JICO SAS is currently out of production!!

Important announcement regarding SAS products | JICO stylus | Online Shopping for Japanese Phonograph Needles »

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING SAS PRODUCTS
Thanks to your gracious support in the past we are honored by the recent prosperity you have brought us and offer our deepest gratitude. Regarding the Super Analogue Stylus, which has long enjoyed your continued patronage, it has become most difficult to obtain the necessary parts, despite our best efforts. We regret to announce that all future sales will be discontinued.
We endeavor to refine the original design and bring you the next generation of Super Analogue Stylus as soon as possible. Your continued patronage is much appreciated as we undergo this product transition.

1. Affected Products:
   Future sales of all record styli utilizing the SAS (Super Analogue Stylus) tip have been suspended, effective immediately.
2. Contact Information:
   Email: [email protected]
3. All orders which have already been received will be processed without interruption.

 

We endeavor to refine the original design and bring you the next generation of Super Analogue Stylus as soon as possible.

It will be interesting to see what they come up with as a replacement.

 

Just when i find heaven god closed the door.

 

This totally sucks! My first experience with a SAS stylus is only a few months old and the upgrade in sound and tracking is not subtle. I have been contemplating buying another one for a separate cartridge, now it is too late. I bet the domestic vendors that have a supply of these will jack the prices up. I fully intended to use the SAS forever, due to the fact that out of the myriad cart's and styli I tried - it sounded the best by a country mile. Just when I found something I was happy with......sigh.

 

I'd imagine there are a lot of people with cartridges waiting to fit the SAS stylus. That's a shame.

 

I'll just knock wood now in hopes that they don't suspend their Shibata production.

 

I wonder... the main difference between all other styli (production of which is not stopping) and the SAS is the cantilever.

There are diamond tips on all the other styli, metal shafts, rubber bushings, plastic mounts...the real diff is the boron.

Thoughts?

 

This is not good news, but I have faith that JICO will come up a solution. Probably not as quickly as any of us would like though!

 

Uhh... I was just about to spring for a Shure M97xe cart.

 

Good questions. I can only compare the Jico SAS to the elliptical and hyperelliptical styli they offer and there is absolutely no comparison. Someone here mentioned the Shibata....I would love to hear from anyone that has compared the Shibata to the SAS for the same cartridge. Maybe that is a viable option while they re-engineer the SAS.

Should I really be this panicked? I would estimate my SAS only has about 20-30 hours on it.

 

Ruby to the rescue?

 

Here's my OPION, and I hope it helps someone in their journey.

I'm currently doing a side by shootout of about 12 carts. Five are MM and seven are MC. A few of my buddies are also envolved to keep it as unbiased as possible. We're hoping to do needle drops of about three song portions for each cart along with pictures for added appeal. Once we have it down to 3 maybe 4 carts as the biggest winners we want to do a table shootout using the to "test synergy"
Carts:
Goldring 1042
Ortofon 2M Black
Ortofon 2M Blue
Shure M97xe
Shure M97xe with Jico SAS
AT33ptgii
AT33E
ATOC9 ml
Dynavector 10 X 5

A few of these we have double of for comparing tables side by side.


All that said to say this.. I'm not done, but some things are already obvious.
I like the SAS. It's detailed and lifts your soundstage. But with that said... I'll never go back to MM. If the SAS isn't available my advice is take the opportunity to plunge into MC.

 

Great, I look forward to this.

 

Another thought. There are those Vivid stylus for like $80 for the shure carts.

 

This is a big loss the way I see it. The JICO SAS has been bringing many old carts back from the dead, not just Shures.

 

Replying to my own post. Should I just get the cart and scoop up a SAS before they're gone?

 

That's exactly why Shure had to stop production of the V15vxmr. The cantilever was molybdenum, and our wonderful government told them they had to stop using it.

 

That's the route I took before I got the SAS for my Shure cart. I purchased one from LP Gear. Sibilant as all hell, it tracks even worse than the entry level stylus that came with the cart. A better option was one of the NOS genuine Shure offerings the same vendor had. Sibilance issues disappeared and it tracks like a champ. With that said, still not even near the level of the SAS.

 

noooooooooooooooooooooooo

Good thing I ordered a new stylus a couple weeks ago. I guess we'll see if it shows up or not.

I did try one of their lower-grade options for the V15Vmr and it didn't sound nearly as good. The SAS is close to what the old Shure styli sounds like.

 

Hey, action pact, I'm not certain if I am remembering this correctly, but didn't you say that you preferred the regular EVG stylus on your M91ed cart? Or you liked it enough not to justify the extra money for an SAS? I have a V15 Type IV that I would like to put into circulation but the EVG for that model is $50 and the Jico Hyper Elliptical is $125. Not sure which route to go.

 

Pity. All good thing must come to an end.

 

Why is that?

 

Still listed as "in stock" here for those who want one:
N97xE JICO SAS for M97xE - our Needle 77x3-Dsas-N97xe »

 

Initially I was floored by the sound that the SAS brought to my Shure V-15 IIIs but after a while I started using the Jico elliptical stylus and really enjoyed the rich full sound that it brought to my V-15 IIIs. SAS for detail, and what some might label sterile, elliptical for a rich, full old fashioned OEM sound. At least for my ears. The SAS that I do own will not be going anywhere.

 

The governnment decided that producing molybdenum was hazardous to the health of those working in the factory, so private industry was banned from using it. However, the government itself was still allowed to use it in aerospace projects, etc. Very few audiophiles in congress, I suppose.