Good budget needles for turntables?
I’m on a really tight budget; looking for solid, budget-friendly needles (pre-mounted). Any recommendations?
It helps if you say your budget! Everyone has a different idea of budget-friendly.
Something less than $150 for the pair (if that’s possible).
M44-7’s should fit the bill and take tons of abuse.
Spend enough time on eBay and you can find some deadstock Stantons, Numarks or something similar for under $150.
That’s if you have a surplus of time to wait it out. The great deals aren’t there just waiting for you to find them.
Telling someone to go to eBay seems like crappy non-advice but I’ve spent a long, long, long time thinking about how to replace carts and needles without blowing a week’s pay and haven’t come up with anything better.
The Stanton 500 v3 is adequate but I would get the Shure M44-7. Anything above that is a waste of money.
I’ll stick with my MP3s.
Shure 35C I’ve been using them for years.
These and some knockoff technics headshells are more solid than people give credit for. Same for the M35X and the ones with the red needles that have the same shape. Don’t remember the model number on those or even if they’re still sold.
I think M44G’s are a lot more abusive on the record grooves than people realize. You’ll shred your records with them unless you’re really careful with your tracking force and don’t back cue more than you need to. You can find needles for them anywhere though and they’re really tough and last forever. If your records are disposable timecodes and you just want some really sticky carts they’re great. They definitely look the most handsome IMO.
I’ve always had good luck with Orotofon cartridges with the built in stylus. Might be a little out of your price range but they are durable and have great sound quality.
If I recall correctly the red ones (Shure 25c) have more record burn than the blue ones (35C).
edit:
I am looking for headhsells myself this morning. Parts Express really does have everything.
I’m sure you can get cheaper generic headshells on ebay:
I’m sure shipping from the UK would negate any savings…
Shure M44-7s should cost you south of 150 if you buy the headshell separately and mount it yourself. Premounted I’ve seen them around $80-90 each so not too much over budget, but mounting isn’t really that hard and it seems worth the savings to me. And they don’t seem too bad as far as record wear goes unless you do a lot of scratching (and there probably aren’t any needles that won’t create record wear with enough scratching; the 447s are actually designed for it so they’ll do a lot better on your records if you do scratch). M35s are also a great bet from everything I’ve heard but I haven’t used them since I was a kid and really didn’t think much about such things. My experience with Ortofons has been slightly louder sound but far worse record wear (the only version I’ve extensively used was their pink “scratch” needles, so probably doesn’t apply to their “club” series). Personally do not like concorde style at all but it’s an individual preference.
For truly budget carts look at Stanton A500s they’re about $20 each for the carts and they will do the trick just fine (though you’ll want to upgrade sooner than later). Whereas with the 44-7s other than changing the stylus every couple years you won’t ever look back.
Found a pair of M44-7s + Technics headshells (unmounted) for $120 after shopping around. Thanks guys.