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I recently acquired an 80" Cordon Blue Solid State stereo console with eight speakers, which I wanted because of the 4 speed BSR turntable to play vinyls and many 78 rpm albums I have. The "flip" needle seemed alright, but the cartridge looked bad, so I bought an Audio-Technica universal cartridge. Of course I can't play 78s with it, but even playing vinyls, or 45s, the sound is so faint that I have to turn it to full volume. Do I have the wrong type of cartridge, i.e., magnetic vs. ceramic?
you have a magnetic cart that delivers much smaller signal than a ceramic.
The Audio-Technica is a magnetic cartridge with a very low but high quality output. The cartridge that the console came with is a ceramic, which has a high output lesser quality signal. To play the Audio Technica properly, you'll need a phono preamp between the cartridge and amp/receiver in the console. There some very inexpensive ones available. They go regularly on ePay for around $20. Also, the AT cartridge probably tracks lighter than the ceramic one, so the tonearm would need to be re-adjusted. Dave
I always thought you should have a ceramic, it worsk alot better from experience.