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JICO SAS Discontinued

needlestein said:
...I know. Why can't they just make their own boron rod Micro Ridge stylus and sell it? The rebirth of the V15. It would be great in this renaissance. I think they'd sell a ton of them. They seem to sell quite a few M97xE's as it is, so they've got real customer base.
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Yet there are a lot of complaints about the stock OEM 97xE styli being poorly assembled, with rotten diamond tip alignment. Along with general quality control complaints about stock Shure styli across their modern model range. I don't think they have the infrastructure anymore to produce high end, high quality styli anymore. (Stanton appears to also be in this same boat.)
 
needlestein said:
Does that include the M97xE? Mine has always been kind of loose. Although, I didn't know this until a couple weeks ago until I got the VMR...

Are the hinges the same design?
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As far as I know, all the Shures that use the Dynamic Stabilizer share a common design and I think JICOs are faithful copies with the possible exception of the lubrication/damping of the hinge points. Shures have a damping material which retards the descent of the brush. (Seems to be a graphite grease or a combination of graphite powder and high viscosity silicone oil.)

I've never inspected the hinges on a JICO but, based on reports here, they seem to have less damping or even no damping other than a bit of friction. Perhaps noisemodule can comment.

John
 
Do want to hear Seth's comment, but I can tell you that SAS brush pivots have removable caps just like the ones on a Shure brush, so for my too-floppy-no-dampy SAS I simply squeezed out a little 100,000 cSt diff oil into the existing oil on one pivot and that was sufficient. So the good news is that SAS brush pivots do let you modify/correct them. Unless they stick, and I have one of those as well. Haven't been able to fix that one.

The Shure and Jico pivots look different, and Jico didn't use a conductive pigment in their oil, but they work about the same way. To change the rate of fall of a Shure or Jico brush, get some 80k and 100k silicone diff oil, pop off the little caps that cover the pivots, and add/subtract oil until you get the fall rate you want. Shure says 1 to 3 seconds, as boreas mentioned earlier.
 
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Hey,
I ordered 2 v15 III stylus. One from ttn. And one from lp gear. The ttn. Came earlier this week but the lpgear is pending . The same 3 wk waiting period that others have spoken of. I emailed them last night and said if they can honor the deal we made earlier I will wait. We'll see what happens next.Eric
 
You're axin' me? But 100k diff oil is honey-viscous. You almost have to spread it with a butter knife. A true silicone grease (like silicone dielectric grease) would be too thick, I'd imagine.
 
Diff[erential] oil is not expensive, but you have to get it online or at a hobby shop, if your town has one.
 
One major brand is "Traxxas". Available in a wide range of viscosities.

Hi, Walt!

Oh, and just a little fact check. A while ago someone said that The VN35 (V15III) stylus does not employ beryllium. That's false, it has a stiffening rod inside the aluminum tube for about the first third of its length. It's the VN45 (V15IV) that is all aluminum. (But it's a two-piece design, with a two-kinds-of-rubber inertial-damping suspension.)
 
The stylus Gary has listed is an elliptical for a V15 Type IV, not the HE that originally came with the V15/IV or the Micro Ridge that came along later. It and the V15 Type V for which the (V15)VMR is intended both have the small diameter shank but the VMR won't fit the V15 Type IV because the mounting cap for the type IV interferes with the stylus grip of the Type V. It's quite possible that the VN45 styli will fit the Type V without modification but I don't know.

Confusingly, there is another V15 Type V, the V15VxMR it's the final version of the V15 and is based on the "x" body of the M97xE (or is it the other way around?). The V15VxMR has the large shank.
 
My Jico VN5xMR HG for my V15VxMR arrived today it was the last one the seller had so im glad i got it. I got it as a back up for my already low mileage one so im set for quite along time. im just going to give it a couple spins to make sure its in working order then back in the box for a few years.
 
I'm not sure that sounds wise to me. The shank is what locks in the azimuth of the stylus. Having a loose fit on the shank might allow the stylus to sort of "rock" side to side, throwing the azimuth off.

John
 
needlestein said:
What is the HG stylus?

Nevermind: Found it. Seems like a regular SAS.
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from what i can find the HG (high grade) is a non export model sold only in japan, i got mine from a Japanese seller. i cant find any info that it is any different , a couple of sellers saying the export is inferior but nothing about why and the literature with it is all Japanese. the box and case do have HG on them though. i think your right probably the same.
 
noisemodule said:
No rights have been sold. I can't discuss particulars, but the reason is related to a manufacturing concern. If you know why the original Shure VN5MR and VN5xMR were discontinued, the manufacturing concern is in the same ballpark as the reason those Shure styli were discontinued. Sorry to be so opaque.
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Okay, 'apologies' accepted, I appreciate your answering to the questions, allegations and rumours (of which I partly have been responsible myself, but I also hoped it would generate a reply :)).

I have been in business long enough to know not everything can be told or sometimes only between the lines, so it is okay like this. I hope Jico will be able to again produce a SAS like offering in the near future for acceptable prices. I wish you well!
 
I broke down and bought another N-95HE SAS stylus. So at least I will have a replacement. This Shure cartridge with the SAS stylus is just too damn good. I mean, its really, really good. Good god, is it good.
 
I got an email today that my n91e SAS has been back ordered 3 weeks. We will see if it ever gets sent..
 
Bummer. At least my V15 III/SAS on my 1019 doesn't get much use while I'm away on assignment. It'll be another year before I make it home to stay, so I'm covered for a good long while. I'm wondering if anybody re-tips the SAS? I imagine that would be tough considering how thin the cantilever is.
 
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