I had a Type IV and I loved it, then one channel died... Decided not to rebuild it and purchased a Grado.
I have a couple of vintage Dual 1219's. One has a Sure V15 Type IV on it and the other has a M97xE. I bought an extra M97XE, when they were discontinued, it is still new in the box. I understand that the stylus on the HE is better than the xE, which is a really nice sounding cart, considering the value price. I would take it over the Ortofon 2M Red any day.
Boron Cantilever (from JICO page) Boron is one of the most suitable materials for cantilevers; its density is low, Young’s modulus is large, and the speed of sound propagation is approximately 2.6 times faster than that of aluminum. Due to the characteristics above, boron cantilever can more precisely trace the information contained in the record grooves than aluminum cantilever.
Me too. And I also bought a new M97xE the day bad new was announced. Plus got a Jico SAS stylus for it - the original, not "Neo". Both are awaiting their turn.
Yes it is, and better than the Vivid line replacement stylus. It has better detail, imaging and bass. But... it is delicate, at least mine "was", I'm getting another one for my "Bday" though. M~
The differences between them are subtle. When precisely level matched it should be hard to hear a difference.
Just thought I`d chime in on the thread as I just received a V15V-MR I found on ebay at a decent price ($120 US without stylus). I ordered a new SAS boron stylus for it from LPgear and both arrived the same day (yesterday). I'm absolutely delighted with the sound I'm getting. I've been through quite a few cartridges over the years looking for just the right combination of detail with depth and warmth. This combo is definitely the best I've found so far. It has the tracking accuracy of my AT150MLX without the excessive brightness. It has the depth and 3D-like imaging of my Denon 301MKII but with the better tracking accuracy only a microline/ridge/SAS stylus can provide. For the past few months I've been spinning a Shure M35X with Paradox Pulse body and a Jico SAS boron for the V15VxMR and was quite happy with it (the internal specs on the V15VxMR and the M35X are quite close), but the real V15V (and not the x version with it's rolled off top end) just provides so much more realism. I can't wait for this to break in as I know with my other SAS styli, they sound great right out of the box, but after a few hours they really bloom.
It took about 50 hours to break in my SAS boron attached to my Shure V15V-MR. It sounds natural and I am satisfied with it.
Thanks. That was my experience as well with previous SAS styli I've owned. They always sounded great but this combo in particular has an almost addictive quality about it. There's a slight edge on the treble that will calm down with break in but what really struc kme is just how great the bass sounds, very balanced full and organic. Plus our host has said in the past that the "magic is in the midrange" and the V15V with SAS/B really bears that out. The imaging, the separation of instruments, the realism just blow me away. I was close to this with my AT150MLX but it has a bright, glassy sheen on the highs that made it sound unnatural. I used to have an Ortofon 2M Black that occasionally sounded special in the same way but only on certain albums whereas on others it just sounded wrong (and believe me I tried every alignment strategy, tweak, etc.). Each LP I've played with the V15V so far has sounded as good as it ever will, truly like what I imagine listening to a master tape must be like. So yes I'm delighted.
Here's my cartridge mounted to stock Technics Headshell from an SL-1210GR. Note the KLASSIK brand spacer which adds 2mm to the Shure 15mm cartridge height. This was necessary to make the cartridge sync to the Technics VTA adjustment scheme at ZERO marking. Other design parameters of the Technics SL-1210GR assure my cartridge is aligned to get all there is to get from it. This sets me at ease with the whole outfit. All of my LPs sound spectacular. I have a passive 15 inch JBL B380 Subwoofer powered by Sony TA-N80ES Power Amp operating at 560 watts mono, which seems to complement the Shure/SAS nicely for LPs which have any bass content. Overall, my impression of the Shure V15V-MR/boron SAS is similar to yours. I'm finished now with cartridge shopping, perceiving there is no better. Nevertheless, having another V15V-MR with original stylus, as well as a V15 III with no stylus, I may fit JICO SAS styli to these at some point when I have the money to do that, until then they'll likely remain in my desk drawer.
Nice. You mentioned that you have a V15V-MR with the original stylus. Do you notice much of a difference between it and your SAS?
