Audio-Technica VM540ML/H Turntable Headshell/Cartridge Combo Kit Red

I am with the overwhelming number of stellar reviews. One of said reviews did mention a drawback, and is my sole reason for writing this review. They said that the microline stylus when replacement is needed, it costs nearly as much as the entire cart. While this is undeniably true, I thought it good to point out from other site specs of the cart, the estimated lifespan of the stylus is 1000 hours! TLDR: as far as I can see, and especially at this price point, there is no downside to speak of. Pick it up and enjoy!

This cartridge is a remarkable improvement over the factory original on the AT-LP5 turntable.

I was not satisfied with the sound from myAudio Technica AT-LP120. sound was veiled and distant. After reading many reviews on how to remedy this issue it became apparent that changing the needle cartridge was a must. research led me to the VM540ML/H. Massive difference! The soundstage immediately opened up. Sound is clean without being analytical and instrument separation vastly improved. It is fun to listen and hear things in music I have never heard even though I have listened to them hundreds of times before. Best decision I could have madero upgrade my turntable. In my opinion this is a must buy.

Excellent product. I am so pleased with the sound quality coming from this product. I wish I would have done this a year ago.

Incredible

My turntable a Teac TN-570 came with an installed Audio Technica AT100E worth about $100. I was really surprised how good this turntable/cartridge/stylus combination sounded and should have been satisfied at least until the cartridge was broken in. However, I decided to go for the Gold and invest in a better sounding cartridge. Although the AT100E was very good right out of the box, I could hear some slight distortion towards the end of each of my albums(LP) and I wondered why ? Not wanting to play around with the tracking I figured a better cartridge would do the trick. I had my mind set on the Ortofon Blue which has been receiving rage reviews since I can remember. Thats until I began reading the reviews on the Audio-Technica VM540ML, which stated almost unanimously that the Audio-Technica VM540ML was the better cartridge. Oh well, for an extra $50 I might as well invest in that one, especially since I already own an AT. I purchased the Combo Kit which came with a pre-installed cartridge and head-shell, because I did not want to fiddle around with a $250 cartridge trying to install it. I eagerly waited for the Combo kit to come in the mail. It took about 3 business days. I was really surprised on how cheap looking the head-shell was. I thought it was made out of plastic, until I performed the biting test with my teeth and sure enough it was aluminum, but it sure looked plastic to me ! Also while I was trying to remove the cartridge from the packing, the stylus-guard almost came off and the stylus was actually moved to the left slightly, but I gently moved it back. And this for an extra $40 ?! The cartridge itself did not look any different than my AT100E and it seemed like there were some cut corners when it came to the build of this cartridge. It certainly did not Ooze of quality like my turntable did. In any case, I did not buy this cartridge for looks but for sound, so I placed a copy of a re-mixed Beatles album on the turntable mat and took it for a spin. Like the reviews said, I could not hear a single Snap, Crackle, Pop, but keep in mind this album was purchased recently. The sound was a little better than my AT100E, but not by much. I was not really surprised by the sound for some reason ? Dont get me wrong, the sound was better than anything I have owned so far, its just that I expected this cartridge to blow the AT100E out of the water, which it didnt. Without the noise, I would say that the sound coming out of my turntable probably matches the sound coming out of my expensive Marantz CD player, but there are some minor differences. The sound from my CD player seems to be a little more open and crisp, not as boxy. However, the sound from my TT is not as flat, has more depth and is a little easier to listen to for extended periods. Everything else such as instrument placement, base, mid range, treble is about the same although the cymbals sound a little more natural on my turntable. The reason why I gave this cartridge/stylus a 4-star instead of a 5-star, was the cheap looking head shell that cost me an extra $40 and the slight disappointment in build quality. ** The sound is great so far and I highly recommend this cartridge not only for the quality sound, but for those who want to make high-res copies of their albums on Tape or Digital if your system allows. Maybe after 20 hours of break-in period I will adjust my review. ** After the Break-in period this cartridge/stylus sounds absolutely fantastic, even better than my expensive CD player ! so I upgraded to a 5-star **

La testina e arrivata puntualmente senza problemi lascolto sembra come descritto ottimo per il resto lutilizzo e di poche ore e non so descrivere la vera qualità mi riservo di dare un giudizio più dettagliato in futuro.

This cartridge is very nice. The sound is outstanding. There are a lot of reviews in the internet and they all agreed...one of the best cratridge in that range of price. Very satisfied. Note that youll probably need to fine tune the overhang of the cartridge. I installed it on my technics sl-3300.

This was an absolute game changer versus the cartridge that came with my AT LP120. Way better tracking and exceptional sound quality. I questioned how much a differencd this would make before purchasing. It is very much night and day to my ears. It was like removing earplugs. I am back to enjoying my setup now.

Bought this while digitizing some old albums that were never released digitally. The sound quality difference between the 43 year old stock cartridge and this new one blew me away. I initially had a terrible hum when I installed the new shell with cartridge. After changing out cables and preamps and computer interfaces I found that ever so slightly twisting the cartridge shell in the tone arm magically eliminated the hum and massively improved the musical output.