Shure N72EJ Stylus on M93/M91 Cartridge

[MCM_Fan]

I've been slowly, but surely (Shurely?) trying to equip all of my vintage Shure cartridges with genuine NOS Shure styli (with preference to Made in U.S.A. product when I can get it).

The first vintage Shure cartridge I obtained was a Shure 2215 cartridge with the original Shure 2225 stylus. My research led me to determine the 2215 is just an OEM version of the Shure M93E. Further research led me to conclude the M93 and M91 bodies are the same, they just came with slightly different original styli (M93E and N91E respectively).

This all makes sense as the 2215 came on an MCS 6601 (an OEM version of the Technics SL-2000 that was made to Penney's specs by Panasonic). It has a medium mass S-shaped tonearm. So, the fact that it came with a medium tracking OEM stylus makes sense.

Here's the specs fr the N93E/2225 sytlusi:



When I saw a NOS Genuine Made in the U.S.A. Shure N72EJ stylus on the auction site, I did some quick research and found the specs on the N72EJ match the N93E:



I also found this in the Shure Knowledge Base:

Question:
My turntable is an older MCS sold by JC Penny's. The cartridge is a Shure 2215 with a 2225 stylus. I have included two pictures. The cartridge is a snap-on type with four wires connecting it to the turntable.

QUESTION: I'd like to replace the stylus. Do I need to replace the cartridge too? Which Shure replacement stylus/cartridge. should I use?

Thank you very much!

Answer:
Shure no longer has replacement cartridges or exact replacement stylus available for this model. But you can use any of the following styli as replacements: N93E, N75EJ, or N72EJ.

The stylus can be ordered directly from Shure at 1-800-516-2525.

Obviously stale data (the ordering part, anyway), but it confirmed the N93EJ was compatible with the M93E/2215 body. So, I pulled the trigger and the beautiful NOS N72EJ arrived today. Physically, it's much lower profile than the original 2225 (N93E), but I expected that, and have been running an EVG N75ED replacement on the 2215 for over a year.

The plastic grip is also shaped differently. Here's some photos of the original 2225 and the NOS N72EJ mounted on the 2215 cartridge:

As you can see in the last photo, there is very little contact area between the N72EJ plastic housing and the cartridge body. It's possible to cant the stylus slightly left or slightly right, leading to a misaligned azimuth. This has me paranoid that I will end up constantly having to check the azimuth alignment when using this stylus in this body. Even though the original 2225 is much taller, it is also possible to cant it slightly in the 2215 body.

So, am I just being overly paranoid here? Can anyone see any mechanical or electrical reasons why the N72EJ shouldn't be used in an M93 or 2215 body? The brass shaft of the NOS N72EJ does fit nice and snug within the 2215 body. So, maybe I'm worrying about nothing.

I've been listening to my "Wally" copy of Boston S/T with this NOS stylus and I must say, it sounds pretty amazing.

 

[Hugo65]

These clip-on cartridges used to be sold in Brazil in the 70's as M75 (type 1???), which usually came with the N75C blue grip stylus. There were variants too, such as the N75EC, which is a 0.4 X 0.7 elliptical, tracking at 2.5g, if my memory serves. All M91 carts that made it here then had the plastic body, whereas, as far as I know, the plastic-bodied M75 type 2 Hi-Track were a rare item around here. Later on, I found that same M75 clip body was sold elsewhere as an M91 and also as an M93. Sure enough, the body specifics are the same for both M75 and M91. However, the styli for the clip-type M75 carts were solid plastic, while your M72EJ was surely meant for the M72 brown plastic-bodied cart type, with that hollow grip top. I don't think you can fit a N75 stylus on M72 cart. I don't remember clearly, it's been a long time since I had one of these M72's. Otherwise, they are the same, although I'm not sure there is a difference in VTA between the 72/75 and the 91/93. Sure enough, the N75 styli I am referring to would slightly cant too, just like yours, which calls for constant attention as to lateral stylus angle. Hope this helps. And...yes, these cartridges sound just great!