I have attempted to discern divergence but initial comparisons did not reveal any peculiar aspects which could be easily distinguished as sounding different from one cartridge to the other. The comparison was made with Shure mounted to a Sony Headshell which I could not discern as being exactly aligned on the Technics table. Once I can afford another correct Technics Headshell I will compare again.
I've owned all of the V15s and used both original, Vividline, and Jico styli. The main reason I'm writing is to say I have personally experienced a high failure rate of V15 III cartridge bodies. Much more so than the other V15s and other vintage cartridges. The cartridge failure is typically expressed as one channel out. I'm not talking a couple of hundred cartridges here, maybe it's been about two dozen cartridges over the last 18 years and one third of those had a channel out. It could be my bad luck, or it could be something internal to that particular cartridge body. Anyway, my advice is if you are looking for a body for a V15 III, be sure the seller is guaranteeing it.
Still own (1) Type II, (3) Type III, (2) Type IV (1) Type V and they are ALL going strong on my 6 tables. Long live the Shure V15 series.
The dead channel problem with some V15's was that for a while Shure did not solder the lead out wires to the pins. It might have been that they were concerned that soldering flux would rot through the very fine wires in time, but not soldering leads to slight oxidation of the wires over the decades causing an intermittent or no connection at all, usually on one channel. It is not that the coil itself is open circuit - it is the connection to the pin. I can't just openly recommend soldering the pin (there is usually a hole in the end of the pin) because you have to be very careful, use very fine gauge solder, and be very good at soldering. And you have to do this without melting the plastic bit that the pins are fitted into. But faced with a dead cartridge, it could be worth a try, or find someone who has fine soldering skills do it for you.
It's apples and oranges: one is an MM with hyperelliptical stylus, the other one is a LOMC with conical. Overall, Denon is more neutral, Shure is a bit warmer.
This is awesome! For your test here, how much capacitance did you have on the cart? I know the 1200 has about 100pf in it's cables. Was there anything else and did you play with the resistance? I am going to be going down the rabbit hole soon with your whole youtube channel...but no Squirrel Bait!
I did not play with resistance at all, although my phono preamp has a 50k load instead of 47k (I doubt that makes much difference). I'd estimate capacitance at 100pf. I'll try to get some Squirrel Bait up for you. Might be a few weeks though. I appreciate the feedback.
Ah yes, good old expert stylus. How does the paratrace compare with the sas stuff? I got a bunch of 78 tips for the v15 (iii) from them for my over 90k 78s. Rolled off highs? the highs are the best thing about my v15 (iii)s but they're almost too much and the bass is what I'm having a roll-off with. That's interesting we're probably both loading them wrong but differently or something...
Just a few thoughts, I love vintage cartridges and posted this thread a while ago. Which of these 2 vintage carts do you prefer? Shure vs Goldring I love my v15 (iii) with original vn35mr stylus, but I was extremely lucky and it was free. It sounds wonderful and full, especially with orchestras, but I wouldn't want to listen to bass-heavy music with it. It doesn't have the bass of my goldring g800s and not nearly the bass of the m44 or ortofon 2m blue, but both the latter don't sound generally as good. I listen to mostly classical music and another issue with the v15s is they pick up all the surface noise there is, whereas the old goldrings seem to smoothe it out a bit. I'll say this, though, it will track anything. If I'm using another cartridge that's giving me a bit of distortion, usually putting the shure on fixes it, if it isn't baked in that is. My system is a bit of a messy dj highbrid, built more for convenience, a bunch of channels and a lot of tone controls rather than so called hifi and can sound very forward, trebbly, maybe a bit bright with the shure. This is why I tend to use the goldring more, but for the very best records (emi asd, decca sxl, columbia sax and direct to disc stuff) the shure v15 is the best thing I have ever heard if the record isn't noisy. I was listening to Dvorak's new world from the 1967 lp with Kurtesz conducting. I have played this over and over with other stuff but it was the first go round with the v15 last week. I know this record like the back of my hand and there's a part where sudden loud bighting brass comes in, which I knew was about to happen and it still made me jump almost out of my chair! amazing upfront presentation. All this being said I have no idea how to do anything at all about loading so it's probably being done wrong, and on the stock technics 1210 gr arm which gives me a probably too low (7hz-ish) resonance frequency... If you come across one for under £150, get it. If I'd borrowed one for a week that I had to give back I'd be franticly bidding on them. Luckily I have 3 of them (yes they're all in use) and a load of stylie, they are now my go to cartridge for serious 78rpm remastering projects. Might I mention yet again how much I love goldring g800s and that they are cheap! My wife prefers them to the shure and can hear from down stairs which cartridge I am using, and to be honest for a lot of records they are as good, if not better. It does depend what you're looking for. If you want me to do needle drops with the shure on specific kinds of music just ask...
