Beware of low cost counterfeits, your audio and vinyl listening experience will suffer.
Unlike a competing cart sled manufactured in China and sold for $14.95, the Best Audio TK14 is 100% American made, and unlike a cart sled manufactured in China, the USA made TK14 features an exclusive gold plated spring inside the gold plated signal pins.
Best Audio is the exclusive designer and manufacturer of this re-engineered TK14 sled. Sellers from China are not authorized to use the name Best Audio, our product description, or images. Unfortunately they are doing this, and more unfortunately, there is no way to stop them from wholesaling their product to eBay resellers.
While Best Audio cannot stop Chinese firms from copying us, please remember that purchasing from an eBay reseller who has copied our design only encourages more of the same.
Now to the description of the Best Audio sled ...
Counterfeit sleds have a brass spring inside the signal pin - this is a sound killer.
Why is a gold plated internal spring the best?
It's the science of electrical conductivity, and the pureness of the audio signal as it travels from the stylus to your ears. Below are metals ranked in terms of their conductivity of electrons, and relative to the most widely used metal, which is of course, copper.
Silver - 105% conductivity
Copper - 100% conductivity
Gold - 70% conductivity - Best Audio uses a gold plated internal spring on the signal pin
Aluminum - 61% conductivity - Dual used an aluminum spring pin in the original product
Brass - 28% conductivity - Chinese manufactured sleds/pins (and resold in the USA and Europe thru eBay) use a brass spring
As you can see, brass is the worst material on the conductivity list, and is why you never will find brass in audio cables.
A cartridge sled with an internal brass spring defeats the purpose of any gold plating because the signal is degraded along the path of the pin. At a minimum, the original Dual aluminum pins were twice as pure as brass loaded pins. Our sled is of a higher conductivity that the original Dual sled, and more than twice the purity of a counterfeit.
Best Audio uses only gold plated internal springs on our signal pins. As our company logo says, "Hear the Quality". In a blind test we sent our cartridge sleds, as well as some counterfeits, to audiophiles. The results were clear: Brass is the worst sound conductor.
Knowing that the metals are critical to audio quality, here are our specs:
The Best Audio sled used gold plated pins with interior gold plated springs. The spring is plated with 10 micro inches of gold (per ASTM 488, Type 1, Code C) over nickel. Other sellers cannot quote this spec.
In short, lower quality and often non-American made pins use brass internal springs (a sound killer) and display overall worse electrical and mechanical performance and reliability.
Our product is proudly designed, hand assembled, and USPS shipped from the USA. True injection molded plastic. See our youtube video, search for "Best Audio Parts".
Our sled will fit Dual turntables with the following model numbers:
461, 481, 491, 502, 504, 510, 521, 601, 604, 621, 701, 704, 721, 731, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1214, 1215, 1215 S, 1216, 1218, 1219, 1220, 1222, 1224, 1225, 1226, 1228, 1229, 1229 Q, 1234, 1234 A, 1235, 1236, 1237, 1239, 1241, 1242, 1245, 1246 and 1249.
Fast USPS shipping, with USPS tracking number.
Support American made products. Make the best choice. Choose Best Audio.
Images of a Dual OEM cartridge sled, if displayed, is done so for comparison purposes only so that the buyer can identify the size and shape of our reproduction. The Dual OEM headshell is shown for illustration only, to help you identify the size, shape, and design of our cartridge sled and how it fits into the headshell. The Dual OEM cartridge sled and Dual headshell, if displayed, are not for sale and are only shown to help you identify the purpose and design of our product.
To our European and International friends – Please be aware: Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding or buying.
