Shure M97xE Blind Alignment Listening Test

Contact them, they may help you out. Contact tech support though, not CS.

I have owned 3 of these. I had an accident once and bent the stylus. They had me send it back and either they fixed it or sent me a new one.

I was quite surprised they helped me out, since it was my fault.

 

I'm going to try this. Did you send just the stylus, the cartridge assembly, or the whole metal case? I was about to call and ask them as it seems I'm still under warranty, but they're closed for the day.

 

I forget, but I think I sent the cart and stylus to them in the metal case. I think they asked me of that, they will tell you or ask them.

It's been a while, but I remember getting an extra metal case in the mail with my original stuff and a new extra cart.

Really strange cause I wound up with more than I sent them. They took care of me, but I spoke with tech support not CS. I did that based on someone online telling me that. I was told they were more helpful than CS and to speak to them about my problem.

I remember the lady I spoke to was really nice.

 

That's comforting. I'll give it a shot.

I'm also partially concerned it might be something with the table/arm. I mean, I bought it used, unfamiliar with what if any maintenance should be performed on a used table. I found a HiFi guy near me recently who claimed on his website to do "the best turntable setups…". When I emailed him about my IGD woes, he offered to look at it for $90 or not charge me if he couldn't fix the issue. I declined since that's more than I spent on the cartridge, but now I'm starting to think - if he's going to do more than just fiddle with alignment and he found something off with my table/arm, it might be worth it.

 

Ok...anyone having these issues with the Jico SAS on this cart?

 

Doubt it

 

Possibly related question: Are you supposed to be able to still rotate the headshell a couple degrees even after the collar has been completely tightened? I'm guessing the answer is supposed to be 'no'.

 

Regardless of that irritating question, I made another recording. Since I'm starting to question if the cart is messed up or the turntable/arm, I brought out my backup cartridge - a Shure M-447 with an N44g stylus. This came on a second TT I bought for cheap. I set this up using the 'M' alignment (which seems to be everyone's favorite) and recorded the same two sections. If anyone's willing to listen, I'd be interested in your opinions if you think it sounds better. Here are the recordings.

M-447 Holst-M
M-447 LZ-M

 

I figured I might as well reveal the alignments.
M= Baerwald
J= Technics
X= Stevenson

I learned Baerwald somehow changed the tonality on playback. According to the HiFi news record, I learned Stevenson required the least amount of Anti-Skate at just 0.6. I also realized this might have been completely a wash as obviously something's wrong with my cart. I sent it off to Shure and we'll see what they say. I'm feeling pretty disheartened by the whole ordeal. I'm not saying I'm going to do like some by selling off all my records and going strictly digital, but I get now why some have.

 

No doubt.

especially....well, honestly, while a nicely adjust solid table can beat CD in an ideal world (good pressing in good shape, stars and cart aligned properly and tracking force dialed "just so" for the given record....it NEVER beats high rez digital, which is what I've been buying, when available, for 15 years.

Also....to follow up--you asked if I still had play with it tightened, I said no....but, since then--I have been noticing I CAN turn it....I mean, it takes a little force--but, point is, I CAN "unalign it" by grabbing and twisting a little--which explains why when switching headshells I may or may not have gotten the same results. I had wrongly assumed that because it was keyed, you put it in, tighten it, and it's where it was before. Not so....so now, a headshell switch means getting the protractor back out.

I go back and forth between the "M" setting and the 52mm+aligning the cantilever to the Baerwald "stupid protractor". I can't get M perfect. Ever. But, it seems way more forgiving. The 52+alignment will get virtually distortion free on the inner grooves when perfectly adjusted....and some minor, god knows what alteration and it sounds like the last track on every side is going through a RAT pedal. But, the "long scale" arc following (M here) never sucks....but, also never seems distortion free. I do think thats why I had settled on it prior to this thread. "Never sucks" is always more important to me in gear than perfection.

Look forward to what you find out from Shure.