Shure V15 VMR ... busted cantilever

[grumpy]

Anyone had experience with JICO, for replacement stylii?

http://www.export-japan.com/marketin...oducts_id=1522

[jcrobso]

Years ago my young daughter broke the stylus on my new Sure M55E.
I took all the stylus parts to Shure and they gave me a new one for $15.
Maybe you can contact Shure and send them the pieces and for a reasonably fee the will send you a replacement.
In recent years I have taken them broken wireless mics and Shure has been very reasonable in the repair cost.

[Mr. Widget]

Last I heard, Shure was still making replacement styli for the V15 Series.


Widget

[grumpy]

Ah. The VN5MR stylii -had- been discontinued, then later the VN5xMR.

I've contacted Shure's service dept. to make ...uh, sure.
They have stated that they will reply to me, tomorrow.

Thanks!

[grumpy]

Official Shure service department response (at least it was a nice/fast turnaround):
The VN5MR stylii -remains- discontinued, as does the VN5xMR. Crrrrrap.

Looks like the JICO equivalent stylus at $120 might be worth a try... or
the Benz-Micro or Dynavector folks this weekend

[grumpy]

1) Found an old Sony headshell and Shure M95ED cart in working condition
(listenable, but just a band-aid for now)

2) AT-OC9ML/II at under $350 seems like a worthwhile contender for more "critical"
listening and that something like a Dynavector Karat (at 3x $) is probably "right out"

To be used with: Technics SL-1210 MKII, Audio Research PH3-SE

I'm not firing on this today; any comments good/bad/alternatives would be fine.

Thanks... and no need to bash the Technics... I understand it's limitations, possible
upgrades, etc... it'll stay at least until the kids are out of the house (mostly).

[10 Watt Street]

Take a look at the Shure M97xe, it is essentially the V15 Type V with an aluminum shank rather than the beryllium. Also very affordable.

http://www.shure.com/americas/produc...hono-cartridge

[grumpy]

Thanks Mr. Street. I value your input.

I'll probably get that one anyway, ... to leave in the tonearm while I'm not at home

Actually, I've also heard good things about it, especially in that price range.
If Shure would sell it with the micro-ridge "Namiki" diamond (M97xE is elliptical), I'd have it
already and that would probably be the end of it.

For my personal usage, I'd like to move -up- from the VMR... or at least not lose
any ground.

[10 Watt Street]

The Audio Technica AT440MLa gets the MicroLine stylus at an affordable price.

If possible, go for a DynaVector overall! It will get along well with your ARC phono stage.

[grumpy]

M97xE showed up yesterday $59 shipped from JR. An inexpensive experiment.

A day later... after setting up overhang, tracking force, anti-skating, VTA (increasing this
helped a bit), and a very minor azimuth tweak (can only do so much with the Technics
arm without going to something like the Sumiko headshell, fortunately the amount of
rotation available was sufficient).

Personal judgment: It "ain't no" VMR, but I guess if they were still built they'd probably
be close to 10x the price. I can enjoy the music, and it's quiet (i.e., did not exaggerate
surface noise) but I'm not entranced... it's not involving the way the V15-VMR was.
meh. Maybe it will "break-in" further or I may play with VTA and tracking force some
more. I wouldn't expect an elliptical stylus to be as sensitive to VTA as a line-contact type,
but whatever.

If my opinion changes, I'll repost.

[macaroonie]

You should go MC ........... ask me why

[grumpy]

Hey Mac, why should I consider sticking an MC under my headshell?
(he says, already well along that path and needing no further persuasion )

[Hoerninger]

You should go MC ...

I do second this.
____________
Peter

[macaroonie]

Hey Mac, why should I consider sticking an MC under my headshell?
(he says, already well along that path and needing no further persuasion )

Seems to me that the preoccupation with tracking ability and high compliance ( Shure Pickering AT Signet Ortofon et al ) comes with the promise of instability in use. Of course there are those silly little brush dampers and other doo dads meant to keep things under control , but when the arm / cart assembly starts to wiggle tracking is out the window , fine line diamond or not.
In my time i have set up literraly thousands of high end turntables and frankly MM pickups just do not cut it these days.
The MC manufacturers have moved far in compliance design and also in micro coil winding so the old drawbacks really do not exist any more. However the big plus point is that the MC generator output is closer to what was cut because the generator system is inherently more linear. ( Relatively strong magnetic field , small coil moving around in that field ) Result is the more immediate character that comes with MC use. That comment is not about brightness or anything like that it refers to liveliness or lifelike qualities. From this then comes enhanced imaging .
I take it we are all here because of a liking for speakers that have also a character that aims to be lifelike in response and dynamics , and we are all aware of how JBL have achieved this. Same goes for cartridges , they are just smaller and easily overlooked.

Now having said all that there are some truly hideous MC carts and some scary prices also so of course let the buyer beware.

In general if you need a step up I would advise using a transformer , less noise.

If you are using the stock arm on that Technics you may have difficulty with some of the heavier MC's causing the counterweight to end up well back on the arm stub. I always advocate getting the CW as close to the pivot as possible , so that might mean some form of ballast weight. Some arms have this anyway.

Denons sound good with JBL without breaking the bank ( IMHO )

Hope that helps

[grumpy]

Thanks Mac. Appreciate the time that took and sharing your experience. I think KAB has heavier weights for stock arms, to bring that mass
back toward the pivot.