Shure V15 Type III: I'm not sure what to think about it

Assuming that "PRODUZIONE DI QUALITÀ IN GIAPPONE" means "Quality-made in Japan," I would say that, yes, that is a JICO-made stylus. I'm pretty sure that EVG is a US distributor, so it will probably have different packaging and a different brand name in Europe.

I don't believe that the EVG is as compliant as the original Shure... I've used the EVG version of the M91ED on a high mass Pioneer tonearm and it sounded great.

Generally speaking, I prefer Grados to Shures, and your Gold1 can be upgraded with either an 8MZ stylus or (if you can adjust loading) an MCZ stylus. However, Grados do not like heavy arms, so it does not appear to be a good choice for you.

 

Yes the one pictured is a Jico. You can tell by the dot painted on the cantilever.

 

Yes, you're assuming right!
So it is a Jico EVG (the seller confirmed, too) and it cost 40 US$... I paid 50 for the Ed Saunders... mmm...
There are some cheaper sellers in Germany, almost as cheap as in US, but with bad feedback. I'm a bit uncertain in paying that amount of money again, after the ES results. One thing is 15 dollars, but 40... who knows...
I went straight for the ES after having read this review on TNT-Audio. Geoff Husband was amazed by the sound of the Ed Saunders stylus for the VxMR. He also stated "...spec is essentially what the V15III used, and for some people that was the best of all the V15 family – in fact Ed claims the stylus is identical...". So I thought maybe the much cheaper V15 III was not that worse performer than the V and I could set it up with a ES stylus and achieve something more for my Thorens TD-165. I found a V15 III LM body for 60 dollars here in Italy and I bought the ES stylus. Apparently I was wrong. Maybe the ES for the VxMR is a good one, but the III's is certainly not.
In the weekend, I'll also get editor Lucio Cadeddu's opinion on this (V15 vs old or new Grado) from TNT-Audio's Italian section - a reference for me - then I'll make a decision.

This is reassuring...

Thank you very much!
I'll keep this advice in very high regard!

The Grado I'm using is a 10 years old Prestige Gold body with a 5 year old Gold1 stylus and seems to work well. I must say I like it. I gather its compliance amounts to 20 units, not so bad for a heavy tonearm, for what I've learned; the V15's original spec was 30! Maybe the static one? While the dynamic compliance should be less, say 22.5? Not that bad, but worse than Grado's. I thought the Shure V15's high compliance was a problem with heavy ams (one of the reasons it was discontinued), not the Grado's average and very common value of compliance.
Or am I misunderstanding something?

 

I would get a new Jico stylus as it was one of my FAVs back in the day.

 

I'm not sure how much shipping from the USA to Italy is, but I really don't mind if you want to order an EVG from a US seller and have it sent to me, and then have me send it to you. I'm sure it would end up costing you a lot less than $40!

 

Just to update you all:
I've received feedback from TNT-Audio. The Editor doesn't think convenient to pursue further attempts in making the V15 III work and adviced to resell it (he's also not convinced it should outperform a much modern Grado). The main reason for all this being my Thorens TD-165, the entrly level of the 70s. He's never liked its (TP-11) tonearm and advices that I should use the money for at least a tonearm upgrade, if not a turntable upgrade (Rega or Project - if I like vintage: Linn, TD-125, etc...).
My decision is (already formed before TNT): keep the Grado (that has worked well for 10 years despite the tonearm's mass) and sell the V15 III LM body (anyone interested?), then use the money for a Grado 8MZ stylus.
I'll consider a new tonearm in the future, I don't know when...
Selling the whole Thorens... I don't know. It was a gift. I'm not sure I'd actually like the basic Projects or Regas... Anyway, buying a new turntable now is not an option. I'd like it, but I just can't... ;-)

Thank you all, guys! I'm really grateful for all your advices.
A special thanks to "action pact", who offerd to mail me a new stylus if necessary, and brought to light the 8MZ possibility...

See you on other forum threads!

 

The V15 is about as neutral as a cartridge can get. It's not for everyone.

 

JICO is not the only aftermarket stylus maker to paint dots on the cantilevers. It has been done for many years to identify the cut on the diamond of any given unit.

Doug

 

...but only with an OEM stylus, right?

 

Is this the stylus you bought?

http://stylus.export-japan.com/index.php?cPath=88&osCsid=j78v7mnke2ul2euf7513nt1g91

As you know styli on ebay that say they are SAS and made for the V15 Type III are pretty much double this price.

