Audio-Technica AT-34 (1976)
The AT-34 was the value leader in Audio-Technica's 1976 line of four new cartridges, and it got a serious workout from Julian Hirsch at Stereo Review. At $79.95, it sat below the AT-14S at $125 and the AT-20S at $150 — but Hirsch found it tracked remarkably close to its pricier siblings. His verdict was blunt: it "comes close to equaling the performance of the AT-20S, and at half the price" Mix Magazine (April 1997, p.204).
Mechanically, the AT-34 used the same dual moving magnet principle as Audio-Technica's more expensive models — two tiny magnets mounted at right angles to each other in the center of the body, shielded by a mu-metal jacket. The stylus assembly was user-replaceable, with a nude diamond mounted on a twin tapered cantilever (two tiny tubes side by side). Recommended tracking force was 1 to 2 grams; Hirsch tested at 1 gram and found response "essentially flat from 1,000 to 20,000 Hz" and clean to the top of the range.
His measurements showed 26 dB of channel separation at 1 kHz and channel balance within 0.5 dB up to 15 kHz — meeting the ±1 dB spec. Output was 4 mV. The one weakness he flagged: low-frequency tracking at 1 gram could mistrack on heavily recorded bass passages. He characterized the sound as "clean, well-balanced, and quite uncolored," and noted the cartridge's audible character was remarkably similar to the AT-14S — with even better channel balance and a lower price.
Known specs from the Hirsch-Houck Labs report:
- Moving magnet phono cartridge
- Frequency response: essentially flat, 1 kHz–20 kHz
- Output: 4 mV at 1 kHz
- Channel separation: 26 dB at 1 kHz (measured)
- Tracking force: 1–2 grams recommended
- Stylus: nude diamond, 0.3 × 0.7 mil elliptical
- Price: $79.95
Production years beyond the 1976 introduction aren't documented, and no independent test from other publications has surfaced in the record. What survives is a single thorough review and the period advertising — but that review is a good one.
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