Shure M3D - yet another truly great classic cartridge

[Marco]

Well, after winning this little baby on Ebay last week and having it shipped from the States:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...EOIBSA:US:1123

I finally got around to installing it this afternoon... And I have to say that I am UTTERLY, UTTERLY gob-smacked!!

I'll just put a few initial thoughts down as I'm still optimising the set-up and tweaking a few things, but even at the moment, it sounds simply stunning and is arguably the best cartridge I have ever heard.

This thing does not sound like any MM cartridge I've used, as it has much of the refinement, subtlety and resolution of a good MC but with it such massive weight, scale, and cavernous soundstaging in terms of both height and depth, that it takes your breath away. It is yet another classic 1960s-era broadcast cartridge featuring Alnico magnets which completely outperforms the 'forensic', thin-sounding monstrosities, posing as phono cartridges, foised upon us today.

It trumps the DL-103SA in all the areas which it traditionally excels: bass weight (here the M3D has massive extension and drive which almost makes the 103SA seem 'anaemic'), rhythm, midrange clarity, tonal richness and tunefulness, and adds with it more 'insight' through the upper frequencies with all types of music giving a listening experience that is utterly beguiling. It is funky with a capital 'F' and boogies like a b*stard. I literally can't believe what I'm hearing with this cartridge - it has to be the bargain of century at £80-odd including shipping from the States, so excuse me while I laugh out loud!

It's a bloody huge bugger to fit into a headshell, though. If you thought the 103 was 'chunky', then the M3D is a veritable King-Size Yorkie bar in comparison, being both wider and considerably deeper, and also heavier. It took my extra-long NOS AT-LT12 headshell to accommodate it, especially when positioned sufficiently back towards the bayonet fitting (necessary for optimal alignment), squeezing my bulky solid-silver Ortofon headshell wires tightly up against the back. This is not a cartridge that will fit in a 'normal' arm or headshell.

Like a 103, it also needs plenty of mass, so the 17g of the magnesium AT headshell including cartridge stabiliser seems about right. VTF has been set at 3g (I think the range is 3-5g somewhat like an SPU). The cantilever is about the thickness of a toothpick so high VTF should present it no problems, and in terms of vinyl wear I'm not someone who frets over such matters as long as the stylus is in perfect condition and tracking securely, which sonically it appears to be, although I will treat myself to an original and genuine NOS stylus from Ebay shortly.

Anyway, as I say, it sounds absolutely stunning and begs me to ask the question: when these cartridges were first introduced, did the amplifiers and, in particular, phono stages exist to show what they were truly capable of??

I suspect not!! Quite frankly, short of a top-notch SPU, there is nothing on the market today which offers the M3D's type of sonic and musical qualities. If you see one in good condition for sale on Ebay, just buy it!

More later when I've got a better handle on things

Marco.

[SteveTheShadow]

Hey Marco

That looks like a good buy!

I had a similar revelation with a 1970s Stanton 890SA broadcast cartridge. The cantilever on this baby is similarly sized to your Shure, it looks to be about 1mm wide so pretty hefty.

Tracking at 3 grams in a Rega RB250 fitted to a Thorens TD150 it kicks ass like no other cartridge I've ever heard. TBH I had completely lost interest in vinyl until our Anthony insisted I try the TT in my system. Using an Ortofon MC10 through Sowter step ups, I was as apathetic as usual. But trying the Stanton, which I'd had for years and never used was a gobsmacking experience to say the least.

The Rega and the Stanton seem to complement each other perfectly. I see that the 890SA has recently been revived by Stanton for use in DJ turntables and has had some good press on the club scene. I bet in one of those "Regafied" Technics SL1200s it can set those club dancefloors alight.

As a domestic cartridge it is a little stunner, so I can understand your enthusiasm for the Shure, which looks like a similar type, but with better mounting arangements than the Stanton.

Steve

[DSJR]

Are you all mad?

The M3D is dull as ditchwater, no top, pounding bass, tracks ok I suppose, but not that well and was designed for the autochanger derived groove-grinders of the early sixties.

If you really want something like this, get an SC35C as used by the BBC after they ditched the Gray arms with G800's. Not only does it sound clear, despite the rapidly falling treble-end, it tracks better too than the M3D.

I sudder to think what the over-sized cantilever and crummy diamond polish are doing to your records Marco (Shure cottoned on very late to how important tip polish and alignment is and I've seen many a flawed, grubby nail attached to brand new V15 III styli (we had an amazing stylus microscope at work).

[Marco]

The M3D is dull as ditchwater, no top, pounding bass, tracks ok I suppose...

Bollocks!!! "Dull" it is not, and the bass is seismic but tight and tuneful with it. It just takes a decent amplifier and phono stage to hear it properly. If it sounded as you describe, Dave, it would be in the bin and not on the end of my SA-750D ousting the 103SA

It sounds, well, just like real music! If you were here just now listening to some Charlie Mingus and John Coltrane playing 'live' in my room you'd be gob-smacked

Steve, I know just what you mean! I'll comment more later.

