help identify my cartridge

[dannyny]

can someone here help me identify my cartridge? i think it's a pickering xv-15 but not sure. thanks in advanced

 

[dannyny]

there is no sticker or label on the other side

 

[lini]

Yup, that's an XV-15. And the 4500AME/D400 used to be a pretty light tracking/highly compliant elliptical needle, first with 0.3 x 0.9 mil, later on with 0.4 x 0.7 mil.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[dannyny]

thank you friend!

would shure premier be an upgrade or a downgrade or a lateral move compared to this cartridge here?

 

[lini]

Uhm, which type of Shure exactly - and for which type of turntable/tonearm?

Generally speaking, the Pickering XV-15/Stanton 68x family was a pretty good MI design, but as usual, actual quality level depends most on the quality level of the needle (talking about the whole needle design here, i.e. including cantilever quality et cetera). However, just like with many other nice cartridges of the past, the higher quality original needle variants for these Pickering/Stanton carts have also become either completely unobtanium or pretty rare and comparatively expensive in the meantime. And unfortunately there aren't so many sources for better than just average, entry-level replacement needles - and even then these are likely to not quite provide the same sound.

So a bit more input from your side would be required, if you'd like better advice for your case...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini