In April 2025, I reviewed the Technics SL‑100C turntable, which came factory-equipped with the Audio‑Technica AT‑VM95E moving-magnet cartridge—a cartridge that features an elliptical stylus. However, by the time I purchased my own SL‑100C a few months later, Technics had downgraded the bundled cartridge to an AT‑VM95C, which has a conical stylus. I felt like that was akin to putting the engine of a Fiat 600 into a Ferrari: it might work, but it won’t exploit the full capabilities of the host. I promptly swapped out the AT‑VM95C in favor of my Goldring E4 cartridge with its elliptical nude-diamond stylus.
After reading some glowing reviews of Audio‑Technica’s AT‑VM95ML MicroLine cartridge, I invested US$159 (CA$209, £134.99, €159) in a MicroLine replacement stylus. This allowed me to upgrade my bundled cartridge to the equivalent of an AT‑VM95ML. The complete AT‑VM95ML cartridge costs US$179, CA$249, £154.99, or €179. The cartridge is also available factory-mounted in a headshell for US$219, CA$299, £179.99, or €209.
Audio‑Technica has been a stalwart cartridge manufacturer since 1962. It was founded by Hideo Matsushita (no relation to Konosuke Matsushita, who founded Panasonic), after he held a series of “LP Concerts” at Tokyo’s Bridgestone Museum of Art and was dissatisfied with the quality of the phono cartridges available to him. Since its founding, Audio‑Technica has expanded its offerings to include headphones, microphones, and other audio equipment, in addition to a broad array of phono cartridges.
Description
The AT-VM95 series cartridges from Audio‑Technica are available with six different styli (in ascending price): conical, bonded elliptical, 3-mil conical for 78-rpm records, nude elliptical, MicroLine, and Shibata. All the styli are interchangeable.
The MicroLine is a hyper-elliptical design, similar, from what I can tell, to the styli used on the Shure V‑15 Type V‑MR Micro-Ridge and the Stanton 881S Stereohedron cartridges—both of which I have owned and loved. In effect, the MicroLine stylus is an elliptical design with smoother, longer sides to extract more information from the groove. The AT‑VM95ML stylus comes well packaged and includes directions on how to remove an old stylus and replace it with the new unit.
While a typical elliptical stylus measures 0.3mil × 0.7mil (a mil is 1/1000″), the MicroLine stylus is 0.12mil × 2.2mil and is mounted on an aluminum cantilever. Suggested vertical tracking force ranges between 1.8g and 2.2g, with 2g as the recommendation. Whereas most elliptical styli have a useful life of between 300 and 500 hours, the MicroLine stylus is said to provide up to 1000 hours of use.
The cartridge has a standard half-inch mount with built-in threads that makes installation into the headshell fairly simple. All AT‑VM95 cartridges use a vertical dual-magnet design that Audio‑Technica claims closely mirrors the arrangement in the cutting heads used to make vinyl masters. Specified output level is 3.5mV, which is not especially high as moving-magnet cartridges go. The AT‑VM95ML weighs 6.1g. Both the stylus and cartridge come with a one-year limited user warranty.
Installation
If you already have one of the AT‑VM95 cartridges, stylus replacement is relatively simple. Just remove the stylus assembly by grasping the sides of the cartridge body with one hand and the sides of the stylus assembly with the other. Slowly pull the stylus away from the body using a slight rocking motion. Once the old stylus is removed, the new stylus should slip on easily.
If you are replacing a different cartridge with one from the AT‑VM95 series, before you mount the new cartridge in the headshell, you should measure the distance from the rubber washer at the back of the headshell to the stylus of your existing cartridge. Make note of it, because that’s the distance the new stylus should be from that washer. Then you can uninstall the old cartridge.
Next, remove the stylus assembly from the AT‑VM95 cartridge, leaving the stylus protector on the stylus. That way, you have much less chance of damaging the needle. Two 11mm-long slotted screws, two 8mm-long slotted screws, and two nylon washers are provided for mounting the cartridge to the headshell. Choose the screw length that is appropriate for your particular headshell.
Insert the screws through the nylon washers and through the headshell, and thread them into the threaded inserts in the cartridge body. Only hand-tighten the screws at this point; the screwdriver provided with the AT‑VM95 will be used to snug the screws after final adjustments are made.
Next is wiring the headshell leads to the posts on the cartridge. As you look at the back of the cartridge with the stylus pointing down, the white lead goes to the top-left post; red goes to the top-right; green goes to the bottom-right; and blue goes to the bottom-left. For this, use needle-nose pliers and be gentle when you’re placing the leads onto the posts.
Then, it’s necessary to align the cartridge within the headshell. Reinstall the stylus assembly that was removed earlier. Align the tab on the inside of the assembly to the rectangular opening in the cartridge body and carefully press the assembly onto the body. It should seat firmly, making a slight “click” sound.
Now, make certain the “overhang” (the distance between the stylus and rubber washer at the back of the headshell) is correct, as noted above. This is important; otherwise, the cartridge will not track properly.
Install the headshell on the turntable arm and adjust the vertical tracking force to 2g. Also, if your turntable offers adjustable vertical tracking angle, make sure the arm is parallel to the surface of the record. This is particularly important with specialized styli such as the MicroLine or Shibata.
That should take care of installation of the cartridge. Now grab a platter and enjoy the music!
Listening
To start, I selected Rodeo from a collection of orchestral works by the American composer Aaron Copland, performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Louis Lane (Telarc DG‑10078). The infamous Telarc bass drum (as usual, somewhat emphasized) made itself apparent early on in no uncertain terms. All the sections of the orchestra offered an amazing unity of sound; it was quite difficult to pick out individual instruments unless they had a solo. The strings, in particular, played as one, and there seemed to be a slight emphasis on the upper midrange. This recording and the AT‑VM95ML seemed made for each other.
