Shure 97xE Cartridge views?

[paskinn]

As has been pointed-out, you do need to give the Shure some hours to run-in; initially I found it rather prone to emphasise noise. But that issue went away. It tracks well too so I doubt there is much wrong with the elliptical stylus. Even if your conclusions are quite different to mine, the Shure is cheap enough to always be a good 'reserve.' There may be better moving magnets, but I don't have the personal experience to say that.
What I will say is that, well set-up in a good arm, the Shure is highly capable. You do get a slight reduction in ultra fine detail, but in exchange you get a more natural (to my ears) top end, without the rising treble which does indeed feature in most (not all) MCs. It's a choice .....but you can be comparing a £70 cartridge with a £4000 unit, and, again to my ears, the result is not a clear victory for expensive cartridges. Maybe I just have bad judgement.

[Ned664]

My current set up is my TT into my Pioneer amps phono input, so no phono stage. So how do I know what the loading would be and how do I adjust, short of buying a phOno stage?

[rubber duck]

You most likely cannot adjust the phono settings in your amp but I wouldn't worry about this unless you start using low output MCs.

[Ned664]

I have swapped my Benz Micro back in and there is a significant difference, almost like a veil has been lifted! I am taking the Shure on holiday, as the holiday cottage we have booked has a turntable and I am gonna give it a play there and see if a few more hours opens things up. Hopefully the Jilco stylus will have arrived when I get back and I will be very interested to hear how it sounds after that. Will report back. Many thanks for the helpful posts, has made me think that there is much more to come from this cart.!

[paskinn]

This is one of those 'philosophical' points, was a 'veil' lifted or does the average mc just over-emphasise upper mid and treble detail? Of course, there is no 'correct' answer. But I find that the Shure (assuming a first-class arm and deck) sounds more like the sound I hear from live music, less like the slightly artificial sound which can constitute 'hi fi.' Clearly, there are plenty of people who don't agree!

[The Barbarian]

For some odd reason i keep going switching back to my Shure 'M95' Cart with 'HE' Styli, i prefer it to my 'V15/III'.. Never tried a '97' i just don't like the look of them!

[rubber duck]

I've finally installed and had a quick listen to my M97XE. It sounds promising but hope to find some time this weekend and will report back. Yes, the angle of the cart in the headshell is odd. Peter, how have you aligned VTA - by arm tube or bottom of the cart?

[paskinn]

I've finally installed and had a quick listen to my M97XE. It sounds promising but hope to find some time this weekend and will report back. Yes, the angle of the cart in the headshell is odd. Peter, how have you aligned VTA - by arm tube or bottom of the cart?

I do it by arm tube, visually, with the back of the arm just very, very slightly 'down,' The other issue is capacitance, which we are told can matter. To be honest, it's not easy to measure (what's the capacitance of your arm wiring, cable and phono input?) so I just hope for the best, and it seems fine to my ears. There are devices that can measure it all, but who's got the time or contacts? I also use the brush down (with weight adjusted to compensate) because I use a 12 inch arm with 15gms mass, and the brush takes care of compliance issues.

[Reffc]

I've had a few M97xe cartridges and have never liked them. They are sensitive to capacitance loading I've found and can sound very dull and lifeless. The main concern has been quality control. Cantilever on one was out of line and the other had loose plastic casing...really poor imho.

I prefer both the M95He and the V15III by a big margin. A used 95He is to my mind a far better bet (in good condition). V15III great and with a Jico SAS stylus, or a NOS Microridge stylus, pretty stunning.

[Ned664]

This is one of those 'philosophical' points, was a 'veil' lifted or does the average mc just over-emphasise upper mid and treble detail? Of course, there is no 'correct' answer. But I find that the Shure (assuming a first-class arm and deck) sounds more like the sound I hear from live music, less like the slightly artificial sound which can constitute 'hi fi.' Clearly, there are plenty of people who don't agree!

Agreed, it is perhaps one of the characteristics of HiFi and fora like this that we are not all going to have the same view. And thank goodness for that!

For me the Shure sounded a little dull, perhaps it is a capacitance issue, perhaps, my own listening has been tuned to the Benz Micro, who knows? I have the Jico stylus on its way and so will revisit the Shure when this arrives, should be interesting...