the cartridge. Not that many people would be able to hear the difference, well, not us older folks. 😄

If you like your records, do not play them with ceramic vinyl-plows! They are outright destructive.

You have to swap the whole cartridge, not just the stylus, but you can keep the headshell. I believe the newer AT-VM95E does offer a number of upgrade styluses, so it's probably a better choice than the old AT95E, although I haven't listened to or measured the new version. Cheers, Jake

I use the AT3600L to play old 50’s and 60’s albums and am impressed how good a $20 cartridge can sound. I do have several old cartridges I purchased back in the 80’s. Shure V15 Type II, M95ED, and Empire 3000 mk III. I also have an old ATVM8E but can’t find a replacement stylus for it. I recently ordered the AT-VM95EN. Will it be a better choice over my V15 Type II? Or Empire 3000 mk III?

wow...

Hello, no the styluses are different between AT95 and AT3500. Cheers, Jake