Marco.

[Mike]

Steve, I know just what you mean! I'll comment more later.

Before or after your record grooves have been re-cut?

[NRG]

Response to 15Khz and min 3g tracking force:

http://www.cartridgedb.com/docs/shure_m3d.pdf

[SteveTheShadow]

Before or after your record grooves have been re-cut?

I don't see that high tracking weights are an issue. Most of the records I bought in the 70s as a teenager have less damage on them after being played on a Garrard SP25MkIII with Sonotone ceramic cartridge, tracking at 4 grams than my 80s records.

These were played with various, mostly expensive MM cartridges, tracking at 1 to 1.75 grams and virtually all of them have audible groove damage somewhere along the line.

A lot of the secondhand 60s vinyl I bought must surely have been played on some kind of autochanger, yet apart from a few clicks and pops, they sound very nice.

Steve

[Marco]

Hi Steve,

As a domestic cartridge it is a little stunner, so I can understand your enthusiasm for the Shure, which looks like a similar type, but with better mounting arangements than the Stanton.

I've heard other people whose opinion I trust being similarly enthusiastic about the 681EE, which is similar:

http://www.juno.co.uk/covers/308807-01-back.htm

And I've also had my eye on one of these Pickerings:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-Pickering-XV1...1%7C240%3A1318

But the question is, with six cartridges already, do I need another one?

TBH, I've always admired what good MMs do but never fully got on with them before, missing the top-end clarity and 'sparkle' of a good moving coil.

However, the M3D is the first MM cartridge I've heard that combines all the good things about the breed when done well, particularly the lack of need for high signal amplification via transformers, and a shorter signal path as a result (in my case, a direct connection into the all-valve MM phono stage inside my Croft preamp), with much of the magic and clarity available from a good moving coil.

It may lack the uber-sweetness, crystalline clarity and explicit detail retrieval in the upper frequencies of, say, a high-end Dynavector or VDH, but the top-end of the M3D is vivid and explicit with 'shocking' dynamics, in the way of a Decca but with less 'sting', and the bass and midrange are to die for! Its lower registers have a power and authority which no modern moving coil I've ever heard is capable of producing.

Tonally it is spot on; it would be considered 'rich' by modern standards but that's only because most of today's cartridges sound so anaemic and frigid in comparison, failing to give music a proper 'foundation'. The M3D cruises through all types of music with unerring security and calm, teasing out subtle inflections in rhythm and timing, and as a result maximising music's 'fun factor'. Its music-making abilities simply put a big smile on your face, particularly when the cost is taken into consideration!!

My belief is that the reason cartridges like this sounded 'dull' and 'tubby' during the era when they were originally released was because of the sonic signature of the partnering electronics and speakers of the day, not because this was how those cartridges inherently sounded. Well, it would explain the diametrically opposed opinions of, for example, Dave and I. Modern equipment and ancillaries, particularly phono stages, simply bring out the best of these classic designs and allow their qualities to be fully appreciated.

I am a very happy bunny, as the M3D is another superb find and valuable addition to my cartridge collection. My thanks go to Steve Sheils for introducing it to me

Dave,

If you really want something like this, get an SC35C as used by the BBC after they ditched the Gray arms with G800's. Not only does it sound clear, despite the rapidly falling treble-end, it tracks better too than the M3D.

Yes I've done some research and know about those, and have duly bought one too! I'll be fitting it tomorrow to my vintage FR S/5 headshell, so will do a direct comparison with the M3D and report back with my findings

Man, digital is nowhere near as much fun as this!

Marco.

[DSJR]

The reason why they sounded dull and tubby Marco is because they also MEASURED that way...

Are you shure (sorry, couldn't help it) that there isn't something wrong with your phono stage not doing the RIAA properly [ducks in anticipation] and lifting the top response? bass shouldn't be seizmic, as it was often eq'd down in level or removed altogether...

An SC35C I can happily take, tracking at 3 - 4 grammes, but I owned numerous 681EEE's (better supposedly than the EE version and I tried several styli at a time to get a good one) and an XLM II absolutely annihilated it - more musical, more reverb, more "real..."

Ah well. I thought I had an M3D but it must be memories of bodies mouldering in a drawer in the workshop years ago............

[Marco]

Dave,

The reason why they sounded dull and tubby Marco is because they also MEASURED that way...

I don't give a flying f*ck how they measured - it doesn't SOUND that way in my system! Trust me, I do know what I'm talking about here

Are you shure (sorry, couldn't help it) that there isn't something wrong with your phono stage not doing the RIAA properly [ducks in anticipation] and lifting the top response? bass shouldn't be seizmic, as it was often eq'd down in level or removed altogether...

LOL! No, there's bugger all wrong with the phono stage in my Croft - it sounds great with every other cartridge I've got and the M3D is no exception.

Take off the blinkers, remove old ingrained prejudices based on results with dull sounding 1970s hardware and transducers, and listen to yer uncle Marco............

THE M3D SOUNDS BLOODY FABULOUS!



Marco.