beat_truck
Addicted Member
Ok, I've officially given up on the Normarh stylus. I've given it plenty of break in time and turned up the tracking force all the way to 3g and nothing tames the harsh highs. It's unlistenable to the point of actually hurting my ears. To me, this cartridge, even though it appears well made, is useless junk.
On the other hand, the NOS genuine Shure Ne95ED is a keeper. It's very musical and I can listen to it all day long without a hint of fatigue. I'm listening to it right now, and have been all afternoon and all evening yesterday. It continues to impress with deep rich bass, smooth, but detailed highs with a very nice imaging. In short, it just sounds good to me - very good. The Signet TK10ML with the original microline stylus still bests it, but the difference is not as great as expected. I could be very happy with the Ne95ED/R47XT combination as my only stylus/cartridge, but it's nice to now have two good stylus/cartridge combos running on two different turntables.
As mentioned, I did order the EVG 760-DED from Carole's Needles and will install it on the Shure 2215 (renamed M75) when it gets here. I want to save my good styli for known good vinyl, so I wanted something cheap (but hopefully listenable) for spinning vinyl in lesser/unknown condition. Once I've had a chance to give that one a listen, I'll report back with my impressions, specifically how it compares to the comparably priced Normarh.
I think you'll likely be happy with the EVG. The one I got from Carole's Needles sounds and tracks nice at 1.5 grams. No complaints for the money spent.