I have two copies of the 30th-anniversary edition of Fourplay’s self-titled debut album (Evolution EVLP‑025). That’s because one came full of clicks, pops, and surface noise—which, as you can imagine, did not please me. I keep planning to get rid of it but haven’t yet, and I was curious how the noisy copy would sound with the AT‑VM95ML. It sounded, in a word, amazing. Nearly all the clicks and pops were greatly subdued. For serious listening, I chose “101 Eastbound,” due to its variety of instruments. The bass had excellent slam and the piano had a very natural sound. The beats on the snare drum were taut as can be. And the blend of the voices was exceptional. The soundstage was quite broad, with better-than-average depth. At that point, I liked what I was hearing.
On Steve Winwood’s soulful “Roll with It,” the title track from his 1988 solo release (Virgin 7 90946‑1), the AT‑VM95ML performed creditably, but there was a slight harshness to Winwood’s voice throughout—something I hadn’t heard before. The soundstage, however, was exceptional, and the drums were set off by sharp attacks and lots of slam. The bass drum was nicely funky with great thump. This is a song that could have fit neatly in the movie Dirty Dancing, as it has an early ’60s R&B sound. Other than the unusual glaze over Winwood’s voice, it sounded pretty good.
After the harshness and metallic quality I heard on the Steve Winwood cut, I wanted another tune that featured a high-tenor male voice. That took me to “September” from Their Ultimate Collection by Earth, Wind & Fire (Columbia 19439951261). Philip Bailey’s voice sounded very natural, but I discerned what sounded like phase shift on the cymbals, similar to the “whoosh” sound one gets when listening to a distant AM station at night. The soundstage was broad but not very deep, which surprised me, as most EW&F recordings have substantial depth. However, the bass was punchy, the trumpets were crisp, and the vocals were exceptionally clear. I don’t quite understand the miscues of the cymbals, but otherwise the sound was rather good.
The Wilson sisters, who front the group Heart, are amazing musicians! Nancy is a very fine guitarist, and Ann has one of the most incredible voices of all time. On “Crazy on You” from the group’s debut album, Dreamboat Annie (Capitol B002486101), the intro shows off Nancy’s acoustic-guitar skills through a complex set of runs and chords that just sounded fabulous on my system. Then Ann enters—and she must have done damage to the studio with her incredibly strong and vibrant voice. I have heard sibilance here on certain words when played through some turntables and cartridges, but the AT‑VM95ML demonstrated none of that. Plus, there was a lack of surface noise that I found unusual. My pressing is not the quietest, but it was very quiet during this playing. I discerned none of the harshness I heard on the Winwood cut.
Comparison
Earlier this year, I replaced the A‑T cartridge that came with my Technics ’table with a Goldring E4 cartridge (US$299), which I had recently reviewed. To assess how the British cartridge compares with the A-T cartridge after the stylus upgrade, I selected “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits, from the Mobile Fidelity 45-rpm remastering of Brothers in Arms (MFSL 2‑441).
The Audio‑Technica AT‑VM95ML performed admirably throughout the song, except for one thing: there was no soundstage depth. All the vocals and instruments sounded squashed up against Mark Knopfler, although the soundstage was reasonably broad. The kick drum had definite kick. The guitars and synth were well reproduced with lots of intensity. And Sting’s “I want my MTV” was properly ethereal. All in all, a respectable reproduction.
The Goldring E4 and the AT‑VM95ML sounded very similar, except the Goldring offered a fair amount more depth—not an exceptional amount, but definitely more. For instance, Sting’s vocal part was well behind Knopfler’s with the E4. There was a bit more slam on the bass-drum strikes with the E4—but only a bit. In all, I still prefer my Goldring E4 to the AT‑VM95ML. However, the Goldring costs US$100 more than the A-T, a notable difference.
Conclusion
Obviously, Audio‑Technica’s AT‑VM95ML is an improvement over both the 95C and the 95E, as it should be. The ML version was very good at ignoring surface noise and even some scratches, so that’s a definite point in its favor. It has a good output level that should work with any phono stage, and it generally offers robust, full-bodied sound. I am puzzled by the slight harshness I heard on the Winwood track and the “phasey” sound on EW&F. But those may well be one-time occurrences. I wouldn’t trade my Goldring E4 for the AT‑VM95ML, but I believe it would serve many users well. And the AT‑VM95ML stylus would represent a very fine upgrade for any ’table equipped with the conical or standard elliptical variants of the AT-VM95.
. . . Thom Moon
thom@soundstagenetwork.com
Associated Equipment
- Turntable: Technics SL‑100C
- Phono cartridge: Goldring E4
- Preamplifier: Apt Corporation Holman
- Power Amplifier: NAD C 275BEE
- Speakers: Acoustic Energy Radiance 3
- Interconnects: Pro-Ject Connect it E (turntable to preamp), Morrow Audio MA1 analog (preamp to power amp)
- Speaker cables: Nakamichi Excel 12-gauge OFC cable terminated in banana plugs
Audio‑Technica AT‑VM95ML phono cartridge
Price: US$179, CA$249, £154.99, €179; available pre-mounted in a headshell for US$219, CA$299, £179.99, or €209. US$159, CA$209, £134.99, or €159 for AT‑VM95ML stylus
Warranty: One year, limited, on both cartridge and stylus
Audio‑Technica Corporation
7-2-1 Naruse Machida
Tokyo, 194-004
Japan
Audio‑Technica U. S., Inc.
1221 Commerce Drive
Stow, OH 44224
Phone: (330) 686-2600
Website: www.audio-technica.com
