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n97xe versus Saunders V15VxMR Stylus - your thoughts?

GuyNoir

GuyNoir

Hallowed State
Well, I don't have the bread to plug a SAS Jico into my M97xE body. An OEM N97xE is around $59.00, as is the Saunders V15xMR. Wanting to avoid the Mexican QC crapshoot, I'm entertaining the idea of the Saunders. The Saunders is sans brush/guard, which is not really a deal killer for me. Also, Anderson's has a type IV blue dot stylus complete with brush (blue dot = Jico, according to some). Does anyone know if a type IV V15 stylus will fit the M97xe?

Or, should I scrap the works and get a Denon DL-110? I have an MC input on my preamp, but I don't know if the cart would be a good match for the PL-L1000 tonearm.

Well, hope I haven't bored you to tears - Thanks!
 
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This may start another feud (I hope not) but there's considerable speculation here that the Ed Saunders styli may in fact be the same Swiss-made generics sold by Pfanstiehl. There's quite a bit of admittedly inconclusive evidence to suggest that they are but none, as far as I know, to suggest otherwise.

This leaves open the possibility that you could wind up with a stylus with the same problems you reported on in your thread regarding the 4771-DHE. Because of this and because I do think the EVG (blue dot, black dot, whatever) is indeed a JICO, I'd get the one that Anderson (plus a few other eBay sellers) is selling.

John
 
Full disclosure: I do business with Ed Saunders from time to time and have had nothing but positive experiences with him. Just so you know where I'm coming from.

I have the Saunders V15xMR replacement on my M97he and like it a lot although I don't have a lot of hours on it (perhaps 50 or so). Haven't tried it on my M97xe but see no reason why it wouldn't perform well there.

My 2 cents.
 
boreas said:
...This leaves open the possibility that you could wind up with a stylus with the same problems you reported on in your thread regarding the 4771-DHE.
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I looked closely at the V15xMR Saunders replacement, and while it looks similar to that piece of shite I just threw in the garbage, there are differences. For example, the stylus plastic is cut wider to accommodate the cart body. The Pharcestiehl plastic nearly needed to be shaved to fit around the m97.

boreas said:
Because of this and because I do think the EVG (blue dot, black dot, whatever) is indeed a JICO, I'd get the one that Anderson (plus a few other eBay sellers) is selling.
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I think it is a JICO, but from what I've been able to gather, the Era IV V15 shank would rattle around in the m97 cart body.

Which leaves an OEM N97xE, or the Saunders V15xMR. J&R has the OEM stylus for $40.00, and I'm sure returns would be hassle free.

I have the Saunders V15xMR replacement on my M97he and like it a lot although I don't have a lot of hours on it (perhaps 50 or so). Haven't tried it on my M97xe but see no reason why it wouldn't perform well there.
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Thanks Beej. I would think if any of the Saunders stylii were the cheap crap that I just encountered, the forums would be lit up with experiences of stylus microphonics and splashy HF sibilance. I have to retract the nice things I said about the generic I bought. While it sounded pretty decent on most albums, if I played an album that had prominent HF content, cymbals were extremely sibilant and splashy. I trust that hasn't been an issue with you!?

Anyway, I might try the Saunders - From what I understand, he'll take returns.
 
beatcomber said:
Neither an OEM Shure V15 Type 4 stylus nor a JICO SAS will fit the M97xE body, so I assume that Saunders' stylus won't either.
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Thanks. I just gleaned from Vinyl Engine that the entire m97 line has a larger shank, ostensibly to prevent upgrading. The V15xMR, also has the larger shank.
 
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Now that's the most attractive option I've seen yet! A true HE even. I like that it comes with the brush/guard.

I believe I can swing that :-) :music:

Thanks, BTW.
 
Balifly said:
Awaiting your review on the HE! :music:

(Wild unsubstantiated speculation-old JICO stock)
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Coming USPS; I'm thinking Friday, if not sooner. I almost pulled the trigger on an NOS V15 Type RS on ebay for BIN price of $125.00. However, I wondered about the stylus integrity after all these years, and the seller only had two feedbacks, both of which were buys, not sells. Anyway, I feel confident I'll be pleased with the LP Gear.
 
Guy, my experience with the Saunders V15xMR has been nothing but positive. No sibilance with a full lush sound that I find consistent with most of my Shure carts (M97xE excepted). T'is academic in any case but I would love to read what you have to say about the LP Gear HE.
 
GuyNoir said:
Interesting read here:

M97xE test and review, also m97xe with v15xVMR stylus auditioned:

M97xE Review @ TNT Audio
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Werner's articles are excellent!

My one proviso is this... when listening to an M97xE with VN5xMR stylus, you need to custom adjust the loading to compensate for the much higher inductance of the body.

The stylus was designed to go with a body having and inductance of 330mH, you are mounting it in a body with an inductance of more than double that amount!

So you will either need to massively lower the capacitance (getting down around 50pf would provide a response similar to the V15Vx body) - or work on capacitance and resistance together but expect to lose some top end...


The higher inductance means that the top end will be more rolled off than it should be - dropping the capacitance will raise the top end somewhat, and an increased resistance may also be required.

In that article, Werner did not do the level of investigation of the M97xE with VN5xMR that he had done with the straight M97xE - ie he did not explore R and C loading and optimisation.... he simply swapped in the stylus and had a listen at the optimised M97xE settings....
Even then his comments were complimentary, but showed that the resulting output was not neutral (ie non-flat frequency response)

bye for now

David
 
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