Hi! I just scored 2 Technics 1200’s for 625 from my local classifieds. They are in excellent shape but have no needle or headshell. I’ve been looking around and it seems like the shure m44 7 is the way to go. However they are a little pricey…and having just dropped 625 on turntables I would buy something a little more affordable. And if I do end up going with the shure’s would I need to buy the headshell separately? Are there cheap standalone headshells you can buy? Thanks!
Not sure if it’s still the same these days, but a few years ago Ortofon Concordes were where it was at. Bloody expensive though tbh. I used to use Marantz gear on my decks, but I wasn’t a scratcher.
Some cheap needles are alright. You won’t go wrong with Shure M35 series if you want to save a few bucks; I think they’re like half the price of the 447s. And if you want to find something even cheaper, I put many miles of groove on the old Stanton 500-series before I finally got my Shures. They certainly weren’t gonna wow anyone, but as all around mixing and occasional scratching carts they aren’t bad for the cost.
Check proaudiostar on ebay. They throw them up from time to time at great prices. Shure 44 cartridge/needle on Technics Headshell sell for $99 on their website. But they put them on ebay for around $70 shipped a good bit.
Your shures look fine but I would go for the technics style headshell rather than the SME style you picked out there. The SME style tends to be lighter and flimsier, it looks nicer but it is thinner and you may have to fidget with cart weight settings more than if you use the headshell everyone else uses. Most of all, they’re like concordes - I never see an SME headshell that still has its finger lift attached, heh.
Ok thanks! what about this: Pardon Our Interruption.... Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t really see the point in spending a lot of money on a headshell…
That’s closer to what you want, yeah, though they look a little oddly shaped. And no there’s no reason to pay a lot - I can’t believe there are people selling Technics headshells for $120 on that site; they should be closer to $20-30 new. American Audio makes pretty much exact replicas brand new for $8. I’d get those over the ones you linked: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=731267&is=REG&A=details&Q=
