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View Full Version : Shure V15 - which?


mikmas
20-03-2018, 11:51
Hi all,
.. am toying with the idea of picking up a V15 for my Braun PS500 TT - currently fitted with the original Shure M75-6S. I also have a 55E with JICO stylus (quite nice but not a huge difference is SQ)

A cursory search on eBay shows a range of different generations available (versions II, III and IV) at various price points so would be interested in opinions from those with experience of these different iterations and also whether any of them would actually offer more than the humble M75 ...
narabdela
20-03-2018, 12:35
Not sure that the Braun arm would suit any of the V15 variants. Have you done some research on compatibility?
mikmas
20-03-2018, 12:50
Not sure that the Braun arm would suit any of the V15 variants. Have you done some research on compatibility?

The posher brother to my deck, the PS1000, was apparently fitted with the V15, 55E or M75 as standard (according to some sources).
There is very little difference (if any) between the arms on the two Braun models and their head shells were interchangeable by all accounts. The PS1000 headshell had a nifty adjuster for adusting the cartridge rake but how much that would influence the arm mass/weight distribution I don't know. I have gleaned some info via the related service manuals but the detailed discussions re. Braun products take place on German fora which makes translation a laborious process.

Either way, that's a slight gamble I'm willing to take.
mikmas
20-03-2018, 14:42
Wasn't sure but conscious this might be better paced in 'Analogue Art' even though cartridges and TT are all thoroughly 'pre-1990' :scratch:
- but if you agree please do move it ....

Thank you very much (whichever way it falls).
Mike
mikmas
20-03-2018, 20:30
Anyone with experience of the V15 versions willing to share ?? - pretty please :)
montesquieu
20-03-2018, 23:42
According to vinylengine the tonearm mass (including headshell) is 14.8g. While not an out and out heavyweight (which kicks in around 20g) I wouldn't have thought this was compatible with a V15 which is a very high compliance cartridge better suited to a low mass tonearm.

I would look to something more medium compliance of which there's a ton of choice out there. I'd be looking at a Nagaoka.
mikmas
21-03-2018, 00:28
According to vinylengine the tonearm mass (including headshell) is 14.8g.

Thanks for that Tom,
Yes, I came across that poster's view some time ago on VE but I've not been able to verify it anywhere (including what I could find on German forums) - also not in the User or Service manuals. It seems a tad heavy to me given that the arm and headshell are both fairly lightweight aluminium. ... but short of dismantling the deck and weighing them I guess that's all Ive got to go on (even if unverified).

However, I have also found info on forums suggesting that the V15 was fitted when new (at least to some - possibly by dealers?) so I'm still curious and interested in any views from users about the various V15 models.
montesquieu
21-03-2018, 00:34
Fair enough. Might be sensible to see if you can borrow one first ?
Barry
21-03-2018, 23:47
My only experience with the Shure V15 cartridges have been with those used on an SME 3009 S/2 arm (i.e. Series II (non-improved) with a detachable headshell). In 1972 I had a V15 Mk.II (improved), then later in 1976 the V15 Mk. III. In those days the combination was considered by many to be 'state of the art', however I had by then discovered Ortofon MC, ADC induced magnet, and the Decca moving iron designs; all of which were, IMO, a sonic improvement over the V15.

But having said that, the later Shure V15 Mk.IV was an improvement over the previous V15s. It was if Shure had abandoned their obsession with 'trackability', and actually stopped to listen to their cartridges.
narabdela
22-03-2018, 08:48
But having said that, the later Shure V15 Mk.IV was an improvement over the previous V15s. It was if Shure had abandoned their obsession with 'trackability', and actually stopped to listen to their cartridges.

I couldn't agree less, but it's a subject that has divided opinion since the Mk.IV was introduced forty years ago.
Barry
22-03-2018, 12:50
I couldn't agree less, but it's a subject that has divided opinion since the Mk.IV was introduced forty years ago.

I never heard one in my system, as by then I had moved on to other cartridge designs. My, favourable, impression of the Mk. IV was with a friend's system (especially using the IV fitted with the hyper-elliptical stylus).
mikmas
24-03-2018, 01:12
Thanks for the contributions and opinions chaps :)

A bit more reading around (and lengthy translating) of German Braun sites looks to indicate that only one Dieter Rams TT might have been fitted with a V15 'from the factory'; the PCS 52 - a very handsome beast indeed fitted, by design, with an SME arm:

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/braun_pcs52pcs_5.html

http://www.tugendhat.de/resources/PCS52_01.png

Although there are quite a few mentions on Audiokarma of the model I have being fitted with V15s, I think it likely that these were indeed fitted 'after the fact' either by (US) dealers or users.

Given the kind of prices asked for V15s and available stylii, I think I will opt for prudence and give them a miss.
nutteronthebus
24-03-2018, 10:23
hi there is one for sale on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-SME-Headshell-Shure-V15-cartridge-for-Garrard-301-Thorens-124/183130145725?hash=item2aa36843bd:g:bTIAAOSwW3Vaq6N M
for £80 and a stylus from this site is £35 https://www.stylusplus.co.uk/stylus-for-shure-v15-type-2-cartridge-4077-p.asp

Dave
narabdela
24-03-2018, 11:18
http://www.tugendhat.de/resources/PCS52_01.png



I haven't seen that version of the Braun turntable before. It looks stunning with the SME arm.
mikmas
24-03-2018, 14:18
hi there is one for sale on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-SME-Headshell-Shure-V15-cartridge-for-Garrard-301-Thorens-124/183130145725?hash=item2aa36843bd:g:bTIAAOSwW3Vaq6N M
for £80 and a stylus from this site is £35 https://www.stylusplus.co.uk/stylus-for-shure-v15-type-2-cartridge-4077-p.asp

Dave

cheers Dave ...
Yup, I saw that one when I first looked.
To be honest, at that price the amount of corrosion and grunge put me right off. For a tenner I might give it a go though....
mikmas
24-03-2018, 14:20
I haven't seen that version of the Braun turntable before. It looks stunning with the SME arm.


First I've ever heard of it as well Hugh .... love at first sight to be sure.
Don't think many come up for sale though.