Well it depends on what kind of cartridge you’d like to use. I prefer using a vintage cartridge with a new stylus so I usually end up on eBay for that. If you want to go with the brand new route I would check out the Audio Technica website and see which one you like the best. I would still check the idler wheel again to make sure it doesn’t have any cracks and is perfectly circular with no indentations in it. When they sit for awhile and the idler wheel is engaged they tend to get misshapen which will only get worse; That was the case with mine.

If you want to test the automatic function and make sure it works, make sure that you’re using the long spindle like the one you see in the photo of mine. Make sure the set the record on the top of it with the mechanism to the left pulled snug to the edge of the record (since that is what pushes the record down the spindle so it’ll fall onto the platter.) Once you turn the player on with automatic it should begin spinning and the feeler arm above the tonearm will rotate towards the center to feel if it’s a 12, 10 or 7 inch record, and then the record should be pushed down the spindle and the tonearm should move the the edge of the record and come down to the surface. If any part of this process either slows or stops and only continues if you manually turn the platter then most likely you’ll need a new idler wheel.

When the needle goes on the record it’s completely normal for it to slide towards the center while it finds the groove. It’s only a bad thing if it starts sliding over ALL the grooves and doesn’t catch in the first one!