Shure & Jico

[The Black Adder]

Good day to you all.

Recently I've had a good listen with the following carts:

Shure 15 Type IV
Shure 15 Type III

Firstly, the 15 IV. I got a cheap and cheerful stylus which cost me £50. Hyper Elliptical type.

Firstly, it took a few hours to get in to the groove (quite literally) It started off noisy and photobooth style presentation (FLASH) no depth, saturated colour, no life. But after a bit it started to sound rather good indeed. The stage started to open up and definition started to come through... great bass too.

I was really impressed with this to be honest and I really did have my reservations with the standard stylus.

I then thought I'd look in to the Jico stylus of which I got second hand but unused. I used this with the Type III cart and it's blowin me mind.

Very, very impressed... Makes the Ortofon sound tame especially in the bass which is what me likes.

So yeah... very good experiment indeed and goes to show that these carts are something very special indeed.

Erm... actually it sounds head and shoulders better than my cdp in presentation and dynamics and with no harshness.

Cheers
Joe

[Dingdong]

Was it one of those Ed Saunders stylii you used in the V15 iv? I'm savin' me pennies up for a SAS. Glad to hear you like them.

[The Black Adder]

no, actually it wasn't... Just a standard one. Highly recommended.

[DSJR]

The V15 III sounds more like CD than CD does :scratch: ;) I suspect a modern diamond profile would tame and improve it though.

My good V15 IV sounds like a Decca with the dynamics shaved away. Again, an SAS tip would be a closer match to the Microscanner profile on my Decca.

Now, the V15V "could" perform very well indeed, with a lack of "audiophool" exaggeration, which many of the "desirable" moving-coil types from yesteryear seemed to have. More bass than an OC9 and not as thick-n-dull (sorry, subtle and "organic") as a mid-period Koetsu.

Either way, a vintage V15 from the III onwards with a modern standard Jico style stylus (in the first instance) would out-perform most of not all modern cartridges under £150 I think. With SAS tip, I suspect a V15 would better a heck of a lot out there.

One possible current alternative (which we liked back in 1974), was the Stanton 681EEE mk3, which, if it carries on from my little used mk1, offers a gentler balance with a "G800" style midrange :)

I also have a V15 mk2 body with a knackered stylus (no cantilever). I'll have t bite the bullet and try a Jico stylus (or possibly Ed Saunders Swiss one) to see how this compares to an M75 ED type...