Shure cartridges discontinued

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Airbus, May 1, 2018.

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  1. Dubmart

    Dubmart Senior Member

    Location:
    Bristol, England
    Heresy!!!!:eek:
     
  2. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Sad news.
    I love my M97XE / Jico SAS combo.
     
  3. JustGotPaid

    JustGotPaid Forum Resident

    I don't get it. Shure's are already made in Mexico and its not like they are expensive. $99US at the most. I can't even name a Chinese cartridge.... Am I missing something.
     
  4. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    The good news for you is JICO is still in the phono business!

    I like using the OEM stylus, so I've just stocked up.
     
    Daniel Thomas, H8SLKC and vudicus like this.
  5. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Amen to that!
    I'm currently waiting for JICO to start taking orders of the SAS again so I can buy another one.
    They are currently very busy trying to keep up with demand and have a fair amount of back orders to take care of.
     
  6. Benzion

    Benzion "Cogito, ergo sum" Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Hearing that Shure is dropping phono products is akin to hearing that Harley Davidson is exiting the motorcycle building business to concentrate on electric corn harvesters, just because they make more money for the corporation. It is ironic and sad to see the company that pretty much invented that whole industry take such an easy and cowardly way out, and in the middle of the turntable/vinyl revival, to boot. Audiophile forums are still abuzz about the legendary Shure cartridges of yesteryear. People still hunt them down and pay exorbitant prices for NOS units, petitions have been voiced to resume the V15 manufacture. I mean - they have everything going for them, demand is there, they have history/legacy that others would kill for, and this is what they do? I feel disappointed. I bought an M97xE today, based on the news, just to have for the future, and this will be the last product I buy from the "new" Shure company, ever.
     
    dennman6, SandAndGlass, Gardo and 6 others like this.
  7. Wngnt90

    Wngnt90 Forum Resident

    Me too!
     
  8. No one can survive on a single SKU. You just don't have enough skin in the game to compete globally. If Dyson made only one vacuum cleaner model, they'd be dead in the water too.
     
  9. Wngnt90

    Wngnt90 Forum Resident

    The SAS is available at LP Gear.
     
    Daniel Thomas and vudicus like this.
  10. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    Not really, DJs will buy them up fast.
     
  11. Catcher10

    Catcher10 I like records, and Prog...duh

    Seems they were not charging/could not charge anymore for their cartridges to make it a valid business anymore. Higher costs for labor, material, insurance, taxes may have been more than enough to call it quits......I suspect they probably thought about mfg a much higher end cartridge and charging $300-$500. But I doubt that model would sell against the other high end MM carts like AT and Nagaoka.

    too bad
     
  12. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    No more stylus force gauge?
     
    Jimi Floyd likes this.
  13. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    Just to get in on this thread, some of my guesses:

    I think they really gave up the cartridge and phono business some time back, perhaps one year or two years ago or longer, and have just been selling off old stock. I think their supply has reached a certain small level so they have called this official halt to the business. Whatever they have left has been written off and anything left that is sold from this point will be accounted as "salvage".
    During that time period, they probably, I would hope, notified other cartridge and styli manufacturers of their intention to exit the business, giving a chance to buy the business and IP. But nobody bought.

    It's a sad end to one of the great names of cartridges that were Made In USA.

    Even Stanton, under Gibson, keeps a (very inconsistent) charade of staying in the business, selling two AT carts branded as Stanton, and selling EVG replacement styli with a Stanton label (in the same current EVG packaging, with the current normal style EVG label branded with only the real current Stanton logo), and DJ-oriented chinese turntables.
     
    Last edited: May 1, 2018
    Gardo and nosliw like this.
  14. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

    They're only going to buy the one's that they can DJ with, ie the M44. I'm speaking of the older "audiophile" carts like the 91, 75, 55, 95, V15's, etc. Even the M3/M7's.
     
  15. Shure hasn't been a serious player in the DJ cartridge world for decades. That market is wrapped up by Stanton and Ortofon and to a lesser degree, the derivatives like Numark, etc.
     
