Many did apparently, but all mine are magnetic. Out of about 30 separate pick-ups I have, only one has a crystal cartridge, and I have never tested it. I do have a cartridge that can with some other stuff I bought which I connected two wires to, inserted a needle an held it against a record, and to my ears, it sounded exactly the same as all the magnetic cartridges I use. I'm not sure there was any sound improvement with a crystal cartridge, not having much experience with them, but they certainly are lighter.larryh wrote:but didn't the period machines use that crystal cartridge?
Of all the magnetic pick-ups I have most of them use exactly the same sized coil & other components, so they all sound the same to me. The only thing you need to do to them is replace 3 little bits of rubber & they're ready to go.
It doesn't seem that crystal was very popular out here for some reason. I've even got a 1952 radiogram with a Garrard turntable which uses the same magnetic cartridge that was being used 10-15 yrs earlier.