This seems like a very good thread to revive, full of knowledgeable people who may be able to give me an answer. In the mid to late 70's I had a Connoisseurs BD 1 kit turntable with an SME 3009 series II improved arm and a Shure V15 III cartridge which made a beautiful sound. It is very difficult to describe, it was as if it had a black background that you could almost touch. Unfortunately someone broke in and stole part of my HiFi set up and in doing so did irreparable damage to my turntable. Through the years I have tried many combinations of deck, arm and cartridge but have never been able to replicate the sound. I have possibly had better sound staging, more bass, even possibly better all-round sound and reproduction but never more musicality and enjoyment. I ended up with a Michell Gyro SE, Rega 250 arm with Origin Live mods and counter weight with a Dynavector DV-20X2H. Then I came up with the idea of rebuilding the old set up. I bought an old BD 1 turntable with an SME 3009 S2 Improved arm, stripped it all down and installed it in a 1 1/2 inch slab of Maple and bought a used Shure V15 III with a VN35E original stylus and fitted that and Bingo the same sound with the Black background. Now comes my question: what is the source of the background? Is it the absence of something? Is it caused by the venue? Does it happen with any other cartridge. I have tried a Shure V15 RS which is to all intents and purposes is a ShureV15 VxMR and I do not get the Black background. In a sense it is like playing the radio at 3 AM when all around is dead quiet. I bought a second used VN35E stylus for 'just in case' but there is no way to know how many hours these used styli have left on them. Is there a replacement styli that will sound the same as the original? Even when my system was at it's peak with Sony SCD 777ES, BAT V5i, VTL 450 Signature mono blocks with Svetlana winged 6550's through modified Joseph Audio 25? speakers it never gave me this much enjoyment. Well maybe it did when I had all my hearing and I could hear all the bits and bobs. So basically what am I hearing and what is the styli that will get me closest to the original VN35E sound? Thanks. Alan
Does your stylus need to be replaced? Hard to tell from your post. If so, you might start by trying an inexpensive replacement such as the Pfanstiehl 4764-DE, which can be had for less then $30. I’ve had good luck with several of their replacements and it’s certainly worth a shot. Of course you can spend a great deal more with a Jico replacement if you so desire. To attempt to answer your question it’s probably not one single piece that is alone is responsible for generating a sound that is so pleasing to you, but rather how the entire system gels, how every piece synchs up with the others. That’s a good place to be.
Since my last post on this thread I have put a 40+ year old Shure V15 type III cartridge back into service with a new Jico SAS-B stylus assembly. In comparison and contrast of it to my V15V-MR, and V15V/Jico SAS-B, I sense the V15 type III with Jico SAS-B is delivering the blackest of black backgrounds, the most nuanced details, broadest sound stage, and the airiest tone. This magical experience suggests to me that there's no point to further cartridge tasting since the V15 type III/Jico SAS-B is delivering the sought after outcome. At any rate, the aforementioned cart is mounted to my Technics SL-1210GR connected to a 2.1 Parasound P6 Phono Stage using Technics kit cables. The Parasound delivers remarkably black as coal backgrounds at any volume from all analog and digital sources, as well as properly managed bass to sub. I also think my 91db efficient JBL L100t3's Speakers contribute to the black background/nuanced experience. In other words, my system seems to have awesome synergy.
