CD-4 Cartridge

[quadtrade]

which are the AT CD-4 compatible cartridges?

I know AT14sa and AT15sa...


( Thx for your help : ) )

The AT 20 is the best but rare to see one. The 14s and 15s are great too. They sound good and seem to provide a bit better contact to pull the rears out than most.

 

[BD-4 CD-4]

The Audio Technica cartridges with the "s" after the numeric digits in the model number indicate the "Shibata" cut diamond stylises which are generally preferred for CD-4. AT12sa, AT15sa AT20sa etc are all designed and work well for CD-4 playback.

 

[ss9001]

Been using an AT-14Sa for many years. I sure would like to get my hands on a 20Sa. It was AT's cream of the crop Shibata model. Hand-picked for performance, if I remember correctly. They are also hard to find.

Some here use the current model AT440ML microline cartridge. AT also has the OC-9 moving coil cartridge with a microline stylus with freq response out to 50KHz. You might also check on some of Ortofon's low mass moving magnet models with microridge type stylus.

ss9001

 

[MrNorm]

As I haven't been here in awhile I had some catching up to do and saw this. I have a good quad system and bought one of E. Saunders cartridges off e-bay myself. It didn't work in CD-4 mode so I e-mailed the gent thinking he made a mistake and sent the wrong one. To my dismay the reply I received back was terse and quite rude towards my question on weather they sent the wrong one. I hate to dis anyone but his response was very un-called for and as a result I wouldn't buy there ever again. For those that bought a Q4 cartridge that worked congrats, but after 30+ years of having quad systems his PR was some of the worst I've dealt with.

 

[Quadchuck]

As I haven't been here in awhile I had some catching up to do and saw this. I have a good quad system and bought one of E. Saunders cartridges off e-bay myself. It didn't work in CD-4 mode so I e-mailed the gent thinking he made a mistake and sent the wrong one. To my dismay the reply I received back was terse and quite rude towards my question on weather they sent the wrong one. I hate to dis anyone but his response was very un-called for and as a result I wouldn't buy there ever again. For those that bought a Q4 cartridge that worked congrats, but after 30+ years of having quad systems his PR was some of the worst I've dealt with.

I also bought that cart. and tried it with 3 decoders-played poorly on each
one.
Though it did work,but with very poor sound.
I wrote him and got no response,so I left neutral feedback.
He wrote me an acerbic e-mail. He said he would have worked
with me had I written him,I wrote back I did, and he replied with an
even more scathing and venimous rant.
I guess it plays fine in stereo ,but has no value of Quad CD-4,and no resale value.
"If it sounds too good to be true,it probably isn't".
C'est la Vie, mon ami!
QC

 

[mtgc]

Sorry to hear of your problems with Mr. Saunders. I personally have had no contact with Mr. Saunders, but I have used his cartridges for CD-4 playback with good results.

MTGC (Michael)

 

[Quadchuck]

Interesting,very interesting indeed

 

[quadjoe]

Well, it has been quite a long time since I've posted anything here, but I kinda got side-tracked on the Steve Hoffman Forum for a while. Anyway, I'm back now and I would like to share with all of you my recent very excellent results with my new Audio Technica 440ML cartridge. About a year ago my quad receiver bit the dust (an old Lafayette unit), so I retired it and set my CD-4 (a JVC 4DD-5) aside. To date I haven't replaced the receiver, but I recently replaced my Yamaha HT receiver with a very nice Denon HT. The Yamaha didn't have enough inputs for all my gear in the living room so I moved it into the den where I have my quad setup, and last night I hooked up the demodulator to the 5.1 direct inputs on the Yamaha, played the CD-4 setup disc, and well, WOW! The 440ML works very very well indeed. There were a couple records that I had that even back in the '70's gave me that "sandpaper" quad sound (Doobie Brothers "Captain & Me" for example), and that is gone completely! I never thought that I'd be as happy with any cartridge as I was with my AT-14Sa, but the 440ML is definately it's equal, and perhaps even surpasses it.

Now if only I could find a way to play my SQ discs! (I've tried Dolby Pro-Logic II on the Denon, and it kinda works, but not quite right).

 

[quadjoe]

Bump

 

[MarkD51]

I have owned the AT-14S, and still own a AT15S with about 4 hours on the Cartridge, and a never used NOS AT-20SLa still in the Box. Both were acquired from ebay about 5 years ago for basically peanuts ($130 shipped for the pair, both were NOS when I got them.

They pop up from time to time, and in fact seen a AT-20SLa about 4-5 months ago on the Bay, but the price was quite high (I think $300+), and I'm unsure if that particular auction even ended with a winning bidder?

From what I understand, the AT-20SLa was essentially just a Cherry Picked AT-15S. I am unsure whether there were any stylus differences? Also wonder whether Audio Technica even carries a replacement Stylus anymore for the AT-20SLa?

While I have never auditioned my AT-20SLa I have to assume it's every bit as good as the AT-15S, and I've found that the ones I've used have also doubled as great Cartridgs for Stereo Playback also.

Very good tracking ability virtually equalling the Shure V-15 Type III's I have, with a neutral, even uncolored sound.

For the last few years I've been mostly tinkering with my main Table, a VPI HW-19 MK-IV, AQ PT-8 Arm, High Output Glider Cartridge, Sutherland PHD Phono Pre-Amp, but on ice in my collection are a mint Denon DP-2550, with Grace DA-307 Arm, the AT-15S mounted, an absolute mint Sansui QRX-7001, and a near mint Sansui QRX-7500.

They're all sitting in boxes, and I know it's a sin! One day I must haul these out for some enjoyment, as I kept my entire Quad collection of LP's, and R-R Tapes. Mark