I had a Stanton turntable that I used for a while strictly for sampling . I didn't care for the cart that was on there about of the box ( Stanton 500.v3 ) . Not that it was a terrible cartridge , just not what I was looking for . Since I am a Shure fan , I decided to give the M35x a shot . I was very happy with it . The sound was great , and it held up well to back spinning and cueing . I sold that turntable to my sister-in-law's boyfriend when his console stereo died . He is very heavy handed and it causes me to cringe a little when he puts the needle on the record , but that needle is still holding up great and sounds awesome . I hope you get the same results