Recommends for stylus for Shure M55 cartridge

Tucker99

Super Member
Looking for some advice/recommends for stylus for Shure M55 cartridge.

I have gifted a system to a young woman. Someone gave her a low-mid fi JVC TT and she had no other components to go with it so I set her up with a 35 watt Sansui 1000x receiver and a pair of The Advent. She lives in a wood frame apartment so I built a quick pair of stands to get the speakers off the floor and padded the bottom of the stands with a double layer of those felt floor protector pads.

The system actually sounded pretty good when I send a digital signal (I used my phone) through the aux input but only fair through the TT and my conclusion is that the cart that was on there was pretty crummy. The TT was a low end model produced when TTs were on the wane and I am sure the cartridge that came with was a cheap a one as they could put on the table.

Anyhow, on to my query. I have a couple of spare Shure M55 carts in the box but I need styli for them. Jico has an elliptical 'improved' up at $56 and I have read where purchasers seemed to really like it so that may be the best choice but it also the most expensive. I am wondering if there is a lower priced but still decent option either via Amazon or Ebay. I see some listings at varying prices but don't want to buy something low-priced only to discover that it is also low quality. I do want to make a qualitative improvement in her system but want to do so as economically as possible.

Thanks for your help.
 
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I have an M55 set up on one of my turntables and l like it a lot.
Pretty sure l have a Jico elliptical (not SAS) on it
 
Looking for some advice/recommends for stylus for Shure M55 cartridge.

I have gifted a system to a young woman. Someone gave her a low-mid fi JVC TT and she had no other components to go with it so I set her up with a 35 watt Sansui 1000x receiver and a pair of The Advent. She lives in a wood frame apartment so I built a quick pair of stands to get the speakers off the floor and padded the bottom of the stands with a double layer of those felt floor protector pads.

The system actually sounded pretty good when I send a digital signal (I used my phone) through the aux input but only fair through the TT and my conclusion is that the cart that was on there was pretty crummy. The TT was a low end model produced when TTs were on the wane and I am sure the cartridge that came with was a cheap a one as they could put on the table.

Anyhow, on to my query. I have a couple of spare Shure M55 carts in the box but I need styli for them. Jico has an elliptical 'improved' up at $56 and I have read where purchasers seemed to really like it so that may be the best choice but it also the most expensive. I am wondering if there is a lower priced but still decent option either via Amazon or Ebay. I see some listings at varying prices but don't want to buy something low-priced only to discover that it is also low quality. I do want to make a qualitative improvement in her system but want to do so as economically as possible.

Thanks for your help.

The original stylus for the M55E cartridge is the N55E which is a high compliance stylus and for best results should only be mounted in a quality low mass tone-arm.

A better match for a lower end turntable would probably be a N44-7 or N44E , both of which are medium compliance styli and will work perfectly in the M55E cartridge body.

N44-7 styli are still produced by Shure but the N44E is not. After-market styli are available in both forms, low cost styli are available on ebay or elsewhere, better quality are available directly from JICO...

https://www.jico-stylus.com/advance...n_description=1&keywords=shure&sort=2a&page=3
 
The original stylus for the M55E cartridge is the N55E which is a high compliance stylus and for best results should only be mounted in a quality low mass tone-arm.

A better match for a lower end turntable would probably be a N44-7 or N44E , both of which are medium compliance styli and will work perfectly in the M55E cartridge body.

N44-7 styli are still produced by Shure but the N44E is not. After-market styli are available in both forms, low cost styli are available on ebay or elsewhere, better quality are available directly from JICO...

https://www.jico-stylus.com/advance...n_description=1&keywords=shure&sort=2a&page=3

Malden:

It seems like all new replacement styli for the N55E are labeled as 759-DE. Would an older original repackaged Shure (i.e; Phanstiehl) that is relabeled as a 759-DE be an N44 or an N55?
 
