There may come a time when you want to change or upgrade your cartridge and to do so it is important to identify which cartridges are compatible with your turntable. There are two main types of cartridge fitment, the half-inch standard mount and the P-Mount. Audio-Technica manufactures both types, but only the half-inch variety are compatible with Audio-Technica turntables.

The most common cartridge on modern turntables is the half-inch standard mount, which has four terminals at the back that connect to four individual wires at the end of the tonearm. The cartridge is secured to the tonearm’s headshell with two screws, spaced half an inch apart. Should your headshell tonearm feature captive threads, it is important to understand that cartridges with captive threads shouldn’t be used as there is a high possibility that cartridge won’t be secured correctly in place. Read this article to find out more about headshells.

P-Mount cartridges are plug and play. They also have four terminals at the back that simply plug directly into the end of the tonearm and require no adjustment or setup. The cartridge is then secured to the tonearm with a single screw.

These allow owners of linear tracking turntables with T4P plug-in connectors to also enjoy Audio-Technica’s high-fidelity sound. T4P is a universal standard amongst manufacturers which ensures compatibility between all products featuring this logo:

Audio-Technica currently offers two P-Mount cartridges, the AT81CP and AT85EP. Though, if desired, they can be used as half-inch cartridges using the optional AT-PMA1 adapter bracket. This adapter makes any P-Mount cartridges compatible with both half-inch mount tonearms and half-inch mount headshells.

If you are unsure what cartridge comes with your turntable or which styli are compatible please see table below.

If you’d like to discuss cartridge compatibility further, please contact us.