As you know,I have a Thorens/Fisher setup sort of similar to yours.I use a Shure V15 Type III that replaced the ancient Pickering that came with my table.When I was getting everything together,I bought a set of banana plugs,that worked much like your splitter.I hated how flat and lifeless they made everything sound,so I ripped it out,and connected the wires from the turntable directly to the back of the amp.It made a world of difference.

 

This is the stylus I bought.How does it compare to the $200 SAS on ebay?

 

No, this one:
http://stylus.export-japan.com/product_info.php?products_id=1045

 

SAS is a fantastic stylus and really excels in bringing out the detail in the music. I enjoy the .3 x.7 elliptical Jico because it sounds like the OEM stylus. I like to switch the SAS and elliptical stylus out to change things up. You can find a SAS cheaper then two hundred bucks.

 

Does the EVG apply to V15-II type2 ?
And' how's the EVG for sibilence ?

 

No, I have a Jico SAS with my V15-IV and it's still extremely neutral.

 

I wouldn't mind neutrality, but the stylus I bought for it didn't work well and I just didn't want to spend more money on this. I've found someone interested in buying cart and needle who lives close to my home, so I'll follow it up...

 

I use V-15 III's on my Dual 701 and 1229Q turntables and V-15 II on my Dual 1019 and the EVG stylus for II is a keeper too. No sibilance issues.

 

The only sibilance issues I ever had was with an Ed Saunders stylus on my V15III. Chucked it in the garbage and bought a Jico SAS instead. More than worth it.

 

Neutral is good...why would you want to colour sound at the source?

 

I purchased a v15 mk3 body a few months ago. My turntable is a Thorens Td150 mk 1. The arm has an effective mass of 7.5, ideal for the shure. The decision iwas faced with, which stylus to buy.
I decided on the ED Saunders. This was ordered fron Trisha Horn on ebay. It took 3 weeks to arrive. I fitted it and auditioned. To be brief, it was hopeless. It gave sll the symptoms of a worn out stylus. sibliance, surface noise, only acceptable at 1.5 grams at which point the suspension was bottoming.
Not to be beaten, i bought and fitted a jico stylus.
In a word awesome. This is the sound i,ve been searching for. My journey is over.I set it at 1 gram and all was well . On a technical issue, it passed all 4 tracking tests on len gregorys test disc. The sound us smoothe, detailed with real clout in the Bass, sound stage was awesome, surface noice low.
Let me say this : i,ve been using a 401,on a mdf board(waiting for m. Bastin plinth) sme4 and benz glyder cartridge, and the v15/ td150 betters this, and all other mc,s that i,ve used.

 

B

hello, i would be very interested if you did achieve a satisfactory with the v15 mk3. I had a similiar experience.in my case i bought the body only. Decided to go the ED Saunders route. Alas this stylus was not satisfactory. Not to be beaten i purchased a jico and have to say its everything i hoped it would be! Regards Thorensman.

 

Wow, this thread is ancient history!

I eventually bought two styli for the V-15 III, an inexpensive JICO-made, EVG-branded elliptical and a $$$ JICO SAS. The SAS tracked flawlessly, extracted infinite detail, blah blah blah, but sounded very lean/bright, so I did not like it.

The cheaper EVG stylus actually was closer to what I imagine a good OEM Shure stylus would sound like. It had very rich, fulsome mids and a much more energetic presentation vs. the somewhat polite SAS. Of course, the trade-off was its resolution capability was not what I required, so I eventually sold everything off and went back to my Grado Signature 8MR with MCZ stylus.

If I were to give the V-15 III another shot, I think next time I would try it with a JICO hyper-elliptical. I'm guessing that a HE would be a good compromise between the tonality of the EVG elliptical and and the refinement of the SAS.

 

Some more thoughts...

When discussing cartridges and styli, one has to take into account the tonearm being used. When I was playing around with the V-15 III, I had an SME 3009 S2 Improved (eff. mass: 9.5g) on my TD-124, which was famously designed specifically for the V-15 III and its highly compliant stylus. Presumably a JICO SAS, with its hair-thin cantilever, would also prefer a low-mass arm, but consider this: I am presently using a Shure M91ED with a JICO SAS on my Rek-O-Kut L-34, fitted with an "unimproved" earlier 3009 (eff. mass: 12.5g) and it sounds wonderful.

Is that because of the relative tonal differences between the V-15 III and M91ED bodies or does the SAS actually perform better on a medium mass tonearm than on a low-mass tonearm?

 

Synergy i expect. We all know about compliance and effective mass. Maybe fricton levels were bettet on the better sounding deck. I,m pleased your happy, thats the main thing.
I paid £64 for the Thorens. Cleaned it, lubed, and fitted new van den hul cartridge wires, new belt, got the 15 second bounce and it worked superbly! Sometimes you can be lucky!