JICO SAS is currently out of production!!

Not good mate !
Lucky I just replaced mine. !

 

Ordered up a spare Jico for my M97xe. My current one has still got a bit more life in it, but just in case.....

 

I was already having a bad day. This just made it worse

 

Looks like someone has forced their hand! It does not make economic sense to cease willingly the lucrative sas range when the order books and demand is so high!
I am using the non sas which i love!
Expert Stylus UK, retip these. They are rebuilders of the highest standard. Not sure if they repair the boron cantilever. Will check out and report back. Anyone use this company for shure repair?

 

Let's put it another way. I am using non sas jico. This is also superb and hopefully unaffected. In all my years only recently encountered Jico!
If I had to find an alternative cartridge i would not know where to start. This (V15 MK 3) is the only cartridge that passed all Len Gregories tracking tests AND at 1 gram! I know it and. Trust it and its total neutrality. No other does this but some makers will which produce very exotic products which simply don,t deliver the sonic goods, BUT will take your money!

 

I had a jico sas for a m91ed it was great. I wanted to sell it and move up the chain but no one wanted it even with low hours. Ended up selling with my turntable to a guy locally, he didn't even know what he was getting it seemed, sure sounded good.

I digress, this is bad news, along with the price increases and shorter supply in the denon range too. Vinyl is super hot right now, wtf is going on.

 

I have the SAS on my M91ED, and I definitely know how good it is!

 

Great! Looking for the results.

 

Replying to my post. Bought the M97xe and SAS tonight.

Thanks for this heads-up thread.

 

Man, the prices are already starting to inflate to near $270. I was so close to pulling the trigger on one of these last week... Now I feel like an idiot. The ViVid line will have to do for now. Let's hope they come up with something bigger and better.

 

This is really bad news, especially for the many owners of various Shure cartridges who have become dependant on Jico for providing replacement needles.

I wonder what the cause is? I don't think there's any shortage of boron or diamonds so that can't be it. But I'm certain Jico doesn't manufacture either cantilevers or stylus tips - it depends on other companies which supply these items to Jico's specifications. I wonder if the upsurge of interest in vinyl has stretched manufacturing capacity in the industry to breaking point and whoever supplies these items to Jico - perhaps Audio-Technica, for example - needs all it can make just to meet demand for its own products, with none to spare for Jico.

Just idle speculation, of course. But I would love to know why this has happened because it might give us more of an insight into the chances of production being resumed.

 

They source the cantilever/stylus, it's probably some part of the suspension.

 

The online sites that have jacked the SAS prices up to just under 300 dollars should be ashamed of themselves. Talk about taking advantage.

 

Yup, the price gouging is strong on this one. The price on these will continue to go up... And up.

 

Wow, that didn't take long - what, 2 days?

I'm a newbie just getting back into the vinyl game after a long layout. I bought the M97xe and SAS for a Technics SL-D2 that's been part of my basement system forever, but unused since the early '90s; I was happy to discover that it was still working fine. I made it in on the SAS for $195.95 on Thursday. I just made it. I was pondering the SAS upgrade when this thread came up....thanks again OP.

A bit disheartening to be just getting started under uncertain, hostile conditions.

 

Welcome to the jungle mate !

 

Just ordered even though I don't need it right now, figured I needed to jump while they are easy to get.

 

I don't see it as taking advantage. They have made X profits on these for years, now they are being told they are losing this nearly scheduled revenue. So it's a matter of staying on schedule with their profit/loss numbers.

 

Not action pact, but I have the Jico Elliptical in my V15 II and I absolutely love it. I actually prefer it to the SAS, which I had in a M91ED, which I found to be a bit on the clinical side, although incredibly detailed. What the elliptical lacks in detail compared to the SAS (which isn't a whole lot), it more than makes up for in warmth - at least that's my take on it.

 

Ah crap. Now what? I have Shure/ Jico combo that I guess I will need to replace.

 

I am not crazy about the JICO SAS "house sound."

I found that the cheap EVG had more of the original Shure character when I used it on a V15-III and M91ED. I found the V15-III with the SAS horribly lean-sounding and lacking in energy (but it tracked crazy-good). I kind of like the M91ED/SAS combo though, but I sold my V-15's.

 

I agree!

The way I see it, you have to pick your poison... either you go for tonality or you go for resolving ability. (I pick tonality every time.)

As for the M97xE, which so many are quick to "upgrade" with an SAS... well, I think it's a fine cart with the stock stylus, you just need to make sure the total capacitance loading is around 250-300pF or else it will sound dull and bloated. A JICO SAS will likely throw off its ruler flat frequency response, assuming that's important to you.

 

Supply and demand... These vendors are not just providing a service, they're there to make money.

There are still other cartridge options out there if the SAS is too expensive or hard to find...

 

Which explains why I had the M97xE a few years ago and ditched it, and I experienced sibilance with it as well as the bloat, so it likely wasn't set up properly. I may have to give that a go again someday.

 

I'll assume that you know how to properly align and set up a cartridge.

I've read many, many reports of people experiencing sibilance and IGD with the M97xE. I own two M97xE's and have moved them around different tables, and have experienced no tracking problems at all. It would appear that Shure's QC has been inadequate with the M97xE, so anyone who experience any tracking issues should send it back for a replacement, if possible.