A very indepth analysis of the Shure M44-7 v M55E cartridges

[Jimbo]

Part II - Loading

The M44-7 according to Shure likes to see 400-500 pf loading. I'm now glad I'm not using the SME 3009 as I've heard that several people have tried to measure the capacitance of the old tonearm cable with varying readings, sometimes differing markedly from one channel to the other other. I'm glad to say that my cables are a known entity and that the loading capacitance in each channel is pretty much perfectly matched. I have been trying to work out some figures with respects to what my M44-7 is currently "seeing". Here goes :-

Cartridge to Phonostage

Natural capcitance loading of Croft MM stage 100pf
Cartridge tags & cartridge leads 10pf
Connector from tonearm to intrinstic tonearm wiring 10pf
Internal tonearm wiring 15pf (SME source)
Tonearm connector accepting intrinsic wiring 10pf
Tonearm connector 5-pin plug 10pf
Tonearm cable 60pf (Yannis Tome source)
Tonearm cable to RCA 10pf

TOTAL 225pf

So, I'm missing around 225pf loading. This means i'm not getting the best from the M44-7, so it's looking like the EAR 834P may be a better option for optimal cartridge loading. At least I can make the EAR make the M44-7 see the 450pf. Hmmm anothor conundrum to ponder.

I've spent a little more time on setting the cartridge up tonight using Dr. Feickharts protractor, cartridge tracking force and antiskate are both sitting at 3g, things appear a lot clearer. The deck is still not perfectly level in all planes but I'm not that far away, the bubble in the spirit level doesn't quite sit perfectly central but it's not so far away, I'm hearing great things. I also need to address the speed accuracy of the 401 as it does not have a speed controller like the Garrard 301 that I own and I'm not prepared to mess around rewire everything for this experiment, I'll dig out the timing laser and alter the speed control that way. Usually we can be accurate within +/- 0.01 RPM. Both cartridges stylii are new the M44-7 has a Tonar stylii to the same specs as the original https://www.turntabletrainingwax.com/tonar-n44-7-stylus mine cost £19 delivered, I'm sure you can get cheaper if you shop around. I must confess to not knowing where I purchased the M55E replacement but I do know it's new and zero hours usage. Currently the M44-7 has around 6 hours usage. I'm trying to get 3 hours a day.

Things I could do to further improve this Experiment
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. Vertical tracking height for cartridge has not been properly set yet.
2. Could use Townshend Isolation platform for further improvement of airbourne vibration and such like.
3. Tonearm needs a very very small amount of tweaking.
4. Feed the phonostages with a cleaner power supply. Could this produce a bias in that the 401 has a clean supply and the phonostages don't?

Factor Affecting the Absolute Performance of the Shure Carts
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The M55E appears to be a marginally better match for the SME V-12.
2. The Croft phonostage (if loading capacitance is set at 100pf) lessens the chances of accurately matching old Shure Carts.
3. I'm compromising the absolute speed accuracy of the 401, I could use a Roadrunner/Eagle PSU combo to match speed to 0.001 RPM rather than
0.01 RPM accuracy.


Steps Taken to Maximise Performance
------------------------------------------
1. Using Baerweld tracking, setup with respected Dr. Fieckhart protractor
2. Using a true Reference tonearm which matches both the M44-7 and M55E very well.
3. Turntable perfectly level in all planes.
4. Tried to make sure that the 401 is running with a clean power supply, supplied with a PS Audio P10
5. Motor decoupled from 401 less vibration getting into cartridge
6. Tried to improve the trackability of the Carts by making sure the vinyl is as flat as possible and then using heavy record clamp and peripheral
platter ring on vinyl.
7. Both cartridge stylii are new and I have allowed a 30 hours break-in period for any cantilever stiffness.
8. Accurately known and matched loading capacitance for left and right channel cartridge channels.
9. 401 platter damped with a Tenuto platter mat.

I think that's enough for tonight. Maybe some pictures tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

This could be why I don't get the best out go my M55E with my Croft phono stage?

[Jimbo]

If I were to do something with the M44-7 I think this would be rather interesting!

https://www.jico-stylus.com/product/n44-7-imp-sas-b/

[Wakefield Turntables]

I'll do an update tonight, twists and turns a plenty, I'll add some pics as well.

[Jimbo]

I'll do an update tonight, twists and turns a plenty, I'll add some pics as well.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Shure Adventures Pt III - Solving problems

This Shure adventure is a really neat way of learning new things, interacting with new people and what's more getting the best from the kit you own. I'd never heard of Miller Capacitance and it's relevance to phonostage design, now it's something I'll always consider. I'm not happy with the way the M44-7 is loaded through the Croft Phonostage and there is no way that I'm opening up a completely unmolested phonostage. I want this thing to be as complete and original as possible. It's always been in my nature to push things as far as possible with the kit I own and in the past this has meant modding to stupid levels of deminishing returns, thankfully those days have gone (well nearly) . The Croft phonostage belonged to Len Gregory who used to design MI carts, these are known to be pretty much capacitance loading immune and I also know that Len asked Glenn to make this phonostage a custom build to his requirements. You can now see my problem with capacitance loading. Most people who I know and respect seem to think that 100pf loading from the Croft sounds like what Glenn would use. My Croft phonostage offers no way of externally changing capacitance loading but thankfully some of the members of PFM have been very accomodating is coming up with some solutions. I'm happy to say that some of the solutions look cheap and easy to implement so I shall wait with baited breath. I'm still running up the 30 hours on the new M44-7 tonar stylii so I have a weel or two before this milestone is reached and then I have to do the same on the M55E new stylus. Critical listening will start when both carts have had 30 hours break in period with each stylii and then each phonostage will be carefully assessed for it's pro's and con's. I will have a list of records which I shall compare on each phonostage and the I'll make my decision with respects to which is the best cart, and which phonostage will be pared with the Shure Cart.

