Audio-Technica 160ML (1984)

The Audio-Technica 160ML introduced the MicroLine stylus. Instead of a conventional elliptical contact area, it has a nude-mounted, grain-oriented square diamond cut to keep fuller vertical contact with the groove for the life of the stylus. Audio-Technica claimed this meant reduced record and stylus wear, superior tracking, and lower intermodulation distortion than their earlier designs. Stereo Review's Hirsch-Houck Labs (August 1984, p.36) tested it and called it an outstanding example of the new stylus shapes.

It is a moving-magnet design with a gold-plated beryllium cantilever and what Audio-Technica called a Vector-Aligned Dual Magnet system, as described in Audio (September 1984, p.74). That means two tiny cylindrical magnets arranged in a "V" to match the left and right groove-wall angles of a stereo record. Audio ran an equipment profile (September 1984, p.72) that confirmed the design and found the optimum tracking force to be 1.5 grams. The key specs from that report:

Type: moving magnet
Frequency response: 5 Hz to 35 kHz
Channel separation: 31 dB at 1 kHz, 21 dB at 10 kHz
Recommended load: 47 kilohms, 100–200 pF
Cartridge weight: 8.1 grams
Price: $275

That's about all the solid record there is. The 160ML was a serious, well-reviewed cartridge in its day, but documentation beyond those two 1984 reviews is thin.