Audio Technica P Mount Phono Cartridge (1001)

Rating:
Summary: Entry Level At Best...
Review: As a turntable enthusiast (yes, there are plenty of us around who have an affinity to vinyl still) over the years I have owned a gamut of different brand name cartridges. It is through trial and error and experimentation that you begin to see or rather hear what all the fuss, differences, and nuances are about each individual cartridge. Not to mention some of their shortcomings as well. I have owned Audio Technica cartridges, Shure cartridges, and my favorite, Grado cartridges over the years.

The first striking characteristic about the Audio Technica 1001(common with the Audio Technica cartridges) will be the way high frequencies are slightly exaggerated. Bass response is firm but not boomy or too tight. There is a lack of midrange punch. This cartridge/stylus is very similar to the conical Audio Technica 90 cartridge in quality, sound and value. Sibilances (when the letter s is pronounced by the vocalist/s) will sound a bit harsh or grainy and not have the normal and warm nature associated with higher end cartridges (Grado Prestige series).The overall tonal playback response will be light and airy. Another unnecessary characteristic of Audio Technica cartridges is that they pick up a lot of surface noise from the record regardless how clean the lp may be. This particular cartridge is not very neutral sounding nor does it put out a "warm" or "natural" musical feel as higher end cartridges do. This one is purely for listening to a small meager collection of pop-rock lps and not classical or jazz or any style of music where there are rapid or difficult musical passages with classical instruments (strings in particular).

Since this is a p-mount, not much stylus pressure can be applied if you own a turntable with separate counterbalance weight or antiskating mechanisms. In fact, most P-mount cartridges will only allow stylus pressure weight settings from 1.5g to 1.7g setting.

In sum, this is a quick plug and play stylus for someone who just wants to hear pop music on a casual basis.For the audiophile or audio perfectionist the AT P-mount 1001 just won't cut it !... Audio Technica does produce a high end cartridge that uses a linear cut diamond, the AT 440 ML. The advantage of a linear stylus is that it will accurately and more faithfully reproduce the music. It has been cut in such a way that the linear needle actually mimics the way the record was cut by the record company's equipment. However, it will set you back triple the amount of what the AT 1001 is priced at. Plus, you must own a turntable that will accept standard mount. You can always connect a standard mount cartridge and even a p-mount (with the proper adaptor kit) to a standard headshell. However, you cannot connect a standard mounting cartridge to a P-mount only tonearm...