Shure M44-7 with elliptical stylus ??

Rob.

Super Member
Hi, guys, can you install an elliptical stylus on an M44-7 cart ?
Which ones are good ?

thanks

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Don't do it. The only ones available (aftermarket) track heavy. I personally wouldn't put a heavy-tracking elliptical on my records.

The M44 body sounds excellent with the light-tracking N44-G conical stylus, especially on a heavy arm.
 
Don't do it. The only ones available (aftermarket) track heavy. I personally wouldn't put a heavy-tracking elliptical on my records.

The M44 body sounds excellent with the light-tracking N44-G conical stylus, especially on a heavy arm.

What is the downside of using a heavy tracking elliptical stylus ?
High Record wear ?
 
What is the downside of using a heavy tracking elliptical stylus ?
High Record wear ?

Yes. As the stylus tip gets smaller, it puts more pressure on the groove wall for a given tracking force. There have been empirical studies done showing that a small elliptical, such as a .2 X .7 mil, tracking at 1.5 grams does about the same amount of record wear as a .7 mil conical tracking at 3 grams. By the way, wear for either of these situations is minimal. There are ellipticals with a larger side radius, such as .3 X .7 and .4 X .7 mil, and these, with a larger contact area, should be able to track safely at somewhat higher pressures than the .2 X .7 mil. Personally, I prefer to use a conical if I'm going to track much above 2 grams.
 
Shure has said, "The cartridge body of the M44-7 and the M44G are basically the same. Change the stylus model and you change the cartridge model." So the issue remains the same--what elliptical stylus is available for that body. The N55E would fit, but it is long since discontinued. Beatcomber has said he could only find heavy-tracking aftermarket styli in the elliptical shape. If you want an elliptical stylus, why not just get an M97xE, or some other cartridge that comes with an elliptical stylus?
 
The original M55E was rated at 6.2 mV output, just a bit below your standard. What you might get with an aftermarket stylus I couldn't guess at.

The only new cartridge I can think of that couples an elliptical stylus with such a high output level is the Rega Bias 2 (about a 7 mV output), though there may well be others.

Have to say I've always been a bit leery about getting a high output cartridge--I've had a couple of phono stages that warned against using a cartridge rated higher than 5 mV output for fear of causing overload and distortion. One rule of thumb I've read (though just the unsubstantiated opinion of someone on an audio forum) is to anticipate that your cartridge can have a maximum output of up to 10 times its rated output; however, your SA610 has a pretty healthy overload rating of 130 mV (for no more than .05% THD), so it shouldn't be a problem for you.
 
The M55E was a light-tracking elliptical. It was rated at 0.75-2g by Shure, with a 0.2 mil contact radius. Its body was the same as that of the M44 series except for the model number printed on it.

You have all forgotten, or never knew about, the Shure M44E. It was a 0.4 mil x 0.7 mil elliptical, tracking at 1.75-4g. Its N44E stylus would fit and function in any M44 body.

Instead of speculation, most of the information on the M44/55 line is available for us to refer to, at:

http://www.shure.com/idc/groups/tech_pubs/@global_managed/documents/webcontent/us_pro_m55e_ug.pdf

...but even SHURE's listing on that page is missing one of the M44 series. That was the M44-5, which had the high compliance, light-tracking cantilever suspension of the M55E, but with a 0.5 mil spherical stylus.

Most of this is academic now. Some vendors such as turntableneedles.com still have old stock on the N55E and other genuine Shure styli, but for the most part all that is left other than genuine Shure N44-7 and N44G is a slew of aftermarket imitations from a myriad of anonymous makers. Many of them, even if claiming to replace the stylus on a cartridge that came from the factory with an elliptical or other advanced type, are actually sphericals, and some of those aren't even well polished. Even if an aftermarket imitation has a brand name on it or is sold by a specific retailer, that's no guarantee of quality. Many of them change sources according to who charges them the least. If a replacement stylus sounds different from the original manufacturer one, be suspicious and wonder why. If, as in the case of the Jico replacement for the Stanton 881S, the replacement sounds "a little brighter than original" (quote from a purchaser's review published on the Jico website), it is not a true replacement and the resultant Stanton cartridge with the Jico stylus does not sound like a Stanton. It sounds like a Jico.
 
Is the technics 1200 considered a heavy arm ?

No, more of a 'medium mass' tonearm. However, you can fine-tune the mass of the tonearm by using headshells of varying weight. For example, the Zupreme/Sumiko/Jelco style headshell is relatively heavy at 13 grams. It is ideal for use with low-compliance cartridges requiring more tonearm mass.
 
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