Can I get some cartridge suggestions? Just bought a...

Audio Technica LP-120. Heard the cartridges that come stock are shit, real flat sounding. Anyone want to point me to something warm?

abc wrote:Audio Technica LP-120. Heard the cartridges that come stock are ****, real flat sounding. Anyone want to point me to something warm?

if you gonna be sampling, backspinning, scratching i can recommend the
ortofon Concorde DJ S

What's the difference between a regular cartridge and a dj cartridge? I heard they don't sound as good. It'll be primarily for listening and sampling btw.

abc wrote:primarily for listening and sampling

Ortofon Broadcast E

Ortofon FTW...

How do you adjust the gauge without screws on the head?

abc wrote:Audio Technica LP-120. Heard the cartridges that come stock are $h!t, real flat sounding. Anyone want to point me to something warm?

I don't know which cartridge come with LP-120, but the real culprit on AT LP-120 is that, the integrated preamp is not good, and even if you want to bypass the integrated phono preamp, you won't get truly bypassed signal from phono cartridge. Just don't use the preamp, use external phop preamp.
Audio‑technica AT95E, which comes with LP-120, is a very good cartridge. Even CN5625AL is pretty OK sounding cartridge (considering this is about $20, it is steal.)
Good news is that, modding (Audio-Technica AT-LP120 Preamp Removal) is not that difficult. Just google it.

Yeah, I heard about that. Defiantly plan on doing some surgery as soon as I get my delivery. I figured I would do that and replace the cartridge before I started sampling with it. You don't think it'd be much of a difference from one of these Ortonfons?

Go for the Audio Technica AT-440MLa. It'll end up costing you $200. But it's the best cartridge in that price range, especially for eliminating inner-groove distortion which most cartridges can't handle on the last track or two of an album.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009MK3A/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2A4YRBDTUDFPM&coliid=I3NJP3VBOC3PBR&psc=1

Read all the reviews and compare them to other cartridges in that price range. I guarantee you won't find a better cartridge for the money.

That was one of the first ones I was looking at. Read a lot of good reviews. What do you think about tube preamps?

abc wrote:That was one of the first ones I was looking at. Read a lot of good reviews. What do you think about tube preamps?

You can't go wrong with it. Tube preamps can get really pricey. I doubt you wanna spend a lot. You might want a good solid state preamp like the Cambridge Azur 551-P. I'm looking to upgrade to that soon.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007A0DU96/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2A4YRBDTUDFPM&coliid=I203EO0L4HQRLQ

If you can find a decent tube preamp in the same price range as the Cambridge, then check out the reviews. But I haven't followed up much and figured I'd be happy with the Cambridge. Let me know what you decide to do.

I’d suggest much more affordable option.

I believe that kit phono cartridge is AT95E (one with green stylus), which is pretty good cart, so why not keep it. You can upgrade cartridge later.
But, you should definitely apply the bypass mod to LP-120, otherwise it is even pointless to upgrade phono cartridge. (The mod will disable the USB output, but I don’t think you would miss it.)
For an external phono preamp, ART DJPRE II Phono Preamp (one without USB out) is surprisingly competent. I like it very much.
It has low cut filter and gain control on the unit, which makes this preamp SO useful. (I should’ve bought another unit when it was only $30!)

Already circumcised it. I also ordered the purple cartridge though, I think I'll just save the green as a back up.

Don't forget to buy a cartridge alignment protractor. You're gonna need it in order to get the most accurate tracking. Otherwise the cartridge won't sound as good and you'll also end up damaging your records and your needle.

http://www.amazon.com/Sleeve-City-Cartridge-Alignment-Protractor/dp/B00OS7VO2Y/ref=pd_sim_23_40?ie=UTF8&dpID=61c82tuFWYL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=16Z09NW7RTBNTY8J14Z6

I got me one of the overhang ones.