Audio-TechnicaAT-VM95E/H Turntable Headshell/Cartridge Combo Kit Green

Buy it it’s great. With price ranges all over the place this under $75 dollar cartridge sounds terrific.

This is the absolute best "all around" cartridge & headshell still mass produced today for its price +100.If you are looking for a great sounding cart/needle for all around listening this one will make you (your ears) very pleased. I've used no less than 50 high quality needles over my lifespan (20+ years in radio), and recently got a set of these to test against the likes of Ortofon, Shure, Nagata, Goldring, Stanton, Gemini etc... this needle outshines them all. Even against AT's other models you will not find a better all-round performer.

Great Audio Technical Cartridge and headshell combo. Sounds great and very easy to install.

affordable and sounds great. a steady workhorse of a stylus that won't empty your wallet.

Good quality for being so inexpensive.

This pre-mounted cartridge, after making the necessary adjustments to the tonearm of my old Technics SL1700 turntable and using the recommended downforce and anti-skate force does not seem to sound as clear as my very old, lightly used Grado RS1 or Empire 3000EX cartridges that I long ago mounted myself on relatively inexpensive headshells. With the AT, one record might sound pretty good and the next not as clear. It seems to make many of my old LPs too bassy. Both of my previously mentioned antique cartridges are very consistent and provide great sound to my old ears for all types of music and on older, well used LPs. It is still a decent cartridge for the most part and I did give a four star rating. I will continue to use it for old rock and roll and country and western music where its deficiencies are not so easily noticed. After watching many videos on You Tube talking about and praising this AT cartridge, I do have to say that I am a little disappointed. I also have to say that my comments and my opinions are based only on what my old ears are hearing and not on any laboratory sound testing equipment.

This combo set is the real deal at a good price:Headshell Quality: I think this is a decent, perfectly adequate, albeit not high-audiophile grade headshell. It is indeed made in China (says so on underside) but the craftsmanship looks fine with no obvious defects. I will say I was hesitant to buy from the pictures. It looked like a bold, flashy design to me and I wasn't too fond of it. I'm happy to report it looks more understated in person than the pics may lead you to believe. It's an attractive, adequately manufactured headshell in line with the price. No issues.Ease of installation: this new AT cartridge line is making some waves because of its easy, no-nut mounting. I can report it is indeed easy beyond belief to manipulate the cartridge and align it. Kudos to AT for making a simple yet vastly effective design tweak that helps all of us with big hands and small patience. All you need is a flathead screwdriver to adjust the alignment. The headshell itself screwed right in to my table with no issues.Sound: Admittedly I'm still in the break in period. It sounds great and delivers far more clarity and bass punch than the LP60 conical stylus, for example. Is it an order of magnitude better? I don't think so. However, with the LP60 stylus I always felt like my Edifier 1700BT powered speakers were never having their full potential unleashed - they were capable of more. With this cartridge, I feel as though they are now at their limit - and the cartridge could possibly deliver more with better speakers. So I would say to assume the quality here is perfectly in line with the past AT95E, and accoriding to some I have read, even superior. I never used an AT95E so I can't testify. In short, sounds great and is only getting better as it breaks in.Trackability: will keep this brief. Records that used to skip don't skip here. Is it my new turntable, the new stylus, or both? I don't know, but I have no tracking problems anymore.The future: I was debating many different cartridges and headshells but decided to bite the bullet and go with this trusted brand, despite a lack of reviews for this new generation. One of the biggest selling points for me was the upgrade path - with this installed, Audio Technica has 5 stylus replacements to choose from that just clip right on to the same cartridge body. So the $80 spent here to get my Technics up and running has potentially provided years of upgrade fun, should I so choose.But maybe I won't have to upgrade, knock on wood, because this sounds pretty damn good. Not a single complaint from this Everyman Wannabe-Audiophile reviewer.P.S. the packaging is great