LP GEARCARBON FIDELITY CF3600LE phono cartridge

At first I thought something was wrong with it. It sounded so bad it was hard to listen too. I thought this is the worst sounding waste of $35 ever. It says 80 hrs on the box for break in. So i found a good clean record that i didn't care for and played on repeat for about 30 hrs. Wow what a difference. It sounds great for a $35 combo. I was shocked at the difference with the break in. Definitely let this break in before you discount it. Seriously, it went from a turd in a can to fantastic sounding, similar to my shur.. 97. I still haven't gotten to 80hrs but i cant imaging it getting much better. It plays flawlessly at 1.8g also.

Hard to believe that you can buy a cartridge with a .3 X .7 elliptical stylus and carbon fiber canteliever for $35. On top of that, it sounds great. Very balanced and great clarity and detail. Mine is tracking flawlessly at 2.25g. I highly recommend this cartridge.

I was looking for a good budget cartridge for a Technics SL-1500 that was given to me. The LP Gear CF3600LE came up on several sites and had consistent positive reviews. And at first I was slightly disappointed. I do not have the Technics overhang gauge, so I aligned the cartridge with the provided protractor. The sound was kinda blah. After downloading a protractor specific to this turntable, I was extremely happy with the results. Once correctly set, the detail and soundstage are now apparent. And for $35, I was not expecting clean highs and full mids. I'm really impressed with the value of this cartridge. It also tracks very well at the recommended 2.5g.

I’ve owned numerous cartridges including the AT440MLA, ATVM95E, Dynavector 10x5, Denon DL160, and Ortofon 2M Bronze, and none of them make me want to play records for hours on end like this one. They all had great specs and did an amazing job of picking out all of the music’s details, but none of them put it all back together in such a musical, engaging way. Instruments and voices have so much tone, warmth, and punch. Forget tapping your toes, this cart makes music that will make you shake your butt. And like every AT cart I’ve encountered, the tracking ability is superb.I understand now why so many turntable manufacturers include some variant of the AT3600/AT91 family of cartridges. That a cartridge this cheap can sound this addictive is a major blow to the audiophile notion that higher cost equals better sound. If you’re looking to build a great-sounding turntable, it’s best to put the most effort into eliminating wow/flutter and motor noise, and designing a competent tonearm that tracks the record as accurately as possible. Better to put a cheap cartridge in front of a system like that, than put lipstick on a pig by installing an exotic cartridge on a poorly engineered table. That approach will do you no favors, and will only make those problems upstream more apparent.Many will dismiss this cartridge as cheap and low-end, but they are sorely missing out on the most fun I’ve ever had listening to vinyl. And when it comes time to replace the stylus, or my kid gets curious and breaks it, I won’t fret about the money. It will also accept any of the other styli in this range of carts, so I can put an AT91 conical on there if I want to play badly worn records, or an aftermarket line-contact if I want to push the tracking and detail capabilities even further.Save what you would spend on a more expensive cartridge and buy more records to spin with this one. This cartridge rules.

This is an amazing cartridge for the money. I use a Stanton St-150 table and have a custom phono stage. This cartridge digs into the grooves and gives a musical presentation with very good detail, excellent bass and natural midrange. I have had super pricey cartridges and I don't miss them. Not saying it's in same league as my 1k Clearaudio cartridge, but this thing just plays music that makes me want to listen. I have several pairs of high quality speakers and amps and have had same experience on all of my gear. I am playing more vinyl than ever because I am not thinking about a $500 re-tip of my pricey cartridge. Absolute no brainer purchase. Don't let price fool you. I have recommended to several friends all of whom purchased and enjoy it. In case you can't tell, I love this piece

This cartridge is quite nice for it's price. Properly mounted and aligned it can function without scratchy sibilance ("sss" sounds) and I feel confident I'm not doing any real harm to the records. It's not the final word in hi fidelity by any means, but for a basic setup in a mid-fi turntable it works remarkably well. I refurbish old turntables and I sometimes set them up with this cartridge if I sell them.

After reading all the good reviews I thought I'd give it try. You get what you pay for. Very disappointed. I have set at 2.5, (3.0 is max) even tracking at 2.5g it will skip if you're not walking really gentle...sound is a bit muddy for me

I know this is value priced for many but a good chunk of change for me. And it’s great.Spinning a record on it now and it works very well with a Garrard Type A MK II.The sound is almost too good.So clear and not even broken in. May be too technical and sharp before around 50 hours for some.I am very happy with it.