  16. 911s55

    911s55 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wa state
    C'est la vie
     
  17. MickAvory

    MickAvory Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I'm upset to see Shure go. I've got a M97xe and I like it. I know its not the most audiophile cartridge, but it often gets decent praise on here as being an affordable budget cartridge that isn't going to ruin your LPs. I picked one up a few years ago and I overall enjoy the sound I get from it.

    The problem is that there aren't a ton of decent to good sounding cartridges for under $100 that I can pick from. I don't have Mick Jagger money to be able to spend hundreds on a cart so this was a good affordable option for me. I know that I can probably pick from a few other brands that will give me similar sound, I just will have to go over $100.

    In a mild panic, I just ordered two replacement styli from Amazon so that I can have a small stock of OEMs to pick from. Hopefully, someone down the road will continue to make aftermarket styli for this cart option. I don't see why people wouldn't. There are other Shure carts that have been discontinued over the years and you can still get good replacement styli. I also have a V15 Type III, which I know is better than the M97xe, but its also 40+ years old. I can still get great replacement styli for that one, provided I go the JICO route. I may have to do that for the M97xe.

    As long as somebody is making replacement styli for all of the Shures out there... we shouldn't have to worry. The carts don't easily wear out. But, at some point, I know I'll probably have to go Nagaoka.
     
    OldSoul, Gardo and H8SLKC like this.
  18. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    Yes; the Chinese mfg trend has become the default standard and it has lowered the cost of everything that has been made there. It has also lowered the quality of goods, and consumer expectations for both quality and cost. So it comes to the US to realize that not only has it sold its jobs and technologies to China, but also its profitability. Shure could not make enough cheap products for the small market segment to make it. It may seem odd to us as avid record collectors and music lovers, and to many whom you meet and who mention the "vinyl revival", but sales are way down from where they were when Shure was making money selling phono cartridges.

    My comment addresses the fact that the "race to the bottom" buy mfrs has caused them to fall one by one. Now, very few make anything in the US and the Chinese have stolen loads of technology and products. We freakin' handed our backbone to them on a silver platter. It's a sad story, but one where the writing was on the wall in huge red letters for all to see. From years ago to date, every step of the way, it was ignored for instant profit to past share holders and to frivolous consumers who are too short sighted and who cannot see that they are doing self harm by saving a dime today rather than having a strong economy tomorrow and the years following. It's pretty much the same thing that happened with the latest economic crisis. People have only seen immediate gains opportunities and have lost sight of the big picture.

    Get me a $49 Blu Ray player and pass me another $8 latte please...
    -Bill
     
    SirMarc, Shiver, Reamonnt and 11 others like this.
  19. dmckean

    dmckean Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego, CA, USA
    It was only a matter of time anyway. Shure no longer employed any engineers with phono cartridge knowledge, so every time they could no longer source a material or component for a cartridge they just discontinnued it.
     
  20. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    When they left Evanston they started to die.
     
    showtaper likes this.
  21. Mr Bass

    Mr Bass Chevelle Ma Belle

    Location:
    Mid Atlantic
    There are plenty of Shure cartridges around so the real issue is whether the aftermarket for styluses continues. The cartridges will last for many years.There is a tonal difference between the OEM stylus and the aftermarket stylus so if one is wedded to the OEM sound that will be a problem.
     
  22. Champagne Boot

    Champagne Boot Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride

    Location:
    Michigan
    ...they moved a matter of a few miles to the suburbs, not the moon...
     
    Rolltide likes this.
  23. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    I personally do not mind aftermarket styli at all.
     
  24. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Yeah, this was it for me. I was happy with my V15VxMR until they bailed. I am now using Soundsmith carts.
     
    SandAndGlass likes this.
  25. MrRom92

    MrRom92 Forum Supermodel

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    I guess it’s as good a time as any to ask - if looking out for a NOS v15, what is technically the best one? I’m guessing it’s the type v, or the v-MR, or the vxmr, probably others I’m not even remembering… I don’t know what the differences are between these cart bodies, if any.
     
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