Confusion reigns with the ADC 220
Posted Sat, 09/10/2011 - 23:41 by Doug G.

Yes, there has been a state of confusion since these cartridges were manufactured. The 220 is a red-bodied cartridge and was originally supplied with a .7 mil conical stylus. Tracking force is 2-5 grams per the information on the blister package which I still have. Replacement stylus: R20.

All the other 220 models with different suffixes (220X, 220XE) are a different, more squared off, off-white body and use different styli. Tracking force with these is lower at about 1.2 grams or so. The "X" suffix denotes a conical stylus and "XE" denotes an elliptical.

Later, many more models based on the same body were released (230X, 230XE, 240X, 240XE, 250X, 250XE, etc.). The styli for these are all interchangeable with the 220X,XE but NOT the original 220.

Almost every source of replacement styli for these cartridges is mixed up when it comes to which stylus is for which cartridge. Generally, they lump them all together with one stylus being the replacement for the 220, 220X, and 220XE. Of course, that is not the case.

And this isn't anything recent. I remember this going back to the early seventies at the latest and probably even back to when production of these cartridges was current.

Doug