I could be wrong but isn't the 55 the same internally as the v15, just not hand put together with close tolerances ?
I could be wrong but isn't the 55 the same internally as the v15, just not hand put together with close tolerances ?
My System
John Wood KT88 Amp.
Paradise Phono Stage
Sony TTS-8000 Turntable.
PMAT-1010 MK6 Tonearm.
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze
Sony X555ES Cd Player
Yamaha NS1000m Speakers
The 55E was a more commercial version of the original V15 I believe, in the same way the 75-ED was a downgraded? v15 T2 (the diamond is naked as is the V15T2, but not the same quality if mine are anything to go by). The M95 body borrowed from the V15 III and the M97 in original form borrowed from the V15 IV, although the IV was a law unto itself in terms of coil specs I think. The current bargain priced 97XE borrows from the fondly remembered V15V-XMR body and if anyone's interested, may I suggest grabbing one while they're still around a ton in price, as all the competition (Grado, Ortofon, Goldring and so on) has gone up 50% or more in recent times and the inferior lower model Nagaokas, which used to be cheap-as-chips in earlier lives and half the price of a 97HE for example, now cost around the same The Jico SAS stylus takes it to another level apparently, but the measurements alter as the stylus 'resonance' is taken to a higher frequency I believe.
Vinyl Engine is your friend as long as you're willing to trawl through many years of threads and posts. It seems that there are around five generic Shure bodies, which with refinements (laminated poles and so on) and a multitude of plastic mounting arrangements, made for seemingly hundreds of models. The styli play a huge part too as their resonance qualities helped define each model I understand.
The SC35 body is related to other models (V15 II type?), but lacks the laminated pole pieces it seems. The best universal 75 era body is the humble M75-6S type with metal mounting bracket, as this body takes all the 75's, 91's, 93E and I think the 70 models too (no plastic to cut away).
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
You learn something new every day - thanks for that nugget Goldring used to do good MC rebuilds too. A shame they don't seem to support their older cartridges, as the G800 stylus went from a nail to something far better with a neater better polished diamond during its life in my experience.
Expert Styli also sell or used to sell Shure compatible styli. Not sure (sorry!) if they make their own or buy from a trusted third party, but I'm informed a generic 75 'elliptical' they sold for not much (under £30 if memory serves) was actually very good.
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
I only ride 'em, I don't know what makes 'em work
I do like and use (some) older Shures, but have to admit, my favourite non MC cartridges aside from Deccas are good ADC's. Sorry about that!
It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
Good idea Andy, that's what I would do. Trying them in your own set up really is the only way to know if any of the Shure cartridges really sound great.
Going by other folks hazy recollections will not really tell you much other than how they performed in their particular systems.
Main system : VPI Scout 1.1 / JMW 9T / 2M Black / Croft 25R+ / Croft 7 / Heco Celan GT 702
Second System : Goldring Lenco GL75 / AT95EX / Pioneer SX590 / Spendor SP2