Malden:

It seems like all new replacement styli for the N55E are labeled as 759-DE. Would an older original repackaged Shure (i.e; Phanstiehl) that is relabeled as a 759-DE be an N44 or an N55?

If it's an original Shure or JICO, then the color of the stylus grip will indicate the model.

N55E.....yellow
N44E.....brown
N44-7....white
N44G....grey
N44C.....light blue
N44-3....green (78's)
 
We found at the radio station beside the fact the N-55E was to fragile that it had a very resonate high end that would give the D-essers fits, so we went back Stanton 500 series, Whats a D-esser. If you push a compressor or limiter or combo to hard you end up with a signal that over emphasizes higher frequencies which transmitters and the link between the studio and the transmitter don't like either. High freq distortion is the last thing you want in broadcasting. So either the compressor had a circuit to suppress these higher frequency modulations or a separate piece was added.

We don't have that issue at home because most of us have ample headroom and we don't use compressors. But still the idea of cartridge with a resonant high end is one of my pet peeves. So be it Shure, AT, Pickering, London, Ortofon, or some B&O mmc, to name a few, resonant anything is a big no no for me. early tweeters with metal resonating diaphragms are an issue for me, too. All you need is a V-15 1 or II and a Apogee paneled speaker and I am ready to head for the hills. Some of the early JBL with the bullet ring radiator I hated to install. I would have to get away from any loud sounds for the rest of the day it bothered my ears, so. Early FM tuners with leaky pilot signal drove me crazy. Fortunately I can only hear to 17 kHz anymore. Older TV's with their horizontal circuits screaming were an issue for me to.
 
So I can assume with a fair degree of certainty that this yellow stylus grip will be an N55E, correct?

zenith.jpg zenith2.jpg
 
...wait a minute, the stylus grip is yellow indicating the N55E, but the package indicates a N44E, 1-3/4 to 4 grams tracking and .4 x .7 mil tip

...the N55E has a .2 x .7 mil tip and tracks between 3/4 and 2 grams.
 
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...wait a minute, the stylus grip is yellow indicating the N55E, but the package indicates a N44E, 1-3/4 to 4 grams tracking and .4 x .7 mil tip

...the N55E has a .2 x .7 mil tip and tracks between 3/4 and 2 grams.

Somehow I knew it was too good to be true. I should have the sense by now to stick with JICO.
 
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Gentlemen:

I came across a box full of NOS Shure & Pickering styli in Zenith packaging; my plan is to keep the few I can use for my two tables and pass the rest along. As I mentioned above in the thread, there is a 759-DE which I had believed to be yellow, but once it arrived, I saw that it is in fact a white N44-7. The cart on my ELAC Miracord is an M55E that I see can accommodate the N44-7. Would those of you with experience advise that I keep this genuine Shure N44-7 to use along with my M55E cart (that currently holds an N55E stylus)?

Thanks.
 
To add to the confusion, I have a EVG 759de with brown grip and it just says 2 grams. It's 4x7 also. From Anderson music on fleabay. Sounds great, I've never heard a stock m44e.I have a jico m44g coming from Germany, I hope it's not an EVG made in their factory as I've heard they aren't as good. It cost less than a shure stylus and nobody else makes an aftermarket m44g. I have a newish 447 but it doesn't track as well as my sc35c but I'm looking for a lighter tracker.
 
Gentlemen:

I came across a box full of NOS Shure & Pickering styli in Zenith packaging; my plan is to keep the few I can use for my two tables and pass the rest along. As I mentioned above in the thread, there is a 759-DE which I had believed to be yellow, but once it arrived, I saw that it is in fact a white N44-7. The cart on my ELAC Miracord is an M55E that I see can accommodate the N44-7. Would those of you with experience advise that I keep this genuine Shure N44-7 to use along with my M55E cart (that currently holds an N55E stylus)?

Thanks.

Yes, the N44-7 is a better choice for the Elac than the N55E. The N55E would be better suited for lighter tone-arms.
 
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