+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 58 1231151 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 574

Thread: Consider the dear old Shure 97xe...it's £70! And it's great.

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jun 2012

    Location: sussex

    Posts: 214
    I'm peter.

    Default Consider the dear old Shure 97xe...it's £70! And it's great.

    I today put back my trusty old Shure 97xe. I have been using some vastly more expensive cartridges recently (no names, no packdrill) and yet again, the Shure shocked me with it's sheer all-round class. As always, you can play the 'hi fi' game, saying it lacks the last vestiges of detail, is not detailed in the extreme treble and so on,and on....). But the truth is, to my ears this cartridge oozes quality. It is well-balanced, sufficiently alive and, above all, doesn't seek to exaggerate detail, the abiding sin of most moving coil cartridges.
    I've used the Shure is preference to £4000 cartridges.
    You never, ever, get agreement in the audio community. That would be asking too much; but for $70 the Shure is one of the great bargains .And if you don't like it...you have a useful spare kicking around.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Mar 2008

    Location: Galashiels

    Posts: 13,669
    I'm inthescottishmafia.

    Default

    Could say the same for the Acutex 312 and 412. Great carts for beer money.
    “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”

    Hunter S Thompson

  3. #3
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default

    I'm with you there Ali, just listening using a 312 and it's very dynamic. Just experimenting at the moment with preamps.

    I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist - he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar - he played music. - Stevie Ray Vaughan

  4. #4
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: A Strangely Isolated Place in Suffolk with Far Away Trains Passing By...

    Posts: 14,535
    I'm David.

    Default

    Yeah, but all the vinyl numpty 'gurus' say that Shures are crap, so they are, aren't they? They just use their ears and what they 'think' is better.

    Interesting how record companies often checked their test pressings on Shure V15 III's and Decca classical discs sounded amazing via a V15 VMR, the venue acoustic beautifully realised by this model.

    Anyway, for around fifty notes or a little more, there really isn't much at the price to touch it now, as the AT120E is a ton, cheap Nagaokas won't be as refined due to over-pricing them these days and the Sumiko Pearl and Grado's are dull. Denon have more than doubled the UK price of the DL110 too and this is probably the nearest 'quality' competitor (I don't think the Acutex models are made any more?)

    Best shut up about it otherwise Shure will start pricing the thing at £300......

    By the way, an SAS stylus is reported to really take this model very high up the food chain and I believe measurements back up the positive sonic vibes about it for hf clarity and extension enhancements.
    Tear down these walls; Cut the ties that held me
    Crying out at the top of my voice; Tell me now if you can hear me

  5. #5
    Join Date: Jun 2012

    Location: sussex

    Posts: 214
    I'm peter.

    Default

    Just to add a word of caution about the hidden problems with buying ''high end'' cartridges. Noel Keywood reviews the new Ortofon A 95 in the recent ''Hi Fi World.'' It is, of course, another rave review. However, casually inserted into the middle of the long text is a single sentence which says that the first two samples of the A95 provided for review both had to be sent back, because they were faulty. That's two out of three samples with faults...and we can't know how many faulty samples went to customers, at £3,750 a pop.
    Only today a serious dealer in pricey cartridges remarked to me that with some well-known makes, (not Ortofon) every sample sounds a bit different. I've found a lot of sample variation among expensive cartridges in the past, which is another reason I like low-priced but seriously good cartridges.
    I'm certainly not saying that there aren't good cartridges out there at high prices, but it's a bit of a lottery really. And I'm not much of a gambler.

  6. #6
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Never had a dodgy Japanese cartridge!
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  7. #7
    Join Date: Aug 2015

    Location: Scotland

    Posts: 32
    I'm Gavin.

    Default

    I have found the AT95e to also be a bit of a bargain at under 30 quid. Been testing it out this evening on headphones and am surprised at how well it performs. 30 quid is less than a night out on the toon.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Beverast View Post
    I have found the AT95e to also be a bit of a bargain at under 30 quid. Been testing it out this evening on headphones and am surprised at how well it performs. 30 quid is less than a night out on the toon.
    Put one of these on your at95 and watch it go

    http://www.turntableneedles.com/Audi...SH_p_3721.html

    here's mine
    Last edited by struth; 28-08-2015 at 22:44.
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  9. #9
    Join Date: Mar 2010

    Location: France

    Posts: 221
    I'm Julian.

    Default

    I can confirm that the Jico SAS stylus for the 97xE is a great step up. On my Lenco through Quad 66/606 to Kef 104/2s it really sings.
    Julian.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Apr 2014

    Location: Melbourne

    Posts: 68
    I'm Lynton.

    Default

    I now have 3 Shure cartridges with SAS styli, an M91, M95 and M97xE. Love the SAS in all cases for its extra detail and refinement but I agree with the OP that the humble M97xE standard stylus is really, really good providing you let it really settle in (at least 20+hrs and perhaps double that IME) before judging it. Sure the SAS stylus (again IMO) is ultimately better but other than being a touch recessed in the highs, the standard stylus is still very musical. The 95 with an HE (non SAS JICO) stylus is extremely good sounding as well.

    One thing I have found is that one needs to match the cartridge with suitable capacitance however for best results. I use a total capacitance of about 260pF with the 97, 380pF with the 95 and 500pf or so with the 91.
    Lyn

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 58 1231151 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •