Stanton Calibration Standard Phono Cartridge Comparison

Walter Stanton co-founded Pickering & Company in 1947 as the Chief Engineer. In 1948, Norman Pickering promoted Stanton to Vice President and in 1950, Stanton became President of Pickering & Company where he created the Stanton Fluxvalve phono cartridge in 1955. In 1961, Stanton created Stanton Magnetics, a separate company from Pickering but continued to make cartridges under the Pickering brand and in 1965, Stanton Magnetics release its first cartridge, the 581EL. However, throughout the development of the Fluxvalve, there was always a distinction between the Pickering brand and the Stanton brand. Pickering-Stanton Fluxvalve cartridges were available to the general public but Stanton “81” models were marketed to the professional broadcast amd studio industries with tighter quality controls with higher technical specifications. Here is a comparison of the first 4 Stanton Calibration Standard models: The 381, 481, 581 and 681.