Shure V15 - Very Nice Indeed

My usual Benz M2 cartridge seemed to be getting a bit "rough" recently during playback. Not huge amounts of distortion, but a definite sense that it wasn't tracking as well as it used to. So, time to pack it off for a check up. What to use in the interim? Well, after all the good words here on the V15VxMR, and the decent price from Garage-A-Records, I figured it was a good excuse to try one. (Actually, do audiophiles ever really need an excuse? )

I must say, I am quite impressed by the performance of the V15, even after only a few hours of break-in. Very smooth and balanced, delivering a great sense of--as the TNT reviewer noted--the heart and soul of the music. Now, it doesn't have the detail or the air of the Benz, but that arguably is an artifact of MC cart frequency response and resonances. And frankly I don't really notice it that much since hearing the difference requires sitting down for serious critical listening--something I don't do that much of right now.

What I've been thinking most about while listening through it is that it's a kind of a time machine for me, taking me back to my earliest days of vinyl playback when I used only MM carts like those from AT, Ortofon, and, well, Shure. I've been pulling out some of those albums I've had for 30 years or more, and with the Shure it seems to me that they sound "right." Sure, high end MCs do all sorts of whiz-bang audiophile things, but I think I'll have a hard time putting the Benz back on when it returns.

John K.

 

Great description of the Shure, John.

The typical moving coil is definitely the culprit when it comes to misleading audiophiles into thinking that the tonal balance of live music has a peak in the high end. I graduated to the Shure almost 15 years ago; now I wince every time I listen to a moving coil.

When Type 5 was introduced back in the late eighties, The Absolute Sound reviewer accurately descibed it as "one of the world's great cartridges."

 

The V15-V I think was originally debuted around 1982 or 1983...I recall playing certain (then) new albums on that cartridge. It was good when it first came out, but it only had what Shure called their "hyper-elliptical" stylus tip. When they introduced that Micro-Ridge stylus (the "MR" in the part number), it was the icing on the cake.

I don't know what you listen to normally, but find some good vinyl that is cut really "hot"...and you'll get to enjoy what good trackability is all about. What really floored me was how much distortion was eliminated when I listened to 7" 45RPM records--it was night and day!

The fact that it is smooth and "flat" are a good argument for using it in my transfers to CD. I've had a few comments about how good my CD-R dubs turn out.

 

I love this cart--just upgraded to the xMR from the earlier V15VMR and find that Shure has made an excellent cart even better. Very neutral transducer.

 

Mine's vintage "original issue" V15-V. (Although I have quite a few broken cantilevers to my name. ) What exactly are you hearing that makes it even better? I just don't know if I want to keep what I have, or make the upgrade one of these days.

Reminds me...I found an old box in the basement that had a bunch of odd turntable and cartridge parts in it, along with at least three trashed V15 styluses. Looks like I've got some warranty replacing to do. (I'll get at least one, just to have a spare on hand.) A couple are so old, they are still the stylii with the serial numbers on the sticker on the front!

 

I hear greater transparency in the treble--somehow it seems to sparkle a bit more, though I don't hear a frequency uptilt. I also hear a little more depth in the midrange (greater dimensionality) and a little more oomph in the bass (I suspect a little frequency-response tinkering here on Shure's part). Taken together, the sound is more palpable and involving than with the V15VMR, though it's an incremental improvement of about 15% or so.

Everything seems just a tad more responsive and transparent. Not night and day, then, but quite enjoyable.

 

Tracks like butter. It can really even track some trouble-cut records with ease. Sibilance is at a bare minimum, if at all, and it's very smooth while keeping a good balanced image. It's a very delicate operator.

 

The Micro-Ridge version was introduced in 1988; earliest versions might have been introduced in 82 or 83, but I don't recall any reviews of it prior to J Gordon Holt's in 85 or 86.

 

I've had mine, hmm, almost two years now? Where the hell is the time going!
Anyway, the shock of hearing vinyl minus tracking distortion still comes back after all this time.
The other day I pulled out my Counting Crows "Recovering the Satellites" double LP for the first time in ages. An album that had immense distortion from start to finish on three other carts plays clean and natural with the Shure. Once unlistenable, now very enjoyable! The Shure is a masterpiece.
Dan C

 

I wish I still had my original sales receipt for it...I bought it from Lyle Cartridges way back then! I remember buying it before CDs were available (even early ones). I found a cartridge history on Shure's site:

http://www.shure.com/phono_shure_history.html

Looks like the V15V showed up in 1982 and the MR stylus in 1983. (Could have sworn the MR came a year or two later...aah well.) The current V15VxMR debuted in 1997.

Speaking of Shure, I just had a good laugh at one of their websites. They have a separate site for turntable DJs called Needlz (http://www.needlz.com). What's funny is that I was reading up on a new DJ cartridge, the Whitelabel, and one review of the new cartridge had this line in it:

http://www.needlz.com/news/rv_whitelabel_2tt.asp (for the very grammatically poor article this comes from)

Ummm...yeah, in fact, wasn't Shure around making cartridges as long as these other guys, if not longer??

 

What strikes me is that some of the time, the inner grooves still sound pinched on recordings that try to stuff a lot of grooves at the end of a side, but the distortion just isn't there anymore, or is at least greatly reduced. This only applies to new vinyl that hasn't been played (and damaged) with lesser cartridges. One of the newer pressings I own is Live's Throwing Copper. The outer tracks sound very good, but inner tracks don't have the same dynamics the CD does...a congested sound, pinched, uncomfortable. But distortion is a lot lower than what my other, cheaper "vinyl shredder" cartridges would have put out.