I though I'd add a few pictures as I've been text heavy over the last two nights.

Firstly, just to prove that this whole thing is actually happening, the venerable M44-7 with Tonat stylii.



Secondly a picture of the setup rig. The 401, SME V-12, heavy record clamp and peripheral clamp. All in a bid to get the vinyl as flat as possible.



No we've had some talk about Stylii. Presently, I've used a couple of cheap after market replicas which are supposedly to the same specification as the original Shure variants. My reasoning behind using these stylii is very simple, I need a baseline. I've already heard several of the best JICO stylii that money can buy on some of these carts, I have a very good appreciation of how they can sound. A baseline reference will eanable me to very easily see how far these carts can go and also to see the after effects on my listening notes of these top notch stylii from JICO. The M55E no longer has the SAS/S variant which I prefer, the M44-7 might trump the M55-E in my system and this would be good news as there are many stylii to choose from and many a year of fun to be had.

I will not be releasing any listening notes for probably several months. I'm still very critical of the Croft not properly loading these Shure carts correctly. The M44-7 will have had about 7-10 hours break in by the end of this night. Here's an update of what I've also done to improve my listening. So I listed four areas that I thought might improve my listening experience :-

Things I could do to further improve this Experiment
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. Vertical tracking height for cartridge has not been properly set yet.
2. Could use Townshend Isolation platform for further improvement of airbourne vibration and such like.
3. Tonearm needs a very very small amount of tweaking.
4. Feed the phonostages with a cleaner power supply. Could this produce a bias in that the 401 has a clean supply and the phonostages don't?

I've finally pulled my finger out and sorted out numbers 1 and 3. I'm looking into number 4 and I can always do number 2 when I pull the other finger out.

Stay tuned..

[Jimbo]

Shame the Croft not compatible yet but maybe soon?

[Jimbo]

I spoke to Jico yesterday and they gave me some excellent news?

Here is a copy of their email transcript.

Dear James,

Thank you for contacting JICO and choosing our stylus.

Regrettably, with the launch of the Custom Shop series,
we discontinued the production of SAS replacement styluses for the SHURE M55E series due to certain categorization changes.

However, we offer the SAS stylus for SHURE M44 series.
It would be compatible with your cartridge.

Here is the link below.
https://www.jico-stylus.com/?s=N44-7+SAS

So another option to get a alternative high performance from the M55E!

[Wakefield Turntables]

I spoke to Jico yesterday and they gave me some excellent news?

Here is a copy of their email transcript.

Dear James,

Thank you for contacting JICO and choosing our stylus.

Regrettably, with the launch of the Custom Shop series,
we discontinued the production of SAS replacement styluses for the SHURE M55E series due to certain categorization changes.

However, we offer the SAS stylus for SHURE M44 series.
It would be compatible with your cartridge.

Here is the link below.
https://www.jico-stylus.com/?s=N44-7+SAS

So another option to get a alternative high performance from the M55E!

That indeed is very good news. Well done Jim!

[Jimbo]

Even better for you Andy as you could try the stylus in both the M55E and M44-7.

That would be another evaluation in itself!


I might just add the M55E with the JICO SAS Boron micro ridge stylus was the best cartridge I have ever heard apart from the 2M Black which is still numero uno in my experience.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Shure Adventures Pt IV - Problems = Solutions!

Not Shure (sorry) if anyone is following this little series of posts as I don't seem to get much feedback, anyway I do this so others can have a play if they fancy. Firstly, a BIG thanks to Tony over on PFM for sending me a link to a pair of splitters which can be modded to add capacitance to the Croft MM phonostage!!!!!. Here is a link if you fancy producing something yourselves https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gold-Plated...f_=as_li_ss_tl

Yep, a big link. I've a set of loading plugs for the EAR 834P clone and the resistors have a 5% tolerance which to me is no good as I'm supposed to be critically matching each channel as closely as possible. So it looks like I may have to order some resistors from here https://www.vishay.com/en/product/31814/ with a tolerance of 0.005% or it might be a call to Hi-Fi collective if I can't get the correct value, tolerance goes down to 0.01% but that's not too shabby. I'll make up a pair of loading plugs for the Croft once I've got a properly measured value from the MM stage itself. I'm already bugging a few people with brains far larger than mine to have a look at the insides of the Croft and figure this out. It may even be that
I have to make a pair for the EAR 834P clone. We shall see when critical listening tests start. I've added another 3.5hours on the M44-7 stylus today which is approaching the half way period.

It now appears that JICO are making M44 stylii which are compatible with the M55E, thats great if yoy wamt boron but what about Sapphire and Ruby which is something that JICO used to produce for the M55E. Both Ruby and Sapphire are better cantilever materials (to my ears) than Boron. Boron is cheaper but the others do offer a significant upgrade and by experimenting with these materials you can get a cheap entry level into listening to cartridges with Crystal based cantilevers, a little like https://ortofon.com/products/mc-diamond ok, this cart is £10K but it does have a diamond cantilever. I'm not suggesting a 50-60 year old cartridge would sound anything like Ortofon's top cart but the JICO crystal based cantilevers offer a massive upgrade to the Boron cantilevers, and once you factor in the diamond profile it's a killer combo. Please don't bother flaming me for making comparison with a 60 year old MM cart. You won't get any response from me.

OK, enough for tonight. I've got to listen to Atomic Rooster.....

Stay tuned....