 

[MCM_Fan]

These clip-on cartridges used to be sold in Brazil in the 70's as M75 (type 1???), which usually came with the N75C blue grip stylus. There were variants too, such as the N75EC, which is a 0.4 X 0.7 elliptical, tracking at 2.5g, if my memory serves. All M91 carts that made it here then had the plastic body, whereas, as far as I know, the plastic-bodied M75 type 2 Hi-Track were a rare item around here. Later on, I found that same M75 clip body was sold elsewhere as an M91 and also as an M93. Sure enough, the body specifics are the same for both M75 and M91. However, the styli for the clip-type M75 carts were solid plastic, while your M72EJ was surely meant for the M72 brown plastic-bodied cart type, with that hollow grip top. I don't think you can fit a N75 stylus on M72 cart. I don't remember clearly, it's been a long time since I had one of these M72's. Otherwise, they are the same, although I'm not sure there is a difference in VTA between the 72/75 and the 91/93. Sure enough, the N75 styli I am referring to would slightly cant too, just like yours, which calls for constant attention as to lateral stylus angle. Hope this helps. And...yes, these cartridges sound just great!

Thanks for the reply and the detailed background info.

Yes, the 2215 I have has the EZ-Clip style metal mount for attaching the cartridge to the headshell. I have several other vintage Shure carts that have the plastic housings. So, I tried the new N72EJ stylus in some of those. It fits them all, and mechanically, the only difference is the length of the plastic shrouds.

In an R700E (OEM version of the M75ED) the shroud comes down pretty far, but it's still possible to cant the stylus side to side. In fact this one is the loosest fit, so the possibility of it getting bumped out of alignment are greater. On an M91ED, the fit is similar to the 2215 - a tight fit, but nothing to mechanically prevent the stylus from canting left or right. The best fit is actually on a Realistic R47XT. It fits nice and tight on that body, and with the extended shroud prevent tilting left or right. But, I already have a NOS Ne95ED stylus running on that cartridge.

So, for now, I think I'll just keep running it on the 2215. It sounds great on that cart/table. I'll just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get bumped out of alignment. I'll keep my eyes open for am M72 body, but unless I can get one really cheap, that kind of defeats my purpose. I'm not really looking to obtain even more vintage Shure cartridges, I'm looking to equip the ones I have with NOS Shure styli - which was why I bought the NOS M72EJ in the first place.

I did find a lot of valuable info in this thread. The M70/M72 were considered entry level cartridges, but they were electrically identical to the more expensive M75. They just had more limited stylus options due to the size/shape of the plastic housing. The 0.4 x 0.7 mil M72EJ elliptical was the highest you could go without trimming the plastic housing on the cartridge. This was a common practice by Shure - to reuse the same body up and down the line, but with mechanical differences that would define the quality of styli available.

 

[Hugo65]

Most of my standard 1/2 inch mount carts are Shure models. Except for stuff like N44-7, I always keep an eye out on the market for higher quality NOS oportunities. They seldom come up, but when they do, at a fair price, I make sure to grab them. So far, I've bought 2 NIB M95HE, one M95ED, an M91ED Hi-Track and two VN35MR styli, one of which is currently in use, on the SME Series IIIs. I've got some other older Shure bodies w/o styli, including an M55E, which I don't think is a good match for my tonearm. Anyway, I've been under a linear-tracker (bought 3 Technics Sl10 these last 12 months) craze as of lately, so I'm concentrating on T4P compliant carts. Before getting bitten by the LT bug, I had bought a NOS V15LT, and a NOS EPC 310MC. The V15LT cart was dead when it arrived, I mean, no signal, except for a very low buzzing comes out of that unused cartridge. So, in a sense, we are in the same situation: I have a brand new VN45LT hyperelliptical stylus that could be used on my V15III, IV and V, but is sitting in the drawer, waiting for a working V15LT cart to pop up somewhere, someday.