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

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

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.

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.

Better than I expected. And a decent value as you get the headshell, wires, cartridge, and stylus for one price. Perfect for my vinyl records. Much better than the old Audio Technica cartridge it replaced that was probably 15 years old. Sounds excellent.

I bought this cartridge with an AT-VM95SH cartridge to compare the two. Both came pre-mounted with head shells and were in perfect alignment with my Technics SL1200 MK2 turntable right out of the box. I used an alignment grid and a digital stylus gauge for calibration. I did an A/B test of the same albums with the same exact setup for both cartridges and recorded the vinyl to .wav files. This (AT-VM95E cartridge) is almost sonically identical to the AT-VM95SH, I could not really hear a difference between the two, and I tried. They both have excellent 3D stereo depth, clarity, openess, and they both make the albums so exciting and so satisfying again. I was sure this cartridge would be a bit less sonically satisfying to enjoy then the other one, but not so. They sound identical to my sound engineer ears. I heard the same exact amount of surface noise, on the same cleaned albums with both cartridges with the same tracking force of 2 grams. If you want perfection, this is it. I can hear the fine details of the music I never heard before with my old cartridges. This is a very revealing cartridge as is the other one, you hear the intimacy of every instrument which is mind blowing awesome! You hear the ultra harmonics (past 10k) in music again and you get stunned by hearing them with such clarity. (My hearing ends at 12k). I used to crank up the volume on music CDs and still not be fully satisfied because I knew these harmonics were missing. This cartridge will put the life back into your records.Just for fun, I did an A/B test of some rock CDs vs the same albums on vinyl thru this cartridge. I recorded the vinyl to .wav files and put these against my CD rips of .wav files for the comparisons. The CDs sound lifeless now, no details, no excitement, missing 1/2 the harmonics, like b/w vs color. I thought CDs were the best sounding, but I had not played vinyl in 24 years. CDs sound tired and bland now, vinyl has this extra sonic life. There is so much more music details to hear on vinyl with this cartridge, than from a CD.