Analogue MM fun

[camtwister]

My Pickering XSV/4000 with D4000 stylus.

[Opti-cal]

My Pickering XSV/4000 with D4000 stylus.

Lovely cartridge there - possibly a little too much filter?!?! Looks like its being beamed up by Montgomery Scott!

I've got a Pickering XV15 with Stanton 890e stylus 2 on the way. Prob not quite as nice as yours, but I have high hopes for it!

[Opti-cal]

Shure M55e report . . . .

So I mounted my newly acquired M55e last night. Not the easiest to line up as the stylus guard on the Jico stylus gets in the way a bit and distorts your view of the stylus tip and cartridge body.

Anyway after some faffing about I got it fairly close to perfect channel balance after which just slight loosening and re-tightening of headshell screws can (after some experimentation) really 'dial in' the sweet spot.

Put on some of my go to records, kapow! Christ this thing is LOUD, possibly the Jico stylus gives it a little more oomph but it was way more than I was expecting having just swapped out a cartridge with very similar output. It tracks like an absolute demon, nothing has even gotten close to phasing it so far. Can't really detect any distortion either and its via a tube phono stage plus I use a tube pre-amp, so any grain becomes fairly obvious.

Sounding very accomplished too. Textured, layered but with good detail and instrument placement. I had my 390pf loading plugs in so just for fun I tried some 330's. Things improved further and there was now real nuance and realism to the music.

I guess I'm probably around 470-500pf in loading capacitance. Some have suggested going up above that, but as my system is very revealing bordering on bright with some material (although I run dual subwoofers!) it seems to sound best with the cart giving a slightly more 'dark' presentation.

Great stuff anyway, a definite keeper. Think I can stretch to a new Jico stylus once every year or so too no concerns putting many, many miles on it.

Thanks all for the recommendations, I know why this cart is so well regarded now, it gets out the way and really allows the music through. Does quiet and loud well (surprisingly dynamic) which is a difficult trick to pull off whilst being an excellent tracker, I can't really fault it!

Here she is:

[Jimbo]

Woohoo congratulations Chris that looks great! I must pop mine back on the VPI soon!

If you have a new Jico stylus in the M55e at the moment it will get quite a bit better after 50 hours or so.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Told you so, it's an excellent cart. 450-500pf sounds about spot on. My advice would be to buy the best JICO you can afford for even more of what you've just described.

[Jimbo]

If you pop in the Jico SAS stylus the M55e moves to another level altogether!

[brian2957]

That looks like this Jico stylus https://www.jico-stylus.com/product/n55e-improved/

I have the slightly cheaper one and it's excellent.

[Opti-cal]

That looks like this Jico stylus https://www.jico-stylus.com/product/n55e-improved/

I have the slightly cheaper one and it's excellent.

Yes sir, that's the one.

The price/performance ratio is spot on for me. With an SAS my mind would be conscious of putting hours on it . . . . but never say never.

[brian2957]

Aye, the SAS is a bit more than I want to spend too Chris. The Audio Technica LP5X has been on my radar for a while. I've never had a direct drive T/T in my system and would love to try one.

[Opti-cal]

The Audio Technica LP5X has been on my radar for a while. I've never had a direct drive T/T in my system and would love to try one.

If bang for buck is the goal, you cannot go wrong with the AT. New one also has moved the power supply to an external unit giving the possibility to upgrade it further with a low noise (iFi type) or a full on linear supply.

Moving the transformer out of the turntable will only yield positives over the original me thinks.