Hmmmm...that sounds like a very worthwhile upgrade. To me, freedom from tracking distortion and minimal groove wear is #1, but I do know that mine is a bit "soft" in the same ways you've mentioned. Never really bothered me, but I've heard the xMR version was improved over mine. I'm going to bet that the high frequency range is probably more extended, not necessarily meaning an upward tilt. No problem finding a new home for the V15 I have though...I have enough turntables around here to put it on.

 

I can't wait until I can finally buy one!

 

I think the upgrade bug is about to bite me big time. Is garage-a-records offering the best price on these now?

 

$236 delivered to your door. May be better out there, but that's good enough for me.

I find I am very aware of this type of "pinched" sound, which is one reason why I use a linear tracking arm in an effort to reduce any inner groove distortion to its minimum. The inner grooves is where the Benz was primarily beginning to falter. I haven't done any serious listenting to the Shure yet as it breaks in, but casual listening gives me a good idea of how this cart is capable of tracking.

John K.

 

I think part of the "pinched" sound is due to the fact that they're cramming all the waveforms into a much smaller circle than at the outside of the disc. IIRC, in the old days of cutting LPs, they used to reduce the high frequency content the further the cutting head got toward the center.

 

Micro Acoustics 2002e vs. Shure V15

I am listening to a Micro Acoustics 2002e right now and it sounds very good.

Anyone (besides Ron) ever use this cartridge?
It was the best you could buy (as I remember) in the mid 70's.
IMO The Shure back then sounded a bit brittle on the high end.

It is a 30 year old cartridge with a new old stock stylus.
(The last one in the World, I think)
MA went out of business years ago.

So anyone have an opinion of if I should get the new Shure???
Would only be as good or comparable or better????

Thanks for any opinions,
Clay

 

Hey TT guys. I saw one list today - a Shure V15VxMR. It's on Audiogon, and only $200 for a sealed one (whatever that means).

 

Here's the link if anyone is interested. The seller accepts PayPal:

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?anlgcart&1071002451&2&3&4&

 

Re: Micro Acoustics 2002e vs. Shure V15

IMHO, definitely better. Things have improved in the past 25 or so years. I have a couple of Shure M44-7's that date back to that time...they are WICKED bad at tracking, but the 78RPM stylus does a good enough job for me. I use one of them in a removable headshell on the old direct drive table I modified for 78RPM usage.

We keep saying the tracking is terrific with this cartridge...it just really opens things up, for lack of saying anything else we haven't already said about it. Just getting rid of most of the tracking distortion was a major benefit for me. I moved up from a mid-line Grado, which I still like, but it can't track nearly as well.

 

The MA tracks great at .75g. It will even track at .5
It has a tapered berelium cantaliever.
Anyone have both and compared them?
Ron what do you think - can you remember how great the MA sounded? Have you heard the new V15?

 

I'd like to. All this talk has got me thinking, but the Clearaudio sound is nice. I don't think any Cart. will ever get rid of the inner groove pinchness. Some records are worse than others. Even DCC's weren't that great sometimes. That's why i have most Lp titles on CD (Gold) also.I'm just getting curious about the Shure V15.

 

Not when it's pressed into the grooves that way. A comparison is the Genesis LP "Trick Of The Tail". The US Atco pressing sounds pinched when the grooves get really close together at the end of side one, where the MoFi doesn't. (I think side one clocks in around 24 minutes, and the Atco has the grooves going almost to the label!) BUT...all the distortion I get with lesser cartridges is just about gone with the Shure, so there's still quite a difference. I know that lousy Dynavector I own couldn't even handle it without sounding like it was tearing vinyl apart, and the Ortofon on my Dual didn't handle it so well either.

IMHO the pinched sound that *I* am hearing is more a product of the mastering/pressing than anything. The V15 just seems to bring it out, warts and all.

 

Re: Micro Acoustics 2002e vs. Shure V15

I had a MA cart for several years in the 80's. I don't remember the model; it was one of the upper-tier ones and 2002e rings a bell. I liked the sound fine but I heard an immediate and big improvement when I switched to the V15VMR. The Shure also tracked a lot better than the MA (which was itself a pretty good tracker).

I'd say you'd be very pleased with an upgrade to the V15VxMR.

 

Re: MicroAcoustics 2002e

My first "good" turntable/cartridge combination was a Philips 777 with a MicroAcoustics 282-e, purchased in 1979 on a salesman's recommendation at Tech Hifi's 67th Street and Madison Avenue store in New York City. A marked improvement over my parents' all-in-one Zenith system; that MA tracked 45s very well (notably the mid-1970s Parlophone Beatles reissues). A couple of years later I upgraded the cartridge to the 2002e. Both cartridges sounded very good, but in my experience the 2002e styli wore out rather quickly (noticeable drop-off in the high frequencies after only about four months of moderate use). Did anyone else have that experience? Might that have contributed to the company's demise?

I currently use a Shure V15vxmr (or whatever the model number is -- I can't keep it straight!) on a Technics SL-1200M3D. The intervention of time and three other carts (Ortofon 540, Ortofon X5MC, and Grado Reference Platinum) prevents me from making a reliable comparison between the Shure and the 2002e.

 

The only thing "wrong" with the V15 series was 1. They were made in the USA, and 2. They were not very expensive. Seems some people must have expensive foreign stuff to satisify their passions. Shure has always been one of the great venders of phono cartridges. Glad to see they are still going strong and that they have put the V15 series back into production for the long haul.

Richard.