EMT TND 065 Cartridge, Shellac MC with 65 µm Diamond

The EMT TND 065 cartridge is a true mono phono cartridge in the EMT cartridge housing that tracks 78 rpm shellac records with a spherical 65 µm diamond.

It's not an all-rounder, but the opposite: a specialist tool for a format older than almost anything else in a listening room today. If you've inherited or built up a shellac collection, you quickly notice that the usual recommendations from the vinyl world don't apply here.

Why the TND 065?

Shellac records carry a standard groove, not a microgroove. Their groove is many times wider than what a vinyl cartridge expects. Put an LP stylus into it and it doesn't ride the flanks, it scrapes the bottom — and the bottom is exactly where seventy years of steel needles have left their mark. The result is noise that has nothing to do with the recording, and wear you can't undo.

The 65 µm diamond tracks where this groove wants to be tracked. Behind it works the same EMT generator that made the brand's name in broadcast studios, in the same monoblock milled from solid magnesium as its mono LP siblings. True mono conversion, not a stereo generator wired together.

What you experience

Recordings you've only ever known as historical documents suddenly become music. The noise commonly blamed on shellac is, to a surprising extent, not the record at all but the wrong stylus in it. Once that's gone, voices emerge with a directness you'd hardly credit to the 1930s and 1940s.

The frequency response ends at 16,000 Hz, and that's deliberate: above that, shellac carries no music anyway, only material.

Who is the TND 065 for?

For you, if you want to make a shellac collection genuinely listenable and own a turntable with 78 rpm as well as a tonearm with EMT, Ortofon A or SME mount. A phono stage with switchable equalization is ideal, since before the RIAA standard every label maintained its own curve.

Straight talk: this cartridge has no business on a vinyl LP — the diamond is too large and would damage the microgroove. It's a second cartridge alongside your LP system, not a replacement for it. And if you only own a handful of 78s as decoration, you won't be able to justify the effort.

Our verdict

For shellac archives, broadcast estates and collectors of early recordings, the TND 065 isn't a luxury, it's the precondition for the material being heard fairly at all — and for it surviving the next generation. HD Zürisee in Wädenswil is happy to accompany such projects from the start, including the uncomfortable questions about speed and equalization.

Technical data

• Diamond: spherical, rounding radius 65 µm (SPH 65 µm), for 78 rpm
• Frequency response: 20 – 16,000 Hz (±2 dB); 40 – 12,500 Hz
• Type: MC cartridge, true mono (True Mono)
• Cantilever: Aluminum
• Body: Cartridge, monoblock milled from solid magnesium
• Vertical tracking angle (VTA): 23°
• Recommended tracking force: 2.5 g
• Output voltage: 0.21 mVs/cm (equivalent to 1.05 mV at 5 cm/s)
• Compliance: 12 µm/mN
• Internal resistance: 24 Ohm
• Recommended load impedance: 200 – 300 Ohm
• Weight: 17.5 g
• Connection/mount: EMT standard; optional INT (Ortofon A) or X (SME)
• On request: silver coils as well as 1/2 and 1/4 coil versions

Frequently asked questions

Can I also play vinyl LPs with the TND 065?

No, and that's not a nuance, it's a hard limit. The 65 µm diamond is many times wider than a microgroove. It would sit on top of an LP groove instead of riding the flanks and would damage the record. For vinyl you need a second cartridge.

Do I need a turntable with 78 rpm?

Yes, the speed has to be right — the TND 065 only supplies the matching tracking radius. Many turntables offer 78 rpm from the factory or via an add-on pulley. A phono stage with selectable equalization also helps, since shellac records weren't cut to the RIAA curve.

Why is a frequency response up to 16,000 Hz enough?

Because shellac records carry nothing usable above that. What would be there is groove noise and material disturbance. The design up to 16,000 Hz follows the source rather than a datasheet contest — with historical recordings, you gain more from calm than from reach.

Are all shellac records optimally served by 65 µm?

65 µm covers the bulk of typical 78 rpm holdings. But shellac was cut over decades by a great many manufacturers, so groove widths vary by label and era. For very early or unusual pressings, it's worth going through your collection with us beforehand.

Why buy the EMT TND 065 cartridge at HD Zürisee?

Because shellac is a niche where half-knowledge gets expensive — wrong radius, wrong speed, wrong equalization. We've been in business since 1997 and accompany such projects from the tonearm question through to the equalization curve. Call us, write to us, or reach us on WhatsApp.

Goes well with

Shellac needs the right environment: under Phono-Vorverstärker you'll find units with selectable equalization, under Plattenspieler turntables for the matching speed. For the LP system alongside it, it's worth a look at Tonabnehmer, and under Plattenspieler-Zubehör you'll find cleaning and alignment aids.