Pickering Stanton 400AA
The Pickering Stanton 400AA is a stereo magnetic phono cartridge sold under the Stanton name. It was the lower-cost companion to Pickering's 481 series. The essential design is the same, but the output is somewhat higher. Today it survives in the record mainly through a single serious review.
HiFi/Stereo Review's July 1963 laboratory report (p.34-35) included the 400AA in a roundup of stereo cartridges alongside the Elac 322, ADC-1 Mark II, Pickering Stanton 481AA, Ortofon SP U, and Fairchild F-7. Julian Hirsch and Gladden Houck measured the 400AA's output at about 4.2 mV at 3.54 cm/sec. They found its hum shielding better than average, but not quite as good as the 481AA's. They judged its listening quality essentially similar to the 481AA's, which is to say very smooth.
Stanton's own ads of the period leaned on the "Stereo Fluxvalve" name. They claimed that more people worldwide listened to stereo records reproduced through it. The ads ran in High Fidelity (October 1962, p.4), Audio (January 1963, p.19), and HiFi/Stereo Review (January 1963, p.19).
The record is thin beyond that. Production years, original price, and full specifications are not documented in the available material.
- Stereo magnetic phono cartridge
- Output: about 4.2 mV at 3.54 cm/sec
- 400-series: lower-cost, higher-output relative to the 481 series
- Hum shielding: better than average; slightly behind the 481AA
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