Phonoland

Hello all, I've been trying to find info on my record player but a google search just brings up an uninformative thread on this board, so I figured I'd ask here anew. It's a Magnavox Automatic 400, stereophonic solid state portable player, that's the only info I can gather from the exterior. I haven't opened it up to find a model number since it works just fine. My problem is that I tried to eyeball a replacement needle for it since I couldn't find any info on the internet and I think it's just a mite too big. It fits and sounds great, but it doesnt flip 33 to 78 smoothly, and feels like it's gonna break the cartridge. While changing it I noticed a crack in the cartridge, and although I'm not sure if it was broken before changing the needle or not they're so cheap on ebay that I figured I might as well replace it. Does anyone have info on what cartridge I should pick up for this model? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Edit: the needle I put in it is here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ASTATIC-195-195 ... 2eb783ff5a , an EV 275, and it just barely doesn't fit. My question, then, is, could I just replace the cartridge with the cartridge this needle WAS meant for? They look the same, I'm sure it would fit, but I don't know about compatability...

I've bought that needle before. It's horrible and the fit is sloppy. That back "stem" is too long and the needle won't seat properly. Try the suggestions below which should work for an EV275 or Astatic 165D. The third one is a single snap in unit, and have had no problems with it. I believed it was used in the W800 series turntables in the early 70's units.

GE and Sears used similar small cartridges from EV or Astatic, and those may work as well. I've got a GE console out in the garage and the cartridge looks just like an EV275/Astatic165. The differences must be subtle because it used EV/Maggie needles with no problem. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

Thanks for the tips (and the speedy response)!