Buyer's Guides Cartridge & Arm Review YouTube Reviews

GOLDRING 1042 REVIEW & BUYER’S GUIDE

A review of the Goldring 1042? Oh yes but this video is a lot more, it’s also a Buyer’s Guide…

…when you want to upgrade your cheap and cheerful moving magnet cartridge but you’re worried about the leap to moving coil technology.

So, a 2-in-1 video then.

Upgrading from the certainty of a basic moving magnet cartridge to a more expensive model can be a stressful move.

I hope this video helps to provide some guidance and assistance.

[Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Group, The Audiophile Man: Hi-Fi & Music here: www.facebook.com/groups/theaudiophileman for exclusive postings, exclusive editorial and more!]

To see the video, click the image below…

Goldring

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16 Comments

  • Reply
    Carlos
    27th December 2019 at 6:43 pm

    Hello Mr. Rigby
    I’ve got a Clearaudio Concept (Satisfy tonearm) with the stock MM cart and I’ve been thinking about upgrading the cartridge.
    My amp is a Rega Brio, but I don’t know if the Brio phono stage is good enough to be paired with the Goldring 1042.
    Any advice would be appreciated.

    • Reply
      Paul Rigby
      28th December 2019 at 6:13 pm

      Hi Carlos – the Brio’s built-in phono amp is fine for now but an upgrade to an external phono model is highly recommended as soon as possible. To be honest, I’d recommend the phono amplifier upgrade first and then go for the cart upgrade afterwards. You’d experience better sonic value that way with fewer bottle-necks.

  • Reply
    Carlos
    29th December 2019 at 2:02 pm

    It’s very kind of you, Mr. Rigby. I’ll upgrade the phono but I guess I’ll take the MC route then… Thanks!

  • Reply
    Alex
    13th May 2020 at 8:55 am

    Hi Paul. How do you rate the 1042 against the 2M Blue, just out of interest?
    Alex

    • Reply
      Paul Rigby
      13th May 2020 at 10:57 am

      I’d lean towards the Goldring, Alex.

  • Reply
    Alex
    13th May 2020 at 12:54 pm

    Interesting, thanks. I actually had a 1042 about 10 or 12 years back, but I’ve realised since that my system was’nt capable of doing it justice in those days (I sold the cartridge). Now I have a much better system, and am using the 2M Blue, which I like a lot in fact. It would be so interesting to have the 1042 now, and be able to compare the two. But, the Ortofon does have the threaded mounting holes, which makes for much easier set-up…
    Alex

  • Reply
    Paul S.
    26th May 2021 at 2:50 pm

    Paul, I have a Denon DP-30L turntable. What would you recommend as a well balanced cartridge/stylus for it. Would you recommend replacing the tone arm or anything else.
    Thanks!

    • Reply
      Paul Rigby
      27th May 2021 at 2:54 pm

      Hi Paul – An Audio-Technica VM95E is a good all rounder and should work well.

  • Reply
    Mark
    3rd August 2021 at 6:03 am

    Hi, I have a 1042 fitted to a Rega 3 and the improvement in sound has been superb over the original Elys. Now it’s time to track down a decent phono preamp. I doubt I will upgrade to moving coils at least for the next decade with kids in school so the question is best matches up to say £1000 and then £1000 -2000. Thank you.

  • Reply
    Marcus J. Swift
    4th August 2021 at 3:59 pm

    Hi Paul,

    I noticed on your contact page that it just says to post anywhere, so I’m posting on a reasonably relevant topic. I’ve got a question for you, that you might want to cover in an article some time. What are the best currently commercially available p-mount cartridges (i.e. not customisation jobs), in both MM, and MC (if there are any)? I ask for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve got four p-mount turntables, and only currently three cartridges, so I would like to find a good option for the fourth. Secondly, because a lot of people like the Technics linear tracking turntables, for obvious reasons (indeed, three of my four p-mounts are these), and people might wish to upgrade from the standard Audio Technica options. As you know, I have a custom VDH cartridge on my main linear tracker, but I couldn’t afford two, hence that started me wondering what else is out there for Technics linear tracker fans. I’ve seen Grado, and a couple of others, but no idea which are any good, and come to that, not even sure if some of these supposedly p-mount cartridges would actually fit. Maybe you could tie up the two topics of the Technics linear trackers and the p-mount cartridges in one article?

    Kind regards,

    Marcus.

    • Reply
      Paul Rigby
      5th August 2021 at 9:35 am

      Thanks Marcus – I’ve no immediate plans to cover P-mounts but I’ll certainly makes note and keep an eye open for feature opportunities.

  • Reply
    Teo Sirakov
    27th February 2022 at 10:10 am

    I am very happy to read this review, Paul.
    I have recently been immersed in the world of vinyl.
    I bought my Thorens TD 318 in excellent condition, which came with a Goldring 1042 cartridge. I had serious concerns that this was not a good solution and began to consider replacing it with an MC.
    Your article encouraged me not to, at least for now. The Thorens plays beautifully, at least according to my ideas.
    Thank you for this thorough review.

    • Reply
      Paul Rigby
      28th February 2022 at 12:16 pm

      Thank you, Teo. Happy to be of help.

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